Dezinformatsiya by Scripturus

[raw]
made by Scripturus for LD32 (JAM)
"Dezinformatsiya" is a game about weaponisation of information – a post-modern strategy in which information and in particular the media are used not just to persuade or even to spread traditional propaganda, but as weapons in a conflict, intended to divide, demoralise, and paralyse an opponent. In this way, information and disinformation become truly "unconventional weapons".

In the game, you play as the Director of the little-known Third Department of the Brutopian Ministry of Information. The government of Brutopia is planning a clandestine invasion of the neighbouring country of Ruritania. Your task during this operation will be to keep the foreign governments in the Western world divided and pacified whilst the Brutopian military and secret services establish a presence in Ruritania.

To achieve this, you will employ social media, active political measures, manipulation of foreign media, and of course last, but not least, the popular media network Brutopia Today.

-----------

To be honest, this game has a ton of issues. The graphics look like something from the early 90s. I didn't really have time to balance the different possible actions, so the game is actually quite easy. I would have liked to have better feedback on the actions, more interaction between them, and more random events (there's only a single one at the moment). Also, the win/lose screen is a joke, since I left it for last and really ran out of energy towards the end.

But the game is playable, and considering it's the first game I've ever finished, I'm not too dissatisfied with it. Hope you find it interesting.

Ratings

Coolness 52% 3
Overall(Jam) 3.39 368
Fun(Jam) 3.15 454
Graphics(Jam) 2.74 771
Humor(Jam) 3.33 283
Innovation(Jam) 3.37 329
Mood(Jam) 3.56 172
Theme(Jam) 3.78 215

Feedback

zuraguerra
21. Apr 2015 · 08:13 UTC
It looks very interesting! Hope you make a Mac or web port at any point :)
Wayward
21. Apr 2015 · 08:19 UTC
Nice Concept!
j_peeba
21. Apr 2015 · 13:18 UTC
The theme and setting of the game are excellent and quite topical too! ;)

Better feedback from the actions were something I wished for while playing. As it is, the game mostly felt like a series of random dice rolls where my actual choice of action didn't seem to matter that much, as long as I did something.

Nevertheless, the writing was very entertaining and I'd like to see how this game would play if the obvious issues were to be fixed. There's definitely potential here! :)
lochmann-apps
21. Apr 2015 · 14:30 UTC
Funny game, wondering where you got the idea for this setting from ;-)
daltostronic
21. Apr 2015 · 14:30 UTC
nice interpretation of theme and nice taste!
Luminar
21. Apr 2015 · 14:34 UTC
Big + for music :)
Nice idea
Bardikus
21. Apr 2015 · 14:37 UTC
Nice concept, I got a Papers Please vibe if that is what you went for. The objective and mechanics weren't all that obvious, but a good overall game :)
molecats
22. Apr 2015 · 11:23 UTC
Good idea!
phi
22. Apr 2015 · 11:25 UTC
Gotta love the music!
The story seems interesting, the UI is simple and intuitive, but perhaps it would be nice to have some more information about what's going on, maybe some kind of stats or maps. Pretty good amount of content for such a short time, though!
Cstudios
22. Apr 2015 · 21:05 UTC
Okay, this review is going to be a little bit longer than usual.
I know whats this about... and honestly the same idea came to my mind when the theme came up. However we did not figured out how to make a game from it. I am sure you are from the eastern european region, as i am. This game is very well thought through (weird sentence :D ), so I suspect the mechanics are inspired by real life.
I cant see the game objectively, because i am living the same reality... how the russian propaganda breaks up the society with disinformation and how every rationally thinking member of our society is getting labeled by the strong pro russian community as an americaphile. To people living in the west, there is war... but not with real-conventional weapons. So, sir thank you for making this game and other players, please know, what you play here... its happening now, for real.
ChronusZ
22. Apr 2015 · 21:50 UTC
I would have liked a system with some more strategy to it (certain tactics work better in different situations, having to react to external events, combining policies for greater effect). That might be a bit complicated for a 72 hour game jam, though :-)
TeamCalcium
23. Apr 2015 · 12:44 UTC
Cool concept, but i feel like it doesnt quite fit the theme.
Kasmilus
23. Apr 2015 · 13:05 UTC
Good game but after awhile, when I read all descriptions, I was just using random actions. It doesn't look like there's big difference between them.
abcdef65g
24. Apr 2015 · 21:08 UTC
I love the abstraction of the concept of unconventional weapon, thinking of the unconventional warfare which was the hippest thing an army could do during cold war. I really find the theme one of the coolest around.

I see seriously an amazing potential for a game based on it. Would be seriously as agregative as any War board out there!
Langouste
29. Apr 2015 · 16:40 UTC
Super Game! I love it ;) Thanks
Yoon
04. May 2015 · 11:35 UTC
I was a little scared of the graphics at first, but then it got funny !

A lot of attention has been put in the textual content and I found the mechanics to be really balanced. Of course there exists an optimal strategy, but hey. I really liked it.
MonoS
08. May 2015 · 17:02 UTC
The game is surprisingly interesting and fun, but it's too symple.

You can easily exploit the game creating the "Fund Opposition parties" and the "Troll Army" and then always chose a 2AP low/medium risk/effect and the game play by itself.
Too bad, because i had fun reading all the description of the various actions.

Also good concept and use of the theme