Fausto
UNRAVEL THE RITUALISTIC SECRETS
Face the limits of reality in _Fausto_, where you take on the role of a necromancer in a struggle of luck and skill.PLOT
In _Fausto_, you are a necromancer that, thirsting for knowledge and power, summons the demon Mephistopheles. To fulfill the pact, you must capture the sinister entity known as Maledicta, using a mystical board provided by the demon himself.GAME MECHANICS
- Sealing Ritual: Throw dice on a mystical board, aiming for zones that amplify your sorceries.- Risky Reroll: Reroll dice to attempt more powerful combinations and more efficient rituals to capture Maledicta.
- Symbol Combination: Use the symbols in the dice to trigger incantations that aid in imprisoning the entity.
- Necromancer's Sanity: With each turn, the entity rolls their own die, which can reduce your sanity.
SETTING
_Fausto_ takes place in a dark and somber world of atmospheric horror, where the threshold between known and unknowable is thin. Face the challenge of using your ritualistic knowledge to capture supernatural entities, without losing your sanity.GENERAL EXPLANATIONS
Given the number of people commenting on the difficulty of understanding the game mechanics, we decided to explain a bit about what's happening.- Essentially, the player and entity uses their dice to try to hit areas with numbers on the board.
- The values there add up after the roll, and the total value progresses the ritual, which is measured on the left side.
- The player has a list of powers, described on the right, which they can execute by making combinations of the symbols that appear on the dice.
- The entity's die has 4 types of powers, and depending on where it lands on the board, the value is deducted from the player’s sanity, which is tracked on the right-side meter.
Below, you can see the board:
ADJUSTMENTS AND BUG FIXES
- We fixed a bug that prevented the entity's dice from functioning correctly.- We adjusted a collision bug with the player's dice when throwing them onto the board.|
- We fixed the dice disappearing.
- We fixed the victory animation.
- We've uploaded a new version, available both for web play and for download ("Fausto-Bug_Fix_2.zip").
- We've fixed the bugs that were preventing the end of the game from occurring, as well as the bugs that caused the dice to disappear.
Comments48
Shreder16 Apr 2024, 23:31
Wow, very cool art, and the atmosphere guarantees immersion (especially when playing at night in silence XD), very good job
zarukara16 Apr 2024, 23:35
The Best game ever! Nice job!
milano2316 Apr 2024, 23:43
Nice game. I chose power. I won the dice rolls and it gave me an option to pour it on me or drink, i drank and then the screen went black but the audio was still on. Nothing happened after that. Is that the end of the game? Also i lost one of the square and one of the circle dice when i was picking them up to begin my roll. Maybe they went through the board not sure how the physics was done. They were gone for the rest of the game. Luckily i used two triangle and one square a couple fo times and it pushed the meter to the top. Great idea for a game, awesome atmosphere. This would definitely be a different game playing it with the lights out. Good job.
Mr. Dorian16 Apr 2024, 23:44
i really loved the mood and the music, the art, all. but i didn't undertand how to use the dice or what they do

rubentipparach16 Apr 2024, 23:46
Idk whats going on, but it looks and sounds amazing!

mitur16 Apr 2024, 23:46
All 5 stars for this beauty. The only bug I noticed was that the dice disappear when you try to reroll them.
Erik Tate16 Apr 2024, 23:46
Art and atmosphere were super dope. I'm not sure I fully understood all of the game mechanics but for what I played it was fun!
your16 Apr 2024, 23:53
Incredibly polished and well done! Like what @mitur said, I also noticed that on some occasions, dice disappeared when trying to reroll them, couldn't figure out a reliable way to reproduce it, however. Anyways, the atmosphere, mood, art direction, and sounds all beautifully came together to create a deeply grim and immersive game. Well done!

Lélek Hunor Kadosa16 Apr 2024, 23:53
My dices kept disappearing when I tried to reroll them. (Here are all my dices, I don't have any on the board at the moment)

Lisek Gagatek16 Apr 2024, 23:53
Great atmosphere and music, but you probably heard it already :) I think I have encountered a bug though - after completing the game I have chosen "Drink" and the screen turned all black and nothing else happened.
ry.kil17 Apr 2024, 00:15
Great looking and sounding game. I think there was opportunity to add some more obvious signifiers in the game to explain how dice position relates to your power level when rolling. Had a potential bug where I try to re-roll dice, and one disappears. Because of this I couldn't complete any attack/defense combos, nor finish the game.
Kaedalus17 Apr 2024, 02:56
Thank you everyone for the comments! We all really appreciate it

foufoufou17 Apr 2024, 03:08
The aesthetic of the game is splendid, you guys nailing it!! Smooth and intuitive interactions. The bgm cooperated well with the scene, its kinda scary for me lol

LDJam user 38281917 Apr 2024, 04:32
I am absolutely smitten with your art style, folks. Oh, my gosh, it's like you've sprinkled some kind of magical pixie dust on it. I've been dying to make a game with that cult-classic vibe, but our artist put their foot down, and our programmer was like, "Yo, I don't even think I can pull that off" (hahaha~). But then, like a ray of sunshine, I stumbled upon your game, and it ticked all the boxes on my wish list. You guys are the real deal, and I'm totally in love with your game!

MaiMai17 Apr 2024, 04:47
Wow, the ambience is spot on! The audio and visual aesthetic is gorgeous, well done!
ariyassa17 Apr 2024, 04:57
As a composer and sound designer myself -- holy cow I played this game in the studio on my good speakers and it sounds absolutely gorgeous. The mix, the mood, the vibe are all on point. So good. Ok I'll stop gushing about the audio.
Art is gorgeeous, and the visual mood and style are also on point!
Gameplay-wise, it took me a while to understand what was going on and how to play, and I'm still unsure whether I actually understand what the dice are doing. Throwing the dice is rather satisfying though, and I feel like if I better understood how to play I would enjoy this.
Amazing vibes!
Art is gorgeeous, and the visual mood and style are also on point!
Gameplay-wise, it took me a while to understand what was going on and how to play, and I'm still unsure whether I actually understand what the dice are doing. Throwing the dice is rather satisfying though, and I feel like if I better understood how to play I would enjoy this.
Amazing vibes!

Diego Teran17 Apr 2024, 05:59
Wow, the mood was amazing! Everything was!
I think I got 80% of what ws going on, but it added to the feeling!
We also made a different Dice game inspired in Quarriors instead of Dungeon Fighters, yours has the perfect vibes.
I think I got 80% of what ws going on, but it added to the feeling!
We also made a different Dice game inspired in Quarriors instead of Dungeon Fighters, yours has the perfect vibes.

andruid17 Apr 2024, 13:18
Adorei a atmosfera! Maravilhoso

Roman Dubrovin17 Apr 2024, 13:44
I like mood and graphics but I really don't get what's going on

Ansible17 Apr 2024, 13:50
Beautiful atmosphere! Great dice and board concept although I might not have picked up all the rules yet I wanted to keep playing!

agentparsec17 Apr 2024, 13:56
Great atmosphere, engaging game, very well done overall

AegisFate17 Apr 2024, 14:28
Amazing!!!Everything of this game,Visual, ui, music, gameplay.just in 3 days? I can imagine it being sold on Steam,great job!
K-toll17 Apr 2024, 14:50
The atmosphere and design are cool! I'm not a fan of this style of mechanics, but I found myself playing again.
Nice!
Nice!

Magalix17 Apr 2024, 15:01
Incredible vibe ! So spooky !
I also had troubles with disappearing dices, is the webplayer the first version ?
Visually, it's perfect, I love it. The audio too.
The only thing I didn't like is the dice throw, the feeling is a bit cumbersome. I would like to be able to smash them on the board with a quick mouse move, especially because it's the only real interaction.
Congratulations, very polished entry and excellent artistic direction.
I also had troubles with disappearing dices, is the webplayer the first version ?
Visually, it's perfect, I love it. The audio too.
The only thing I didn't like is the dice throw, the feeling is a bit cumbersome. I would like to be able to smash them on the board with a quick mouse move, especially because it's the only real interaction.
Congratulations, very polished entry and excellent artistic direction.

shaneshanekavanagh17 Apr 2024, 17:28
Great mood. I started feeling like I was messing with forces I shouldn't be!

Vodzik17 Apr 2024, 20:23
Great mood and graphic!
I don't understand entity's dice effects. Did I miss some clues?
Problem with disappearing dices is still prsesent in web wersion on LD page.
I don't understand entity's dice effects. Did I miss some clues?
Problem with disappearing dices is still prsesent in web wersion on LD page.

OrangeDragon17 Apr 2024, 22:33
Wow! This game is fantastic! The atmosphere is enchanting in it's spookyness :) The story is great as well! Also had the issue of dice disappearing on me, unfortunately, but nonetheless a fantastic experience!

UngarBlapp18 Apr 2024, 01:40
Nailed the theme and the atmosphere and vibes are great!
Really liked the visual style too,
Great Work!
Really liked the visual style too,
Great Work!

Jean-Francois18 Apr 2024, 06:51
The game froze on the loading screen :/ I'm on safari
EDIT: With Brave it's ok, the game is very very beautiful, the mechanics are original well done!
EDIT: With Brave it's ok, the game is very very beautiful, the mechanics are original well done!

BauBau18 Apr 2024, 10:45
Wow, you guys did an amazing job on all fronts! Top notch! I did encounter a bug when throwing the dice. One of them went on some strange path and it didn't fall ok on the board. I had to restart the games as it was stuck at "Aim ...".
LDJam user 31747718 Apr 2024, 14:19
I really liked the graphics but not really sure what I'm supposed to be doing. Maybe some tutorial would help?
Muraena18 Apr 2024, 16:10
Solid aesthetic and a stong sound design, I'm in love with the unnerving yet calm ambience. A very nice touch is the smartly designed board that includes the manualGreat job!
Ashley GB18 Apr 2024, 17:12
This was fantastic, well done! Great concept well executed, especially with the audio and visuals. I did have a few issues with a couple of the dice disappearing after rolling them, but with a few tweaks could definitely see this being expanded into a bigger game. Congrats team :)

PatateNouille18 Apr 2024, 20:56
Man, the ambience here is real ! Getting strong Jumanji vibes but with a satanic twist which is great. The cinematics, music, audio and visuals go super well together and really contribute to making a strong mood.
TLDR: I enjoyed the experience, the audio and visuals alone are worth it, though I think the strategic aspect doesn't come out too well because all the stuff mentioned below.
I liked the game's state happening both on the board and in the room, that and the unsettling tone reminds me of Inscryption, also very fitting.
Though while it looks really cool, I felt quite confused. I had to return to the game's page multiple times to try and make sense of what I was supposed to be doing. After several turns I got that the left gauge is the "winning meter" and the sanity one is the "losing-meter", but how each are affected remains a bit unclear. It also took me a minute to understand the mystic dies aren't just "auxilium" dies but feature all 3 symbols, maybe they could rotate in place to show that.
The board's layout with high values being in smaller regions surrounded by smaller values hints you're supposed to aim for bigger numbers, but even after beating the game 2 times I feel like almost no matter what roll you get it deals more "damage" than you need to win in a handful of turns.
Then the winning state, it says I win, but drinking or pouring seems to just restart the game. I got super confused at first and thought I picked the wrong option or that I actually had lost haha.
I played a third time to try to lose, and I really had to only pick one die or specifically combinations that didn't figure in the top right list, and even aim for the fire zones to destroy them. Most turns I wouldn't lose sanity, sometimes I'd lose a huge amount. By the end I was roughly 3/4 of the way to winning despite trying hard not to make progress.
Only during this 3rd try did I understand that you had to roll the symbol face up for it to count in the combination list. I was wondering why it seemed to randomly trigger the combinations. But well even without triggering them a single time it'd be easy to win just by always throwing 3 dies into fairly high value areas.
The losing cinematic was worth it though, really nice :ok_hand:.
Overall I'm getting the feeling that the unclearness is intentional and part of the mysticism for the ambience, but I'm wondering if it's maybe a bit too unclear what's happening or why. This said I quite like obfuscated puzzle games which often do that, so I guess it's a matter of what genre you want to be in haha.
The balancing of how often the sanity debuff happens and how easy it is to get points don't help the confusion, it being easier to win that to lose despite all the rules felt like I didn't understand it correctly and that I was playing wrong.
I played on version Bug_Fix_2, I only encountered two bugs :
- sometimes when picking multiple dies to throw again, one disappears when starting to aim.
- sometimes the UI isn't super responsive, when clicking on a dialog choice or on the face entity button, it occasionally doesn't do anything and I have to click a few times, 2-3 times max.
TLDR: I enjoyed the experience, the audio and visuals alone are worth it, though I think the strategic aspect doesn't come out too well because all the stuff mentioned below.
I liked the game's state happening both on the board and in the room, that and the unsettling tone reminds me of Inscryption, also very fitting.
Though while it looks really cool, I felt quite confused. I had to return to the game's page multiple times to try and make sense of what I was supposed to be doing. After several turns I got that the left gauge is the "winning meter" and the sanity one is the "losing-meter", but how each are affected remains a bit unclear. It also took me a minute to understand the mystic dies aren't just "auxilium" dies but feature all 3 symbols, maybe they could rotate in place to show that.
The board's layout with high values being in smaller regions surrounded by smaller values hints you're supposed to aim for bigger numbers, but even after beating the game 2 times I feel like almost no matter what roll you get it deals more "damage" than you need to win in a handful of turns.
Then the winning state, it says I win, but drinking or pouring seems to just restart the game. I got super confused at first and thought I picked the wrong option or that I actually had lost haha.
I played a third time to try to lose, and I really had to only pick one die or specifically combinations that didn't figure in the top right list, and even aim for the fire zones to destroy them. Most turns I wouldn't lose sanity, sometimes I'd lose a huge amount. By the end I was roughly 3/4 of the way to winning despite trying hard not to make progress.
Only during this 3rd try did I understand that you had to roll the symbol face up for it to count in the combination list. I was wondering why it seemed to randomly trigger the combinations. But well even without triggering them a single time it'd be easy to win just by always throwing 3 dies into fairly high value areas.
The losing cinematic was worth it though, really nice :ok_hand:.
Overall I'm getting the feeling that the unclearness is intentional and part of the mysticism for the ambience, but I'm wondering if it's maybe a bit too unclear what's happening or why. This said I quite like obfuscated puzzle games which often do that, so I guess it's a matter of what genre you want to be in haha.
The balancing of how often the sanity debuff happens and how easy it is to get points don't help the confusion, it being easier to win that to lose despite all the rules felt like I didn't understand it correctly and that I was playing wrong.
I played on version Bug_Fix_2, I only encountered two bugs :
- sometimes when picking multiple dies to throw again, one disappears when starting to aim.
- sometimes the UI isn't super responsive, when clicking on a dialog choice or on the face entity button, it occasionally doesn't do anything and I have to click a few times, 2-3 times max.

LDJam user 38754818 Apr 2024, 21:09
WOOOOW

PabloAbraham18 Apr 2024, 21:21
@patatenouille Thank you very much for this feedback; it really helps to understand the experience you had. Also, thank you for the compliments and interest in the game. We are considering making a larger version of the game, improving and enhancing the interactions.

JuicyBrucey18 Apr 2024, 21:49
Really great entry, impressive all around. I did have to restart though as I was stuck in a loop of being told to select 3 dice, after rolling the dice, but no dice were selectable.

PatateNouille18 Apr 2024, 22:00
@pabloabraham that could be cool! I feel like there could be a great progression around understanding what the sinister entity you're trying to capture does and how to prevent it.
For some reason I'm picturing something like the We Were Here game series, not on the coop side but for the kind of puzzle design where you start confused but progressively find elements to help build towards the solution as you get familiar with each part of the mystery and understand how they tie into each other. Kinda like an escape room if you will.
For some reason I'm picturing something like the We Were Here game series, not on the coop side but for the kind of puzzle design where you start confused but progressively find elements to help build towards the solution as you get familiar with each part of the mystery and understand how they tie into each other. Kinda like an escape room if you will.
Baluj19 Apr 2024, 00:21
It wasn't a good idea to play this game at night, you have managed to create a great setting. Good job!
Irex19 Apr 2024, 05:41
Art and music are amazing! My dice kept desapiring tho and I didn't get what I was supposed to do apart of not becoming insane :/

TheMoonrise20 Apr 2024, 10:20
I am blown away by the look of the game board. This is really well done.

SlickRamen20 Apr 2024, 12:29
Amazing entry! You guys smashed it!

CaptainDreamcast20 Apr 2024, 14:18
Super atmospheric, I love the mood you set with this game. Audio and art are incredibly well done, amazing. I didn't really have any problems with the dice, like the description made it sound super hard, I just went with the trusty "big numbers good" and "dice with symbol facing up good" and Mephisto stood no chance. Well, there were also the effects from the dice (those were a nice addition), and it did get more tense when he gobbled up one of my attack dice. I also liked that you could roleplay as Faust in this, via the selection at the beginning and end of the game. My Faust was powerhungry and chugged Mephisto's reward down. Super well done, great job on this game!

Feynallein20 Apr 2024, 22:38
Wow... one of the best entry I've played for the ld55, it's just fantastic!!!
IRoRoI22 Apr 2024, 17:07
Wow! Amazing art! True it was low fps in the browser, but it's nice to be able to download the build. I enjoyed the atmosphere!

Timidger22 Apr 2024, 20:34
Very cool atmosphere, felt like the graphics, audio design, and mood were lifted straight out of a fully finished game.
The gameplay on the board was quite boring. I read the instructions you posted so I believe I understood it. It never felt like I was in danger (my sanity seemed to drop once and then never again?). Partly this might be because I ran into the bug where one of my attack dies disappeared. I also only got one mystic die, never the other two, so the gameplay was artificially slowed down a bit.
The "horror" of being in the room was also greatly diminished because of the long play time -- a room is much less scary if every time you make a trickle of progress you look up and keeping seeing the same empty room.
I think with some bug and pacing fixes this could be a cool moody game.
The gameplay on the board was quite boring. I read the instructions you posted so I believe I understood it. It never felt like I was in danger (my sanity seemed to drop once and then never again?). Partly this might be because I ran into the bug where one of my attack dies disappeared. I also only got one mystic die, never the other two, so the gameplay was artificially slowed down a bit.
The "horror" of being in the room was also greatly diminished because of the long play time -- a room is much less scary if every time you make a trickle of progress you look up and keeping seeing the same empty room.
I think with some bug and pacing fixes this could be a cool moody game.

denilseven23 Apr 2024, 19:13
I was amazed from the start! I stopped for a while just to admire the main menu and the little effects here and there. When I entered the game scene I was just *speechless.* Everything looks gorgeous.
Although, I have do admit that I played the game watching through my fingers LOL - I knew there probably wasn't going to be any cheap jump scares but I couldn't help myself, the immersion is just that good :laughing:
Although, I have do admit that I played the game watching through my fingers LOL - I knew there probably wasn't going to be any cheap jump scares but I couldn't help myself, the immersion is just that good :laughing:



One thing I noticed is that hitting the arrow keys switches between scenes, maybe a debug key left in?
Anyways, very well done!