Entropia by Kaisean Games

[raw]
made by Kaisean Games for Ludum Dare 46 (JAM)

Introduction

Lost in space, as the universe decays into singularity.

Helping those few little remaining planets survive by resource exchange.

Keeping them alive...

Keeping you alive...

Keeping the universe alive.


Let us know your score in the comments :smile:


Feel free to experiment with the game, or check the help for some instructions. The updated version has much more improved in-game help.

Known bugs (original): - Entering help will mess up with music. So after reading, please restart the game.

Updated and improved versions are all post-LD and not the original entry!

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Ratings

Overall 875th 3.633⭐ 51🧑‍⚖️
Fun 1277th 3.286⭐ 51🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 601th 3.602⭐ 51🧑‍⚖️
Theme 1150th 3.694⭐ 51🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 601th 4.041⭐ 51🧑‍⚖️
Humor 1509th 2.591⭐ 46🧑‍⚖️
Mood 862th 3.583⭐ 50🧑‍⚖️
Given 63🗳️ 79🗨️

Feedback

Lesslwo
21. Apr 2020 · 22:23 UTC
Very solid, chill game you have here. The presentation was good enough that I didn't really need to read the instructions, and it was fun to experiment with what all the things do. Overall, I enjoyed playing it :slight_smile:
NoobException
22. Apr 2020 · 13:44 UTC
Very cool little game!

I don't fully get what I am supposed to do, but it was fun to play and try not to die :sweat_smile:

Great job!
LaJazuve
23. Apr 2020 · 17:38 UTC
interesting idea, i'm sur you have something to dig, but i've no clue for how you can improve it, maybe display the cost of buy or rent.
Bodaciouslycrazy
23. Apr 2020 · 17:46 UTC
Fun little strategy game! Its nice that you have a help screen that explains things, but nowhere does the game tell you what each of the items look like (aside from Foodium). I figured out what Actionium and Resistium were just by messing around with them, but I couldn't figure out which ones were Scorium or Decayium. They both seem to just infinitely give me points if I click on them. Also, a few times, I manged to use an item that consumed some of my actions, causing me to have negative actions. Possibly a bug.
The pixel art is adorable! The music is super relaxing. Great job on both of those!
I had fun with this game. Very well done!
SubtlyDramatic
24. Apr 2020 · 14:50 UTC
I love your character and the use of tiles/action points is really cool! Haven't seen that in any games I've rated yet.
Apace
24. Apr 2020 · 15:03 UTC
Very innovative game concept. Really cool turn based strategy game. Apart from the concept itself, I really enjoyed the art style and the relaxing background music. Very well put together game overall. Nice job!
digitaldude555
24. Apr 2020 · 15:08 UTC
Good all round game, art is good, music is good, innovative and has a nice mood. I agree with the others in that you should show what all the elements look like, there doesnt seem to be a goal so I didnt play long.
Taddl
24. Apr 2020 · 17:47 UTC
I like the idea behind the game and the graphics are very nice.

But I think the game would really benefit from a more clear goal or non randomised resources, so you know what each planet will have and can plan routes.
dankar
25. Apr 2020 · 22:15 UTC
Really great art and chill music :) I enjoyed it a lot!
It would be great if you could see more of the level though. I felt like I wanted to zoom out all the time.

Very nice gameplay and interpretation of the theme. Awesome work!
NeitherNathan
25. Apr 2020 · 22:31 UTC
I liked the idea of the game!!!!!
One of the only things that i got a little confused were the items and they purpose.
I kno it is explained at the beggining but a wall of text discourages me.
I think that the game could have a more minimalistic and straight-forward UI.
Anyway, i really liked this game and the ideas of enthropy in it :D
🎤 Kaisean Games
25. Apr 2020 · 22:39 UTC
@neithernathan thanks for playing. And while you don't need to rate us any differently, you may be interested in trying an updated/improved version. It has everything better. Less bugs, more ingame help, instead of walls of texts :smile:
sndr
25. Apr 2020 · 23:41 UTC
I really liked the idea behind the core mechanics of this game, an interesting resource management puzzle emerging from those. It was a relaxing and soothing playthrough, and I found myself enjoying balancing the universe, the astronaut and the trading, which fed into each other quite nicely.

The overall ambience, the assets and the audio work very well together. Special mention to the tiny pixel art assets, which I loved. All of them: the sprites, the little planets, the character! Great job here!
Gildar76
25. Apr 2020 · 23:42 UTC
Like the idea of the game. I also like the art. My only problem is the audio. It's nice but a volume control would have been great.
Team-on
26. Apr 2020 · 00:03 UTC
Wish some more explanation how to play to understand it more quickly, but it's still nice turn-based survival
Viktya
26. Apr 2020 · 00:19 UTC
I enjoyed a lot this one ^^ fun and calm to play; I wish I had an in-game sound control, it was a bit loud, even if the music was good. Nice entry!
Trigueiro
26. Apr 2020 · 03:16 UTC
Great Great Game! One of my favorites. Don't know why you don't have more ratings...As for feedback I don't think much to add, maybe, a quick tutorial explaining a bit how stuff works.
🎤 Kaisean Games
26. Apr 2020 · 05:12 UTC
@team-on @trigueiro thanks guys for the positive comments :smiley:

If you liked the game, and you could spare some more time, we would greatly appreciate it if you tried the updated version (which fixes lots of bugs, balances the game and provides better ingame help) and give us more feedback on how we could improve it even further. Cause we are considering moving the game forward, after the jam and we need all the advice we can get. :smiley:
Trigueiro
26. Apr 2020 · 11:34 UTC
@kaisean-games Will do it later :) I will also follow you
thebreakfast
26. Apr 2020 · 16:23 UTC
Very peaceful and calm atmosphere, I liked this one a lot. Trading with the planets was fun, learning what everyone needed and gave freely was great. Good sounds and music, decent pixel art, fun concept, really fits the theme. I think a warning message on the turn before you die of any cause would be helpful just to give the player a heads up.
🎤 Kaisean Games
26. Apr 2020 · 16:33 UTC
@thebreakfast thanks for the reply. You are totally right. The death happens suddenly without any warnings if you are not careful enough. A warning would definitely improve the experience :smile:

Thanks for playing and leaving useful feedback.
Grizley
26. Apr 2020 · 17:41 UTC
Love it
WillyPa
27. Apr 2020 · 07:54 UTC
Really enjoyed playing this one!
zguba
27. Apr 2020 · 19:48 UTC
I'm not entirely sure what have I done but I could press one of the inventory buttons over and over and received score for it. State of the game is visible on screen shot. I constatly clicked most left inventory item.

![bug4.png](///raw/905/1/z/336da.png)

Btw I love the art style.

Cheers!
🎤 Kaisean Games
27. Apr 2020 · 21:45 UTC
@zguba yeah, that was a bug. Thanks for taking time to explain it.

We fixed it in an update, along with other goodies. So if you liked the game maybe you could give the update a go (independent of the rating) and share with us more of your thoughts.

Thanks for playing and rating.
Good luck to you.
Amazura
28. Apr 2020 · 02:09 UTC
cool little game! love the atmosphere and graphics are cute. great job! :thumbsup:
Flash22
28. Apr 2020 · 09:25 UTC
Great design i personally feel if there is a small in game tutorial it would have been great but apart from that great job guys :thumbsup:
🎤 Kaisean Games
28. Apr 2020 · 11:53 UTC
@flash22 Unfortunatelly we managed to put in the in-game help only after the jam, so if you liked the game and are willing to play an improved version, there's a link to the updated/improved version as well. Don't change the rating, but let us know if you play it again and you have more feedback for us :)
LaZZyDev72
28. Apr 2020 · 13:08 UTC
Good Game Design. Keep it up. :v:
Madbarron
28. Apr 2020 · 16:22 UTC
Really cool idea but I had a hard time figuring it out. It requires another window to be open with the key of what things do. I thought clicking the purple circle would fill in the gaps in the board next to me? And I don't know why there are turns if resources all go down when you move. But I think this is a solid foundation for a fun game, nice job!
🎤 Kaisean Games
28. Apr 2020 · 17:20 UTC
@madbarron Thanks for playing and providing useful feedback.
Indeed, the purple resource should repair the decay (both cracked existing tiles as well as empty holes), but we've only managed to properly implement the feature in the updated version. I assume you have played (and rated) the original submission.

The main difference between the turns and the actions is that the universe updates on each turn (not action). So, during a turn, every planet has fixed resources and no tiles will collapse. When the turn is over, the universe will update (tiles will crack and eventually collapse, the inventories of the planets refresh). But I agree that this could be a bit confusing for the player and maybe makes sense to conflate the two in the same thing.

If you are willing to give it another try (without changing the rating), feel free to play the updated version. It is much much better and has in-game help. If you do, we'd appreciate any advice you are willing to give :smile:
Almax
28. Apr 2020 · 22:26 UTC
Simple but deep. I really enjoyed this, though I died from lack of oxygen because I didn't realise I had to revisit my ship! :)
Madbarron
28. Apr 2020 · 22:33 UTC
@kaisean-games thanks for the explanation! The new & improved version does seem to work a lot more smoothly, or maybe now I just know what to expect. :) Maybe if there was a way to scan a planet from afar to see what they trade, that would be helpful and make me feel less like I'm randomly walking around.

I think the main thing this needs now is some way for the game to end. Maybe the universe is being destroyed from the outside-in or from a black hole or something, and you can't repair it fast enough? Or a limited number of turns to get a high score or something. All in all, this is a nice game loop.

PS: props for letterboxing in fullscreen mode!
daichifob
29. Apr 2020 · 01:20 UTC
Awesome game!
invader
29. Apr 2020 · 09:56 UTC
Cool game! It takes time to figure out core mechanics, but once you know the meaning of each resource, everything starts to make sense.

Some additional in-game hints would be nice. When I was low on oxygen, I was jumping between planets trying to find a resource that would increase the oxygen level. I assumed, that since consumption of a resource reduce my hunger etc, I can find a resource to increase the oxigen levels. Instead, I was supposed to get back to my home planet. Which became obvious only after I died of suffocation :smile:
kjscott
29. Apr 2020 · 14:51 UTC
Took a while to figure out exactly how to play the game, after that it's a game that requires some patience and planning to carry out. It is built on some simple but well executed trading principles with three different personal resources you have to manage to keep yourself alive. Definitely worth playing.
nsadie
29. Apr 2020 · 19:00 UTC
I really liked this, nice clean graphics and UI, fun to play and figure out!

Oh, and fantastic title! :wink:
Hakro
30. Apr 2020 · 14:39 UTC
This is an amazing game. I played the web version, which is marked as updated, but if you managed to get most of this in 3 days, you're really good :)
I even bookmarked it to play it later.
Well done.
Mags
30. Apr 2020 · 22:24 UTC
@kjscott @nsadie and @hakro Thank you all for playing our game, we are really glad you enjoyed it and shared some nice words with us! We have some ideas on how to make it better and will maybe try to make it into something more so stay tuned if you want to. Cheers! :)
PoshDan
01. May 2020 · 11:45 UTC
I tend to find this type of game a bit stressful to play but I can say it's really well made. I wanted to zoom out a little bit to better see the state of decay and not have to rely so much on my memory. Took me a while to stop accidentally using items instead of trading them in - also at first i thought I needed to supply the "wanted" items before i could grab anything out of the planets.
khaoz-fang
01. May 2020 · 11:57 UTC
Love the idea of exchanging resources between planets while yourself need them. I think you can add some objectives for more strategy or motivation. The art and sound are neat and clean. Overall nice entry!
Manderxan
02. May 2020 · 11:04 UTC
Excellent little game, enjoyed it and then I died of radiation because I failed to check the value. :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

Cute graphics. The music fits very well and gives it a chill mood. Plays nicely and in a familiar and easy to understand way. :thumbsup:
sharbelfs
02. May 2020 · 22:15 UTC
Very nice game, it reminds me Out There, game is quite complex, one thing that maybe could make things a little more clear is about the status of the player. Oxygen goes down, and the other 2 stats go up, so, it's just a small thing, but for me it's quite confusing and I have to keep in mind that some I need to keep lower and other keep high. besides that It's a very nice entry. congrats
stmatn
04. May 2020 · 15:39 UTC
Nice game :) I like the idea of trading mechanics, but I did not realize at first that the planets would give you the resources for free. The artstyle is really beautiful and sound are fitting. Unfortunately I ran into the same bug that has already been described here, so my score does not count ;)
joe40001
04. May 2020 · 20:40 UTC
People should try to beat my highscore of 10k
🎤 Kaisean Games
04. May 2020 · 20:44 UTC
And also, you should know that @joe40001 :point_up: actually decided to commit a suicide at exactly 10000. Otherwise I have no idea when he'd actually fail. :smile:
fabula_rasa
11. May 2020 · 12:49 UTC
Very nice graphics and pleasant music. I liked the concept and the mood your game created!

Gameplay got repetitive after a while but while it was still fresh it was fun to figure stuff out and see how everything works. Very nice jam job!

I will not be mentioning things that I see you already addressed in the new and improved version. But the original jam version also presented me with some bugs that you may or may not know about. Once it became totally unresponsive (music stopped, couldn't move or do anything else) and once it started like this (awesome score though :wink:):

![Screenshot_6.jpg](///raw/732/a2/z/33fc4.jpg)
🎤 Kaisean Games
11. May 2020 · 14:45 UTC
@fabula-rasa thanks for playing. We are aware of many bugs, most of which we fixed afterwards. Thanks for playing and rating :smile:
joe40001
12. May 2020 · 04:51 UTC
Here is the VOD of me playing your game on stream: (Timecode 57:50)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ckMlQhB4kk
🎤 Kaisean Games
12. May 2020 · 08:21 UTC
@joe40001 is this video going to disappear in a week or so? You said it's there for 2 weeks during the stream.
Chaseplays
12. May 2020 · 16:48 UTC
Great job, I had a lot of fun with this! The graphics were nice, and the mechanics were interesting to play with! It felt a little bit buggy or irresponsive at times, but other than that I liked it a lot!