I have no idea what to do!

@mike09123 The operator's manual (space) has everything you need to know!

This is actually awesome. I played this for about 30 mins trying to understand it and skimming through the manual, and it is actually very interesting. Unfortunately, I think that there is too much to learn and understand in order to enjoy this game, that I don't think everyone will play it all the way through. I would recommend playing an audio of someone reading the manual to the player so that they don't have to read it. For example, add a radio to the desk that when clicked will read it for you while you play. I'd be interested in seeing a video on how this game is intended to be played, because my strategy didn't get me very far, haha. Awesome entry :)

@adonisdevs Thanks for the review! Yeah, we realized towards the end that someone who *wasn't* on the dev team probably would have no idea what to do, and there was just so much stuff and so little time that a real tutorial wasn't possible, and we made the manual. Not an ideal solution, but the best we could come up with.

I enjoyed the humor in the Manual. Generally, it's a bit hard to convince someone to play a game, let alone read a manual to do so. I felt like I had to read the manual because it was unclear what I was supposed to be doing otherwise. My main suggestions for improvement would be to make it easier to understand what the player is supposed to be doing, and to speed up the game. It seems like it takes a while for anything to happen, unless I fiddle with the wrong things and make the reactor explode intentionally.

@codsalmon The stats update hourly. Is that perhaps the issue? Anyway, your concerns are all things that we also noticed, but it was too late to fix. I appreciate your review!

Very interesting game. I couldn't figure out why I was losing, it would happen so fast, but I enjoyed reading the manual and poking around.

I really liked the game.
My main concern is, that it's quite slow. I didn't finish it, but first couple of days I seemed to succesfully fill the quota with no incidents, and unless it's getting more complicated as the time goes by it's relatively simple.
Required some reading through the manual, but after that, smooth sail.

Which is good, I guess, taking into account that this is a freaking reactor! :)

nostalgic graphics, reminds me of the good old flash times

I read your comment about how the manual came about. I actually would have guessed that the manual was a *deliberately* confusing way to provide instructions — like, the game was complex on purpose and a satire about job training.

Might be interesting to lean into that a bit — add some humor tied to fail states or stupid actions for people who don't read the manual. Like me.

Like the Chernobyl series. Thanks for the game, wish you the best of luck :)

I didn't manage to finish, and had trouble at first but by taking the time to read the (a bit long) manual it became a little more understandable. Good game, good work !

I think this game is very interesting, but requires a lot of time. The manual was really overwhelming in the amount of things you're required to do. It's crazy how you managed to fit all these interesting mechanics in with just three days. In turn, this creates a bigger game that requires more time. Unfortionately, some people are turned away by this due to is size. I have a small understanding and I'm able to last a little bit (after skimming through the manual). I feel like a hands on tutorial would have been better for a game like this to help the player through learning the mechanics of it. Nonetheless, the game was fun and the art felt nice. A very interesting idea that hit the theme pretty well and in a unique way. Great submission!

I feel like some of the mechanics need more explaining. I would play for a while and then the reactor would then just explode for what seemed like no reason at all. The graphics were good and the sound fit the theme but was a bit repetitive. I did like the manual idea as it fits with the idea of running a reactor. Though it is annoying that not everything was explained in great detail. The manual felt very much like keep talking and nobody explodes if you have ever played that.

I have no idea what I'm doing! I love it!

This is a surprisingly competent and well thought out game. It meets the theme as well! I think that the complexity is part of the charm and adds to repeatability. I can appreciate when something requires that. This is a great first step towards taking this game further! I hope to see it on a store at some point. It would be a fun puzzle game to own.

Keep up the good work and see you next Ludam Dare!

Okay, so this is pretty competent entry (I especially enjoyed the humour), but there are a lot of rough edges. The game kinda feels cryptic, even with the manual. If you are planning to work on your game, I would recommend implementing a sort of tooltip system within game space, so the important info is always at hand. Also, if the game over screen told me exactly why I failed, I would have easier time learning from my mistakes.

I think this is one of the more ambitious entries I've played so far.
One thing that would help immensely is feedback from interactions. Noises on button presses or something similar would help a ton to clarify when you are actually doing things.

I have a soft spot for nuclear plant sims. I liked to play this but when I got the "game over" I never knew what happened :( I was not able to improve my procedures for the next run because did not know why it went wrong. But still a nice simulation, and hopefully you develop this game more :)