A Nickel For A Kingdom by geist_191

[raw]
made by geist_191 for Ludum Dare 45 (JAM)

Start of as a peasant and trade your way up to royalty. ​'A NICKEL FOR A KINGDOM' is a 2D/3D trading & memory game in which you try to trade your nickel with villagers. The things you get from them can be traded again! What will your destiny be.

The game has 14 different endings and was created for the Ludum Dare #45.

​​CONTROLS:

KEYBOARD or CONTROLLER

W, A, S , D or LEFT STICK - Walking/Menu navigation E or A - Confirm​

​LINKS:

​Check out the Healing Bullet Twitter account and our current Indie Game 'Project: Override': https://twitter.com/healingbullet​

Ratings

Overall 206th 3.833⭐ 44🧑‍⚖️
Fun 279th 3.631⭐ 44🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 294th 3.56⭐ 44🧑‍⚖️
Theme 202th 3.821⭐ 44🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 258th 4.012⭐ 43🧑‍⚖️
Audio 149th 3.805⭐ 43🧑‍⚖️
Humor 174th 3.573⭐ 43🧑‍⚖️
Mood 143th 3.905⭐ 44🧑‍⚖️
Given 35🗳️ 52🗨️

Feedback

GraphicEdit
08. Oct 2019 · 09:54 UTC
Nice game
BOOtak
08. Oct 2019 · 10:08 UTC
this game is huge! And wonderful! I've found only 2 or 3 endings, would definitely dig further. I love music, art and the size off this world!
Dr4g0nsoul
08. Oct 2019 · 10:12 UTC
@graphicedit and @bootak Thank you :smiley:
🎤 geist_191
08. Oct 2019 · 10:13 UTC
@graphicedit thank you so much !
🎤 geist_191
08. Oct 2019 · 10:13 UTC
@bootak Thank you so much! We really appreciate the kind words!
Cfdj43
08. Oct 2019 · 10:17 UTC
Really nice aesthetic!
Matthew Engurasoff
08. Oct 2019 · 10:18 UTC
Really enjoyed it
FlyWolfe
08. Oct 2019 · 11:30 UTC
Really love the atmosphere in the game! The music is amazing and the world feels really put together :D
Dr4g0nsoul
08. Oct 2019 · 11:39 UTC
@cfdj43, @matthew-engurasoff and @flywolfe:

Thanks! We are glad you enjoyed the game :smile:
CatilianGames
08. Oct 2019 · 13:37 UTC
WOW! Your game feels ,looks and plays amazing, just the art style and the sounds already drew me in. Good job guys!
WhatNameGames
08. Oct 2019 · 13:47 UTC
Genuinely awesome. Brilliant art and so much content.
🎤 geist_191
08. Oct 2019 · 15:16 UTC
@catiliangames wow thank you so much! This really means a lot to us.
🎤 geist_191
08. Oct 2019 · 15:16 UTC
@whatnamegames thank you soo much!
NachtWitch
08. Oct 2019 · 16:38 UTC
The game is absolutely fantastic, it's fun, ts interesting, it's creative, glad you joined us for this jam my guy
DaniilN
08. Oct 2019 · 17:15 UTC
Big world and well-designed economy. Well done! As well as nice graphics and atmosphere)
Hartvichio
08. Oct 2019 · 17:24 UTC
Very cute and I liked it despite not liking cute things. The best moment was the lonely lady whom i first considered to be of the transvestite sort, because the building next to her cropped away the "y" in lady.
🎤 geist_191
08. Oct 2019 · 17:28 UTC
@nachtwitch thank you so much , really appreciate this ! :)
🎤 geist_191
08. Oct 2019 · 17:43 UTC
@daniiln thank you so much! Appreciate the feedback
🎤 geist_191
08. Oct 2019 · 17:44 UTC
@hartvichio haha the lonely lad :D , appreciate the kind words
pestodesign
08. Oct 2019 · 18:33 UTC
A nice idea! Keeping all the needs of the villagers in mind can be tough :D
🎤 geist_191
08. Oct 2019 · 19:12 UTC
@pestodesign thank you! we thought about implementing a map but we ran out of time unfortunately
pestodesign
08. Oct 2019 · 19:15 UTC
@geist-191 No, I think this made it heavier and more fun.
🎤 geist_191
08. Oct 2019 · 19:50 UTC
@pestodesign oh , very good than , we are glad you enjoyed the game. If I may ask, how many endings did you find :)?
pestodesign
08. Oct 2019 · 19:56 UTC
@geist only 4! But I will get back to it later! :)
🎤 geist_191
08. Oct 2019 · 20:06 UTC
@pestodesign oh, that's cool :) Thank you
fre
08. Oct 2019 · 23:22 UTC
I love the amount of polish and little details! :heart: (walking animation, location transitions, building fade,...)

I'd be curious to hear about your process for designing and keeping track of all the trades and location, seems like it would be easy to underestimate.

Overall, your game came together as a really wonderful package for me, glad I got to play it! :mouse:

I wouldn't really change anything, but just as food for thought, you could consider speeding up the animations slightly (e.g. text, gates) and shrinking the game world a tiny bit in order to make the core game loop of trading items a bit quicker to explore. I only got to three endings in ~20mins, would have liked to discover more since the game appears to have tons of content.
Catie Jo
08. Oct 2019 · 23:22 UTC
Hey this was a great game! We also did a story-based game, so I'm especially impressed by the amount of content. And world is so much bigger than I expected! I really love how everything comes together--the characters are super cute, the simple but consistent world, and overall aesthetic went really well together. I also really appreciated some of those more time-consuming bits of polish, like separate music scores for different areas, pacing (I thought it was great that you could very easily find the free bread ending, which made the goal of the game super straight-forward), and making sure objects become transparent rather than occlude the character :smiley:

The only things I noticed were small...
1. The character to the left of the King (inner castle) gets part of his dialog occluded, so I wasn't sure what I could trade with him.
2. I also think the world could use a bit more geometry...I think the simplicity really helps interactive objects stand out, but there are smaller tweaks (like adding thickness to the floors, beveling edges, and maybe some normal maps to add texture), that could make the game just that much more cohesive.
3. The typing transition was slower than my reading speed...perhaps the words could just appear automatically?

Thanks for making such a great game! I was already convinced by your cute title image, and the game exceeded my already high expectations. I only completed 3 of the endings since it's late here and I need to go to bed...but I'd totally to play more of this game!
gamedesignguy
08. Oct 2019 · 23:25 UTC
Cool game! The visual style was cute and inviting, which made the world fun to explore. I liked that the different endings gave meaning to your choices and by trading items around, there was a sense of helping out the villagers in need.

I had fun, thanks for making it!
Dr4g0nsoul
09. Oct 2019 · 07:53 UTC
@fre Thanks for the feedback :wink: .

We used 4 DIN A4 sheets taped together to draw all the trading tree in it and then carefully put that into the game and checking to not do any mistakes when adding all the item trades in. It was a really fun experience and we learned a lot.

The game world was initially far bigger before becoming this size in the final version (and the player walking speed slower) which was counterintuitive for a game where you need to trade.

Thank you again and have a great day/night (depending on timezone ^^)!
Dr4g0nsoul
09. Oct 2019 · 07:57 UTC
@catie-jo Thank you! We are happie you enjoyed it.

I agree we should have playtested a bit more :sweat_smile:, but we kinda ran out of time.

Thank you though for your feedback and we will take it in consideration for the next game ^^.
Dr4g0nsoul
09. Oct 2019 · 07:59 UTC
@gamedesignguy Thank you <3! Glad you enjoyed it :D
gabas
09. Oct 2019 · 15:55 UTC
So much to do , and a huge map, i've spend a lot of time inde this game, nice dialogues btw. A think the musics was a little too loud. And the art would be a little bit more polished, just a tiny litle bit. :v:
thor1
09. Oct 2019 · 21:24 UTC
My personal favourite this year!!!
🎤 geist_191
09. Oct 2019 · 22:03 UTC
@gabas Thank you very much, really appreciate the kind words. We will definitely think about including settings next time.
🎤 geist_191
09. Oct 2019 · 22:03 UTC
@thor1
thank you so much, this means a lot to us:)
Ninben
10. Oct 2019 · 08:25 UTC
It is a amazing game ! there are a lot of content, it's beautiful, and the game is pretty innovant !
Dr4g0nsoul
10. Oct 2019 · 08:42 UTC
@ninben Thanks :) We are happy to hear that you enjoyed it
mrerdalural
10. Oct 2019 · 11:34 UTC
Best trading game I have played on this game jam. I don't think they will get any better than this one. Good job!
I loved your game! Thank you for making it!
🎤 geist_191
10. Oct 2019 · 13:05 UTC
@mrerdalural what a great honor! Thank you so much!
Nisovin
10. Oct 2019 · 20:56 UTC
A fun trading game with a charming graphical style. Also lots of fun dialogue. I did notice that the guy next to the king had his trade partially covered by the level.
🎤 geist_191
10. Oct 2019 · 22:25 UTC
@nisovin thank you so much :) We were in quite a hurry towards the end and missed that one, but we will pay more attention to those details next time :)
MateusBoga
10. Oct 2019 · 23:48 UTC
This was so good! I love how each item has a purpose and the game progressed naturally without feeling like a bottleneck, and the little animals are so cute! Amazing job with what you did in 72 hours!

I laughed when I gave the princess's hand to the king and he executed me.

Sometimes the icons get covered by walls and pillars especially with the Paladin, which was a bit frustrating.
🎤 geist_191
11. Oct 2019 · 08:10 UTC
@mateusboga thank you so much for the kind words. Unfortunately we did not notice that bug in time and that's why it is still in the game. A post-jam version will fix the problem :)

Glad you liked the ending :)!
Ferdi
11. Oct 2019 · 11:06 UTC
Most advanced trading game for this jam. Amazing job ! Loved the game art music is nice and there is a bunch of trades to do. I was catched for way longer than I thought. GG !
Meta-link
11. Oct 2019 · 11:44 UTC
A really, really cool game ! The gameplay is really fun (character's name are hilarious) and the art style is yet simple but amazing.

Good job :slight_smile:
Dr4g0nsoul
11. Oct 2019 · 15:50 UTC
@ferdi Thank you so much! How many endings did you find?
Dr4g0nsoul
11. Oct 2019 · 15:51 UTC
@meta-link We're really happy that you enjoyed our little game :)

Thank you for playing!
Omickron
11. Oct 2019 · 18:17 UTC
Good idea with the variability of the endings. Carries on the passage of the game. A decent performance and thoughtfulness of the map.
🎤 geist_191
11. Oct 2019 · 18:20 UTC
@omickron thank you so much! Appreciate the kind words :)
uchiro
13. Oct 2019 · 06:49 UTC
**What a wonderful trade game!**

I finished the game three times:
1. Gave bread to a poor boy and came to a happy life.
2. Joined the cultists and destroyed the Kingdom.
3. Became the right-hand of the king.

It was interesting! Also, I liked the art style. The very cool combination of 2d and 3d.
You have a clear level design. I never got lost.

I would like to see all the endings, but going through the first half of the game more then 3 times isn't interesting.
Checkpoints would help me. For example in the form of the mindmap. When I get a new item, a new leaf appears.
🎤 geist_191
13. Oct 2019 · 14:53 UTC
@uchiro That's some good endings you got there! Thank you a lot for the feedback. After one ending all doors could be open all the time and the player could start with an item already :) Good ideas, thanks
uchiro
13. Oct 2019 · 17:00 UTC
@geist-191 Sorry, I didn't notice it. It will definitely improve start of the game.
Simon Rahnasto
13. Oct 2019 · 21:32 UTC
![ea9043ff63c92700171dd292be370e21.png](///raw/db1/6/z/298b9.png)
weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeell oooops...

What a fun little game, it gets more and more fun for every run you do, I was a bit confused first when I won the game with the orphan ending, but the more I played the more I liked it. The art, music and story is great, it's very clear that you spent a lot of time on the writing. I love the fact that it "makes" sense, like when I got an orange I figured that one of the sailors probably wanted it because of scurvy. Great job!
🎤 geist_191
13. Oct 2019 · 21:33 UTC
@uchiro Nono, it is not in the game yet, but it would be a very good feature. Thank you for the input!
🎤 geist_191
14. Oct 2019 · 22:31 UTC
@simon-rahnasto sounds like you got the best ending :D! Thanks so much! We are glad that you liked our writing, it really was a big part of the process :)