I cannot embed twitch videos but here is a link to your game on my stream!

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/296647577?t=01h04m56s

A very nice game! Pay attention to the descriptions of the items to get the rules of the placement of the item. Each item has rules on how it can be placed, and this gives it some very interesting strategy in how you place items.

A little slow at first, but gets more interesting later on as you have dilemmas over which items to take into your inventory.

Fits the theme very well.

Wow, this is Nice! Started a bit... simple. But I like How it got more complex and challenging!
Not sure how I'm supposed to fail, so far so good, but yeah clever stuff! Having to read the descriptions, especially when some are trivial, some say a lot and some look trivial but are relevant!
Its got a story too, kind of neet.

Pretty good use of theme. a rule based game like this is always fun to play. no reason this couldn't be a mobile tile in my mind. just needs some enhancements. things like better feedback for why you can place an item down, more rules, original assets. and i wish i had the ability to speed up how fast items come, almost like tetris pieces.

-> Feedback work on translating what you want the player to do
-> Need to figure out the "skill check" how to convey that to the player, as well as make me feel clever and awesome for doing it right
-> Have a bunch more effects and responses for picking up and drpping items to make that action fun by itself.
-> Total Value of the bag needs to be shown and update dynamically somewhere
-> Either add a locking icon once you place items, or make it to where you can move items after they have been put in the inventory.

This game has creative gameplay ideas but reads a bit incoherently for a few reasons:

- A UI like this is going to be assumed to be a convenience function, and not the focus of the game.
- When that UI is combined with a timer mechanic like the conveyor, it looks like it's going to be a fast-paced time management game.
- Then the per-item rules come in and it starts to feel much more complex than usual time management games, where everything you need to know can be seen and understood immediately.
- The game focuses on "scoring" instead of "solving," which when combined with the conveyor kind of implies that my strategy is to sit there waiting until I see as many items as possible, calculate an optimal score, and then quickly move every one of them. All of that means that I can't think at my own pace and relish in a decision.

There are a lot of ideas there that all work in isolation, and then end up fighting for time and player attention. The solution is almost certainly not to add more UI, because that gradually leads down the path of "training" the player to play in a form dictated by the computer based on its calculations. You lose all the immediacy of just clicking on things and seeing what happens. That's where incoherence really damages a design: It leads you towards adding scope to fix your problems, which creates new problems.

One of the thing I discuss in my devlog for this past compo is how to make sure an idea is coherent before implementing. It might help you think about how to make this design accessible. I've seen plenty of games in past game jams that do the "inventory management as puzzle game" thing. They work best when they're presented in a way that carefully emphasizes the puzzle aspects, but I don't think any of the ones I've seen have really nailed how to make it into a game that defines the genre. A lot of the time, video games work simply because they have a core interaction that works - like Mario jumping or shooting a gun in Doom, and with puzzle games, a similar thing applies. It has to feel good from the beginning.

I feel like at the beginning the game was way too slow but I understand that for a tutorial level. My problem is that in the last few levels the items moved too fast making impossible to be able to see everything from which books are in a set (since for me there were some that looked similar but weren't part of the same set), the selling cost and the position where they must be placed. I still had fun with the game it's just that the last few levels didn't worked well as a puzzle game.

The added complexity as the game went on was really great. I loved all the different rules, but I kind of wish we had more items per level with more varying values to really make decisions. The ability to throw items away being a book was also unexpected- my intuition for the gameplay would let me think I could toss items at anytime. I still had a lot of fun though! I loved all the unique item descriptions.

Really cool concept, but I think it missed a few things that would have really made it much more fun for me:

1) Bigger motivation for wanting to get better. For all the levels I played, the level is over when you fill out the entire grid. There should at least be some kind of minimal value you need to go over to go to the next level so I'd feel motivated to collect more item.

2) I think it would be much nicer if you allowed throwing out or rearranging items already in the bag.

3) Would be really nice if there was a way to speed up the items rolling through the screen

Also, I couldn't figure out what the slider on the bottom left does.

Other than that, I think it's a really neat idea, and nicely executed!

Seems like interesting idea, but the items in the beginning moving way to slow. Btw, audio somehow sounds like mono.

A good game idea, the music should be improved. The graphics are good.
Try our game too, maybe you'll like it)

Good game, nice to see extra mechanics constantly being introduced each level. The backstory to the game and the item descriptions provided a lighthearted tone, which was great. Some meachnics might have needed to be reworked though, and the beginning levels were definitely too slow.

Great idea, i liked it much. The first level was too slow, maybe that should be tutorial and somehow quicker

@tigerj Hi, checked your thatch and it was amazing. If you wouldnt mind trying my LD entry, i would be amazing https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/42/treasure-hunter

Really cool idea! The first level should probably be shorter or just skip it and start from the 2nd level.
A level select screen would be a great addition, also maybe a maximum score bar for completionists.

Great work!

Pretty cool idea and nice to play. Adding a story to the game really made a difference!

I had to take a look, as we also made a frantic inventory management game.

This is neatly made, and the on-going story is a great touch. However you give us all these insights into getting more points, and then a level is solved no matter what you collect. I agree with the others that a given point barrier would have made the game more interesting.

nice idea, at frist didnt know what todo but so far it is great game, keep it up

Fun concept, although I think it starts too slow. The entire first level takes almost a minute and there aren't really any choices to be made. I think throwing in more of the interesting mechanics early would be better. Either way, nice job.

this is great. thought it was boring at the beginning and then the challenge ramps up on the next stages. I like how some items have specific places where you can place them. i love the item descriptions especially the spell #42! i love this!

Good idea! Easy as first but the difficulty really ramped up and I found myself grabbing a bunch of useless junk.

One suggestion I have to help with clarity: when you pick up an item, it ought to highlight the spots you're able to put them.

Loved the story progression! All the mechanics made sense and complemented each other. I really enjoyed the descriptions and what seemed to be constant references. Couldn't NOT get Spell 42 every chance I could. Great job!

That was pretty fun! No surprise that I'd enjoy this considering what my game was, ha ha ha :) Hmmm... something like a goal score to aim for in each level would be really cool, I think. I'm pretty sure my score was pretty great in *most* levels. Definitely not the last one, or the first one that introduced the golden "sale" books. I messed up big time on those and had a good chuckle. I enjoyed the story blurbs and the added mechanics. I went from not really knowing what I was doing in stage 1 (which was probably the intent, given the terrible quality of the items and the narrative) to feeling like I was a pro merchant. Good stuff. :)

Is there any difference between the destroying and selling items? I thought my score would be higher after using those golden books.

@veskstr There is a difference. When you sell an item that is not part of a set, your total score for the level should increase. Destroying and item just removes it.

There could be a bug where the score didn't update, or there could be a UI issue. Many have reported uncertainty in what their score would be after playing a level, and in the post LD version, I plan to make it easier for players to understand/predict their total points.

Thank you for the feedback.

Nice game) I like how you gradually introduce new mechanics. The more you play more deeper it seems. Good job!

Really enjoyed it! Great job, and I loved the twist on the theme!

Nice game!

Pros:
- Fun take on the theme
- Nice mechanics

Cons:
- Felt the progress was a bit slow, not giving much challenge as it progressed
- Lack of motivation other than highscore

Obs:
Not sure how to use the golden book :sweat_smile:

Cheers!

Original idea. I will suggest adding one or two more mechanics that will add more action to the game.

Nice game, the first level is probably a bit too slow. There is nothing that really tells you: "collect at least 50 gold in this round" or anything else, that would motivate you to collect better items, but it is definetely a solid entry.

Just played your game. enjoyed it. Needs a bit mor polis but it's acool interpretation.

and remember the hovering -> allowed spots

Interesting game. Can fit on a mobile platform really well. At first, I was expecting diablo-like inventory management, but this game was actually more focused on figuring out the best item combinations in your backpack. I was a little bit disappointed at first, but as things started to get more complicated i had fun trying to guess which combination would be better.

The flow could be faster to really give that feeling of resource management on a crunch time. I did not know I could not swap new items for the ones already in the bag which made the game feel slower since I had to wait a long while before more items came up and each time I picked up the game paused.

I thinking that increasing the flow of items, removing the pausing, and allowing me to switch items (maybe this last one defeats the purpose) would make this game a nice time killer. It's a neat idea and I agree, a mobile version of this be great!

A very inovative idea well implemented. I felt that there was no consequences for a low score though.

Pros:
- Easy gameplay
- Nice graphics and sound

Cons:
- Game feels a little too slow

@syrapt0r I am sorry that I was unable to attend the stream while you played Inventory Wars, but in watching the replay I noticed that you only played the first level. There are 12 levels total, and when you reached the end of level one you were hitting the Endgame button instead of next level.

Holy inventory! Nice Game :) I'm super OCD when it comes to inventories in games and it's about time there is a game truly devoted to that xD
I think I understand why you did this, but I really wanted to move items after they were placed. Or at the very least, be able to put an item down once picked up, even by accident, you have to decide what to do with it. Apart from that, I really enjoyed it. Good Job!

Not exactly what I initially expected in an inventory game, but you had a great twist on the theme. :) very good buildup in learning combos. Felt very gradual. Good musical addition as well. (even if you did not add music to score, it does add to mood)

It was hard to know exactly how well I did though, I expected an 'score at least X' before/after each level or somesuch.

But I completed all levels - good hook! :smiley:

Very nice game

Nice game! Great job with the music, i just loved it :)

This was quite a unique game, it was constructed very well and the pace of the gameplay scales up at a nice and steady pace! one thing i would add is the ability to place an item back on the bottom bar whilst you remove other items from your bag, but other than that it is a very unique game built in a very nice style with lovely music and very well done UI and text, Congratulations!

Great job guys ! I like the UI you made :) and the music you choose is really good :)

Maybe you could slow down items to let time to read ^^'

I really enjoyed this little scoring game! The gameplay is well thought but I think that some additional visual feedbacks would make the experience even better! Otherwise I think the visual and sound atmosphere is awesome! Great job! :)

By the way please feel free to leave us some feedbacks on our game!

It's simple and straight to the point - and I really enjoyed playing it. It made me laugh once, which is also good. A great example of a Ludum Dare game scoped just right. I wish that you could put the items back in the queue and that you did not have to click second time to "let go". Good luck!

Simple and mystery. I really like your graphics. The game is fun and interesting. Very neat idea. Good Work dude

You got me there with the gluten-free health potion! :ok_hand: :laughing:

After a number of levels and progression of its story, things are starting to heat up with different requirements and limitations.

In the end (after couple of stages) I end-up blindly adding items to inventory disregarding its requested conventions until it fills up the inventory.. (from running out of space turned to running out of patience, until stage 12); (I was thinking there would be a minimal amount of score to progress as there did not seem to be any consequence once the item conveyor belt are running out dry.)
There are moments I would like to control the speed of the conveyor belt..

- Nice touch for ability to continue game and have a chance to replay levels for better score. :thumbsup:

Optional Suggestions:
- For items that are restricted to certain tiles (rings/potions to top, weapons to side, etc..) Why not highlight compatible tiles or darken incompatible tiles?
- Larger Icons or Sprites to inventory slots..
- Option to drop items from inventory back into the conveyor-belt, even accepted-inventory items for a better chance to drop-in better item for improved score (eg. much like some RPGs or data-heavy FPS games where you could compare the stats. of items [green-better; red-worse; grey-neutral], and chance to add icons for class specific requirements [eg. dragon armor set of 3, or wizard set..])
- change it up on variation of the conveyor-belt pacing (slow, fast, random, trickle of 'dry-season' follow up by mayhem of piled on items)
- Items that are unidentified on descriptions and will require a skill/scroll or book to identify/appraise.

A well-done game; I liked the items descriptions and the difficulty gradient is nice.
It was a bit disappointing that your actions from one level did not have any repercussions on the others (maybe just a "total score" at the end?), and I had no way of knowing if I did well or not, as each level has a different maximum score (maybe add stars, or "score: XX/XX").
Edit: Oh, I just saw the "resume" button, nice.

cool!