Tower of Egypt by DespiteSoft

[raw]
made by DespiteSoft for LD36 (JAM)
We do not know how the ancient Egypts build their pyramids. But we do know that they had a blast!
Take the helm of an ancient state-of-the-art crane. Pick up each brick and drop it where it is supposed to go... or maybe you would like to give the hard-working slaves a break? Only you can stop the man with the whip. But watch out, you are supervised yourself.
Peaceful or rebellious, at the end of the day the world will be amazed by your construction. Or your high score.

Play with arrow keys. You lose if you get whipped three times or one of the slaves is whipped to death. Luckily, slaves refresh when a floor is finished.

Feedback

Aree Vanier
30. Aug 2016 · 14:07 UTC
Fun and challenging. Works flawlessly. Good music.
TeamEagle
30. Aug 2016 · 14:46 UTC
Fun game! I think it lacks a bit in engaging the player after a short while, maybe you could make the game more difficult over time or something. But a very nice result none the less!
SamuelSousa
30. Aug 2016 · 16:44 UTC
Enjoyed smashing the guy wih the whip... He was always iin the way. Nice slave cleaning animations. Nice music to go with the whole.
DifferentName
30. Aug 2016 · 16:45 UTC
Good job putting in all the details that often go missing in game jams, like a full background and good sound. I wasn't completely clear on the rules, though. To build a pyramid, I'm supposed to murder the slave drivers? It didn't really seem possible to finish a section without killing them because they kill the slaves and then stand in the way of the stone. But then I'd lose health for some reason, maybe because I killed too many slave drivers but this was unclear to me.
stenol
30. Aug 2016 · 16:49 UTC
Nice little game. Miss some difficulty over time. The music is very good.
bushmango
30. Aug 2016 · 16:59 UTC
I also Enjoyed smashing the guy with the whip, fun game!
🎤 DespiteSoft
30. Aug 2016 · 20:50 UTC
Dev here:
You are supposed to lose health when you kill the slave driver while the guy on the left of the crane is looking. This means that you can either
1) watch out for the looking observer , who spends more and more time paying attention as you progress, before you smash

or

2) try not to smash the slave driver. This takes patience, and it is not impossible that a problem in the game's code prevents the guy from making enough space once in a while. When you move down the stone gently in small bursts, you are not going to smash him any way.

We understand what was supposed to be a minor challenge in the game is very hard. In a revised version, this would be worked out, possibly he would just wait on the ladder.

Same with the rising difficulty: It is there, but in very small increments with every stage. Some hard new challenges would probably be more fun and intuitive - like a second slave driver showing up, or him getting a whip which hits multiple slaves at once.

Thanks for the feedback so far, guys!
publicidadeba
31. Aug 2016 · 03:31 UTC
Good job on such a complex game in a little time. Way to go!
Vaiaphraim
31. Aug 2016 · 11:10 UTC
Cool graphics and music! Slamming the whip guy with a brick was really fun (even if it cost you a heart sometimes - damn observer!)

I loved the crane animation, by the way! The sound effects for the grinding stone noise were also great.

I wish the game wouldn't reset that quickly after you lose - checking out the bloodstains on each layer could be really fun, I think :)

Great work!
HuvaaKoodia
31. Aug 2016 · 13:09 UTC
The overall presentation, apart from the menus, is fine and the music fits the setting well. Showing the whole tower in the end is a nice touch.

The interactions are well thought out, a little balancing act between precision and brute force, but after a while it becomes a chore. The difficulty should ramp up faster by, for example, having multiple construction areas to juggle between.

Also a single dead slave ends your career, but outright murdering another worker is just fine for the first two times? What kind of justice system are these people running with?
Delicious Code
31. Aug 2016 · 13:17 UTC
Cool idea and execution! It was fun to use the crane and end the life of the slave-masters :-)
The sfx and music is great and the art style is also fitting.
Again, nice game!
Eggplant
31. Aug 2016 · 20:18 UTC
Well done! The art/sound effects are great, and smashing the slave driver is very satisfying. Good job.
LittleDoomDevs
31. Aug 2016 · 20:23 UTC
This is hilarious! I had some fun playing and took a few minutes unitl I discovered how it works. I like that the slave supervisor can be killed, and then I understood that I lose if I kill him every time :))
Garrett Hoofman
31. Aug 2016 · 23:43 UTC
Smashing the whip guy into a bloody mess was a huge surprise! Loved it.
It was pretty difficult, even being patient, to get the last stone down without smashing the whip guy. I did like the part of it you mentioned above with the guy having to be looking to lose a health over smashing him. Clever.
fragileannihilator
02. Sep 2016 · 21:28 UTC
Nice sounds and music. I found it a bit difficult to place the 3rd stone in a row because the slave driver is walking back and forth and the time gap when he is changing the direction is too little
Kableado
10. Sep 2016 · 17:19 UTC
Nice sound and music. I was confused at first with the arrow, it thought it was pointing where to take the brick instead of where to put it.
joe40001
18. Sep 2016 · 09:58 UTC
Interesting game, it didn't really escalate or change as you played longer. It was fine for what it was but could've used more polish. Still, it was playable and met the theme which is more than a lot of LD games. Good work.

Score: (because I like scores)
Overall 3/5
Innovation 1/5
Fun 2/5
Theme 4/5
Graphics 2/5
Audio 3/5
Humor 2/5
Mood 2/5