No Brakes on the Train of Life by squaredev

[raw]
made by squaredev for LD 43 (JAM)

You stumble upon a shocking spectacle: a train running at full speed on the rails, its brakes not working. Not far ahead, a number of people tied down on the tracks.

You notice a switch lever close by so you run up to it to avert the tragedy, but you notice that on the side track there is one single person lying down shackled by ropes and unable to move.

Now that you've witnessed this scene, you cannot run away from the responsibility. Whatever you choose to do now, whether you decide to pull the lever or not, whether you stay and act or run away in cowardice, if somebody dies it will be because of your choice. In life not everything has a happy end, some sacrifices must be made.

Can you bear the burden? The goal of the game is to, in each level, let the train go by with the least victims.

CONTROLS: Arrows/WASD/Left stick: Move E/F/Enter/Space/LMB/A button: Operate the lever

Code by prettysober (https://twitter.com/sfdstrandberg) Art by SquareAnon (https://twitter.com/squareanon) Music by Lobo Roco (Free Music Archive) Sound effects by freesound.org

Ratings

Overall 151th 3.889⭐ 47🧑‍⚖️
Fun 269th 3.578⭐ 47🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 299th 3.443⭐ 46🧑‍⚖️
Theme 23th 4.422⭐ 47🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 32th 4.533⭐ 47🧑‍⚖️
Audio 100th 3.884⭐ 45🧑‍⚖️
Humor 184th 3.58⭐ 46🧑‍⚖️
Mood 194th 3.726⭐ 44🧑‍⚖️
Given 24🗳️ 16🗨️

Feedback

CaptainDreamcast
04. Dec 2018 · 01:10 UTC
The Monty Hall level was the best one, that made me laugh out loud. Didn't see that coming, just like all the innocent people I murdered.

Great take on the theme, it's the type that makes you snap your fingers and say "Of course!". The art was top-notch, special mention to the cute train driver's reactions, which gave just so much more weight to the act of running over people with a train. The music was chosen well, it has a nice chugging along feel to it. What a fun game, good job on that!
thevinter
04. Dec 2018 · 10:40 UTC
Very cool graphics! The music is good as well. I like the concept and the simple but good idea behind it. I played until the knot level, then it became a bit too confusing, but overall great game!
MadreDeDios
04. Dec 2018 · 10:42 UTC
Really nice visuals! Fun gameplay I wasn't expecting to enjoy! :smirk:
PierKwadrat
04. Dec 2018 · 10:54 UTC
Very nice and polished game. You should put some screenshots in description, because art looks very nice. Good job!
BananaBobBert
04. Dec 2018 · 11:22 UTC
Looks very smooth, left the train a while at procrastination ^^
Keithdae
04. Dec 2018 · 13:31 UTC
Really nice game, everything works perfectly !

The procrastination one was just perfect :smile: (I only did one lap because I'm a terrible person :smirk:)
RektorGladowski
04. Dec 2018 · 14:34 UTC
This was a great idea :) I'm really happy that I could be such a bad person
sanjeev
04. Dec 2018 · 14:54 UTC
Love the idea of turning the trolley problem into a puzzle game. You guy did an awesome job with the art; also the death screens were pretty funny. Keep up the great work.
Thiago Andre AS
04. Dec 2018 · 23:38 UTC
Everything about this game is just perfect. I was hoping to find a game about the trolley problem and you didn't disappoint me :) In my opinion this is by far the best game of this jam
Ellenack
05. Dec 2018 · 00:35 UTC
Nice graphics ! Overall a great entry. The only missing thing is just some feedback to know when you are in range to trigger the lever, but its just nitpicking at this point.
shieldgenerator7
05. Dec 2018 · 07:03 UTC
very fun and unique concept.

critiques:
1. it didnt give me time to survey a new level before switching on. it would have been better if the train didnt show up until i started moving.
2. the hitboxes on the switches weren't very clear. I think they should be a bit bigger.

the graphics and music and audio were great and definitely gave the game a unique feel. over all a great entry
AlexKishchinskiy
05. Dec 2018 · 10:43 UTC
Very cool and polished! Graphics is super pleasant to eye, controls are intuititve, cool=) View on train conductor - is great!
From the con side:
- Solving puzzles on timer when you need to run is kind of a conflict between arсade and puzzle mechanics. You need to think and you need to run.
Morricore
05. Dec 2018 · 11:00 UTC
Gameplay based on levers, and if you don’t immediately start running to the lever, you probably don't have time to switch it. Looks like brutforce oriented gameplay. And game mocking player, when player fail. Feels awful. But looks nice.
svdvorak
05. Dec 2018 · 14:29 UTC
The game looks and feels very polished with a fun way of portraying the age old problem. I found the comments between levels funny as a way of saying there really isn't a way to win in this. Procrastination showed you had some fun with the design as well. Hats off to you, you did a great job!
Harksa
06. Dec 2018 · 11:13 UTC
It was a really nice and cute game but I would have loved an option to just restart the level when you screw it up.
hadesfury
07. Dec 2018 · 15:35 UTC
Nice game .. kind of hard to succeed at first play of each level
But the idea is good and it stress you up :)
Well done
HellSquirrel
07. Dec 2018 · 22:28 UTC
Great palette and cute low poly. It was such simple, but very cool to add emotions of the girl to show consequences of the victims!
PeachTreeOath
10. Dec 2018 · 05:41 UTC
Really good take on the trolley problem, I had trouble myself finding a way to make the idea interesting and more than just trial and error decision making. I didn't think to have realtime execution elements to it to create the fun.

3 levels stood out the most to me:
1. The first level that contains 4 exit points, and you need to hit 3 levers. It is actually hard to get the last lever in time because you can't start the level out holding diagonal (for me anyways), so I had to time that initial start Mario Kart style to get all levers in time. Probably my favorite level because I felt like I had to do an optimized speedrun to complete it.
2. The level that looks like the pound sign and has the train wrap around sometimes. I was actually hoping there would be more levels like this because you could really make the player think hard on them.
3. The final level. Awesome idea and brought a smile to my face.

I think the rest of the levels can be relatively straightforward. Usually I just tried to hit all the levers in order and it would work out for me. Again, I think if you focus more on those top 3 ideas you could push level design boundaries here.

Regardless, the game is super well executed. The POV animation has no real gameplay meaning, but it is a VERY nice touch. Overall art and sound is fitting and the game just feels so solid. Great idea and great entry all around!
Kciwsolb
13. Dec 2018 · 15:44 UTC
I'm not sure I can live with myself after this...
Kornel Meszaros
16. Dec 2018 · 16:51 UTC
Just no! Why you make me do dis?
acaral
17. Dec 2018 · 13:35 UTC
I have to say that your entry is professional and very neat. I loved the picture of the train driver: it's the detail that make me say you are talented. In short a nice game right in the theme.