Go Get Em by CrazyGage

[raw]
made by CrazyGage for LD26 (COMPO)
EDIT: If you want to play against yourself to get an idea of gameplay, poor programming allows you to login with your account on two separate browsers(ex. IE and Chrome) as long as you use different capitalization on your username. Interesting quirk that allows you to play against yourself locally.

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I finally completed, despite a bunch of opposition, such as a very lost puppy we had to try and find out in the country-side. "Go Get Em", a great strategy game with a very lame name, is my entry. It is fairly simple to play, like go Game and Reversi, but difficult to master. You place a piece, and any occupied squares surrounding that piece become yours. Simple as that. Go back and forth, against your opponent until the field is full. The player with the most area at the end wins it.

The general strategy is to take each turn so that you give up the minimal amount of area and take the most possible.

You will need to create an account so the game can keep track of you. Once in, click the "Find Game" button and you will be joined up with another player at random.

Ratings

Coolness 74% 3
Overall 2.65 1074
Audio 2.04 923
Fun 2.46 1009
Graphics 2.22 1145
Humor 1.60 998
Innovation 2.54 964
Mood 2.11 1169
Theme 2.92 1080

Feedback

馃帳 CrazyGage
29. Apr 2013 路 02:14 UTC
If you are testing and it seems no one else is online, you can always create a second account and play against yourself or a friend at home.
bastiandantilus
29. Apr 2013 路 03:41 UTC
Hm hm... well, don't feel like playing with myself, so...
Fnkee
29. Apr 2013 路 04:08 UTC
I tried it out, but was having trouble placing spheres.
bastiandantilus
29. Apr 2013 路 04:27 UTC
I'm now trapped in a game with Fnkee. I can't play someone else if I try. There's no way to quit, and Fnkee isn't even playing anymore.
馃帳 CrazyGage
29. Apr 2013 路 05:11 UTC
yeah, sorry about that. I ran out of time to implement a reset game button.
馃帳 CrazyGage
29. Apr 2013 路 05:13 UTC
actually, that could be considered a win condition bug. I should be able to fix it without breaking the submission rules.
馃帳 CrazyGage
29. Apr 2013 路 05:33 UTC
that win condition/game hang bug has been fixed and you can start again now.
nintendoeats
30. Apr 2013 路 01:34 UTC
that is a super cool game! I think the play area could be a touch smaller, as it feels like you need to hit a wall before things get super interesting. that's only after a single game though, so I guess I haven't mastered the grand strategy.

This is exactly the sort of "simple to learn but infinitely deep" game that I thin typifies properly elegant game design. I am super impressed.

Please add a chat feature!
cadin
30. Apr 2013 路 01:34 UTC
I love Reversi. I wish there were an option for a smaller board. Just trying to play a game to try it out takes forever.
nintendoeats
30. Apr 2013 路 01:34 UTC
that is a super cool game! I think the play area could be a touch smaller, as it feels like you need to hit a wall before things get super interesting. that's only after a single game though, so I guess I haven't mastered the grand strategy.

This is exactly the sort of "simple to learn but infinitely deep" game that I thin typifies properly elegant game design. I am super impressed.

Please add a chat feature!
xyrix
30. Apr 2013 路 01:45 UTC
I may be wrong, but on an odd by odd board, if I am the first player and I play the centre square, then mirror my opponent's move (rotational symmetry), don't I always win? And if either of the sides has an even number of sqaures along it, can the second player not mirror her opponent's moves (reflectional across the centre) and always win?

I'm sure you've already thought of this, I just can't immediately see why that doesn't work.
Foxtacy
30. Apr 2013 路 01:55 UTC
Cool thing about this: Multiplayer feature! Not everyone can pull that off during a Ludum Dare. Good Job!
馃帳 CrazyGage
30. Apr 2013 路 02:11 UTC
hmm.. yes, I did set it for 3 board sizes, but never got around to implementing the size request when finding a game. so we were stuck with 16x16.
馃帳 CrazyGage
30. Apr 2013 路 02:15 UTC
@xyrix: yes, you are probably correct. Maybe the next version will have random dead squares at game start
Cheshyr
30. Apr 2013 路 02:37 UTC
Interesting game. I thought it was Go for a sec, but was quickly proven wrong. never played Othello or Reversi before. Grats on a multiplayer implementation in a LD!
john_conder9
30. Apr 2013 路 02:55 UTC
I'm Purebe - was tempted to try to go into a best of three against you CrazyGage since we tied at 1-1, but, the games take a bit of time so.. :P Super fun though, I think this is by far the most fun I've had in any of the games I've played up to this point. Probably due to the competitive nature, and I can only imagine the look on your face when you saw your final three moves in game two, I was laughing during your entire dramatic pause there :P

All in good fun! This is like the perfect game for those "social websites" or whatever, I'd really love to play some of my friends in this. Really, really, really good job! I love it :D I think you need to expand on this and get it somewhere, because seriously - this is addictive!
馃帳 CrazyGage
30. Apr 2013 路 03:15 UTC
@john_conder9: Yeah, just went up against Xyrix, I will make a rev 2 on the website that includes chat, and a random set of dead squares. Chat would increase the amusement level exponentially, I think.
@xyrix: I guess your symmetry idea helped you win 146-110 against me. I will do the dead square thing.
john_conder9
30. Apr 2013 路 03:30 UTC
That'd be amazing, can't wait to check it out :D
Arcana
30. Apr 2013 路 03:35 UTC
The fun started when I began to branch out a little. However I'm really bad at board games though.
richtx
30. Apr 2013 路 03:36 UTC
No opponent. I understand the need for simple registration, but a single player version, even if I play as the opponent too would provide a good glimpse into the gameplay.
馃帳 CrazyGage
30. Apr 2013 路 03:44 UTC
I am online if you want to play. was in a game with someone else....
Dew
30. Apr 2013 路 04:47 UTC
In my opinion the grid is too big, makes games very long, but the mechanics are okay!
馃帳 CrazyGage
30. Apr 2013 路 04:49 UTC
yeah, I agree for testing now... It's literally a one word change in my code, but deadline is passed now. So, I can't really change it. :(
馃帳 CrazyGage
30. Apr 2013 路 05:58 UTC
I added a second version on the site. You are not to vote on that edition, but it's there with the dead squares and a smaller board.
xyrix
30. Apr 2013 路 18:42 UTC
@CrazyGage - I was originally intending to play symmetry against you, but I miscounted the squares. I played a lot of symmetry against you, but not the perfect strategy as it were, and I noticed a useful trick - i.e. if there are an even number of moves left from your position you should play moves to leave empty squares isolated in pairs. When your opponent then plays in one of the two in a pair, you take the other - this guarantees an equal exchange in the worst case but gains you points most often.

To be honest, I was playing on a crappy laptop, and I kept misclicking with the mouse on it, which didn't much help :-P. Playing second in the game just happened to be a huge advantage.
Rabbits...
30. Apr 2013 路 23:40 UTC
For a 48 hour game, good multiplayer code is difficult, good job
馃帳 CrazyGage
01. May 2013 路 03:34 UTC
@xyrix: yeah, I intend to add a pass button to version 2. Once both users pass, the game is scored as is. Removes being forced to taking those double pairs. I have been using them to try to trap people I play against. lol

Also, version 2 has global and in-game chat features now.
MaxSzlagor
01. May 2013 路 04:16 UTC
I wanted to check it out but I don't want to create new accounts. Please add a "Play as guest" option. Thanks!
Alec Von Arx
01. May 2013 路 04:20 UTC
Someone come online! lol
馃帳 CrazyGage
01. May 2013 路 04:32 UTC
@MaxSzlagor: It doesn't require any identifying info to create an account, just a throwaway username and password...
alts
01. May 2013 路 05:27 UTC
Good playing you CrazyGage. I'm a big fan of strategy games like these. After playing, it seems I encountered the same strategy of empty pairs as xyrix. I really like seeing the natural development of strategies from systems like these. Good job.
馃帳 CrazyGage
01. May 2013 路 05:36 UTC
@alts: good playing you too. Being the maker of the game, you would figure I would be better at beating you people. lol. A pass button, a pass each means game end as is, would help against those nothing to gain pairs at the end, just like in Go Game. That will go into v2 tomorrow probably.
DaveDobson
01. May 2013 路 06:44 UTC
Really amazing that you implemented multiplayer. Fun, clever game, very minimal. I wish there were a computer player to play against to get used to how it works, even if he's bad/random. Nice job.
Dietrich Epp
01. May 2013 路 06:45 UTC
Played against biteme, won by resignation with a lead something like 60s to 40s. I'm not sure it has quite the same depth as Go or Reversi, even though it has a similar size for its state space. It would be really nice to have a computer opponent, even a bad one (maybe one that just takes the biggest number of tiles each turn, or one which looks two or three move ahead.)
Uhfgood
01. May 2013 路 20:52 UTC
should have made a 1 player version, i don't really feel like playing by myself -- I didn't rate it though, so no bad ratings from me
ecool377
02. May 2013 路 02:17 UTC
Good game, Just needs some music, and power ups and stuff, its kinda repetitive its fun though.
iFred_QC
02. May 2013 路 04:21 UTC
Didn't feel like creating an account...
mrexcessive
07. May 2013 路 19:37 UTC
Nice speed etc. Clean implementation of rules. Couldn't master it myself... maybe a couple more games...
YSelf Tool
13. May 2013 路 22:31 UTC
Complex. At the end I have seen some repeating patterns. Interesting.
KHANanaphone
14. May 2013 路 08:58 UTC
I respect the fact you made a multiplayer game, the game itself though is not anything new.
馃帳 CrazyGage
14. May 2013 路 20:03 UTC
@KHANanaphone: I'm not sure anything is truly a new idea anymore... :)
GeorgeBroussard
20. May 2013 路 19:53 UTC
Fun game. Cool to have multiplayer in a LD. Nice art and polish.