43 and Me by Atium Addict
You start with 43 and you have to reach exactly 0. You can't go lower than 0. You can't go higher than 43.
Use WASD or keyboard arrow keys to play.
This was my first participation in any game jam and it was pretty fun! Any feedback is appreciated.

| HTML5 (web) | https://atium-addict.itch.io/43-and-me |
| Source code | https://github.com/AtiumAddict/43andMe |
| Original URL | https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/43/43-and-me |
Ratings
| Overall | 366th | 3.087⭐ | 65🧑⚖️ |
| Fun | 406th | 2.794⭐ | 65🧑⚖️ |
| Innovation | 254th | 3.19⭐ | 65🧑⚖️ |
| Theme | 484th | 2.325⭐ | 65🧑⚖️ |
| Graphics | 404th | 2.702⭐ | 64🧑⚖️ |
| Audio | 338th | 2.573⭐ | 57🧑⚖️ |
| Humor | 388th | 1.87⭐ | 56🧑⚖️ |
| Mood | 461th | 2.241⭐ | 58🧑⚖️ |
| Given | 43🗳️ | 37🗨️ |
Really cool game

As always I'll split positive and negative points:
Positives:
- Your game is simple but in a good way : i loooove simplicity
- Graphics are neat, because...simplicity again
- We quickly understand our goal , our objectives and how we can lose
- Your game is short , once again on a good way
Negatives:
- Some rules are confusing : what are those strikes on some numbers ? Are numbers randomly generated ? What happen after i "eat" a number ? a new one is created ? when i go up the "+" line become the "-" line ?
- Your game is too easy : it's very easy to stay between 43 and 0 as we have almost no contrainst : perhaps add things like time limit ?
The numbers are randomly generated with a range between 1 and 42. When you go forward (subtraction), the minus line becomes the plus line and vice versa. The lines above the second and third number are the indicate how many identical numbers are behind it. The numbers of the first column are generated one by one, the numbers of the second column two by two and the third three by three. So, if you meet a 23 in the third column and it has two lines above it, you will meet 2 more 23s behind it. The fact that this is not clearly conveyed to the player is a failure that I will try to remedy.
As for the difficulty, I love your timer suggestion and I will try to put one right now.
Thanks again!
I can't say I understood the UI layout, but once I played a few rounds I ended up getting the hang of it.
I did once something similar but I used concept know as "spectrum of failure" look it up basically it gives the player opportunity to have various degree of victory. For example, instead of failing immediately user may be required to reach the target in a specific amount of steps also timer could be only used to decide that solution was best if done fastest and not failing player while he is still searching
The mechanics and goals are not immediately super clear, but that's part of the enjoyment.
I regret that I can't try again with the exact same numbers if I fail. I would've liked to know whether that combination was possible at all :smile:
Contrary to @semichaut , I don't like the idea of the timer because sometimes I just need a lot of time to explore the numbers and their position. An alternative could be to simply keep track of the number of "moves" and save the lowest number of moves? Of course, that number of moves would only be valid for this specific puzzle with those generated numbers...
All in all, well done! :clap:
@xesenix and @bart-huylebroeck, the timer may indeed take a little bit away from the tactical element of the game, but I think it adds some pressure to the player which can counterbalance the relatively low level of difficulty. I will think about it some more though.
As for the number of steps, it's something that would make for a great game with different levels, each with a different particular matrix of numbers.
If more people like the game, I will try that.
Thanks a lot, guys!
But player need to sacrifice, let the number grown for a better choice. Kind a sacrifice on the Philosophy way. Nice.
I was going to complain about not having a dedicated restart button, but I went back to make sure there was one and there is. My only suggestion would be to tell the player that hitting the enter key would restart. Or remove the button altogether; After interacting with the game using only the keyboard, it's a little jarring to have to reach over to my mouse and click the reset button.
This is just a small detail, but in my mind I associate subtraction with going down and addition going up. I imagine that's probably what a lot of others associate it with too, so maybe flipping the controls so that adding is up and subtracting is down would make the controls more enjoyable.
As for the theme, I can see how it works. Sometimes you *have* to add to your number when you don't want to in order to reach 0. The theme is through mechanics instead of narratives, and it's all good in my book.
Also, congrats on finishing your first game jam ever!
Conventionally, I would expect + to be at the top and - at the bottom.
The theme is not there at all for me - probably a bit too abstract :smile:. I just don't see the connection between sacrifice and subtraction.
When the game is controlled with keyboard, it is awkward to have clickable buttons. "Press space to restart" is much better.
Also, 0! = 1, instructions unclear :smiley:.
Time limit was a cool feature.
Overall, I guess it could be a very entertaining game if you get those rules of how numbers show up clearer and with about the same simplicity that you made with the other rules.
Thanks a lot for the feedback!