Control by xgeovanni

[raw]
made by xgeovanni for LD31 (COMPO)
"Control" is a minimalist strategy game the entirety of which takes place on only one screen.


Instructions:

The goal of this game is to secure control over the board. This is done by placing 'nodes' by clicking the mouse on a tile on the board.

Each node spreads influence to its adjacent tiles. These tiles thus have a chance each tick of coming under your control. They do not become nodes but 'influenced' tiles. Influnced tiles also spread a little influence.

You can place a node on any of your influenced tiles or in an empty tile adjacent to one. You can place your first node in any of the tiles highlighted in green.

You can place a node at any time, but every time you place a node so too will your opponent, who also wants to gain control. You are able to take enemy tiles by influencing them and placing nodes beside them, but more influence is required than when taking empty tiles. Enemy tiles can also influence your tiles.

When you control over 80% of the board you will win the game!

Strategy Tips:

In the early game you should attempt to cut off your opponent from their routes of expansion. Later on then you run out of empty tiles employ a "divide and conquer" strategy by driving through weak points in enemy controlled board with nodes.

Controls:

Click to place nodes
Spacebar: Pause/Unpause
M: Mute/Unmute

Ratings

Coolness 46% 1500
Overall 3.25 500
Audio 2.76 531
Fun 3.00 636
Graphics 2.12 1108
Innovation 3.57 257
Mood 2.70 754
Theme 3.75 362

Feedback

TheMonsterFromTheDeep
08. Dec 2014 · 03:34 UTC
I like this game! It definitely fits within the theme, and it's easy to see and the UI is nice. I also like the calm, cheerful mood to it. However, I think it's a bit slow (even on max setting) and easy to get bored of.
internetspaulicy
08. Dec 2014 · 03:39 UTC
Neat. It feels like a realtime game of Go. I think the controls could use a bit more feed back. Like a sound for clicking too far from your influence and a sound for clicking in the right place.
RainbowSexyFish
08. Dec 2014 · 03:43 UTC
Pretty good game, but the instructions existing as a popup outside of the game window is a bit of a pet-peeve of mine, even ignoring the theme.
mrexcessive
08. Dec 2014 · 16:00 UTC
Hi there. Interesting idea, influence and territory. While a bit like Go, it doesn't have the definite effect that moves there have - which I suppose makes it more accessible and less complicated, but less determined. Didn't get near endgame as it got a bit samey after a few minutes. The frontline seemed to turn into a WW1-style back/forth of death, rather than locking in place, which might be preferable.
harley77
09. Dec 2014 · 18:57 UTC
I was doing good to keep 53% of the board. Interesting strategy game and relentless AI. Great job.
Aglavra
09. Dec 2014 · 19:02 UTC
An interesting strategy game similar to go. Always wonder, how people could implement some enemy behaviour in 48 hours. Would be nice to have not only music, but also some sound effects for player actions and events.
WatercressStudios
09. Dec 2014 · 19:20 UTC
Fun and clever, but on replay I noticed that the AI seems to only have one strategy (encircle and then stuff all its nodes in the left corners). Multiple AI personalities would definitely bring me back for more.
k8n
09. Dec 2014 · 19:25 UTC
Nice and addicyive game, but too many popups in the beginning
Javabot
10. Dec 2014 · 04:53 UTC
10/10 for effort.
Murchurl
10. Dec 2014 · 12:31 UTC
Interesting idea! it'd be good for multiplayer!
Taldius
10. Dec 2014 · 12:54 UTC
Oh my god, my finger, it hurts so much!
It's a simple game but it really work.
Great job anyway, I really enjoyed playing it.
Natura-Time
10. Dec 2014 · 12:56 UTC
Very nice idea and execution, nice job !
Neil
10. Dec 2014 · 19:33 UTC
I liked this! A pretty interesting concept, could be good to add an extra color as well!
GAFBlizzard
11. Dec 2014 · 07:35 UTC
Nice music and interesting idea, like a mix of Conway's Game of Life and Go.

The problem is that it's close to being a good game, but it comes across as SUPER frustrating. A couple of reasons for that:

1. The popups as someone else mentioned are bad, rather than ingame messages.

2. For a strategy game and/or action game, responsive user input is probably important...yet there is so much fast randomness, even on the slow setting, that you quite often can click somewhere and it's gone. Or the piece you just placed is gone.

3. Once 70% board control is reached and the remaining 30% is just solid blue, it seems to require either a trick or crazy tedious timing, and the randomness seems to favor the AI.

If the randomness didn't happen, and/or if it happened only when you clicked, I think this game could be a lot better. Having it running constantly just moves it into annoying territory.
tcarter
11. Dec 2014 · 08:20 UTC
Interesting game. Audio grated on me after a little while.
badlydrawnrod
11. Dec 2014 · 21:45 UTC
I think this is highly innovative and a good idea. The game board might be just a little on the large side to start with, as I found it all too easy to get to a point where neither side was making progress. However, this is an excellent effort - good game.
oscarabraham
13. Dec 2014 · 08:17 UTC
Very addictive. I would love multiplayer. The music tired me after a while, because games can get really long, but I just muted it out.