A Short Detour by Kyrio

[raw]
made by Kyrio for Ludum Dare 47 (JAM)

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How much excitement can a bus driver expect during his daily ride? Little? Let's say the town is full of monsters then. Oh, and a bunch of dreadful incidents force you to change your course every day. Is that not enough? Well then, you might want to listen in on your passengers' conversations.

How to play

  • Starting on Monday, you will drive your bus through its usual route, taking passengers where they need to be.
  • Incidents can happen on the road ahead, and are indicated on the map. When approaching one, you will have to choose between two alternative routes to avoid it. Each route will skip ❌ a number of stops, and serve ✔ others instead.
  • The only control is the left click ;)

Credits

All graphics, designs and code were created during the Jam, by @kazu, @helicule and @kyrio.

Find us on social media if you enjoyed our work :slight_smile: - Hélicule, who painted everything you see on the top screen, is on Twitter, Instagram and itch.io - Kazu, who drew all things bottom screen-related, is on Instagram - Kyrio, who wrote all the super technical bus driving code, is on Twitter and itch.io

Huge thanks to BBC Sound Effects for the recordings we used in the game.

The Web version should have no issues, as long as you're not playing on a phone! Choose a native build (Windows, macOS, Linux) if you encounter performance drops.

Ratings

Overall 846th 3.464⭐ 30🧑‍⚖️
Fun 1411th 2.732⭐ 30🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 652th 3.466⭐ 31🧑‍⚖️
Theme 435th 3.931⭐ 31🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 17th 4.69⭐ 31🧑‍⚖️
Humor 209th 3.704⭐ 29🧑‍⚖️
Mood 32th 4.379⭐ 31🧑‍⚖️
Given 18🗳️ 23🗨️

Feedback

Kpedatte
06. Oct 2020 · 16:46 UTC
Nice game. Really beautiful.
I didn't understant everything, but that was a great moment
thunderkerrigan
06. Oct 2020 · 16:54 UTC
Interesting takes on the theme :smile:

I was confused at first but it's a nice concept and refreshing idea!
Just going with the flow and let's the mood sets in.

Good job :clap:
gridsane
06. Oct 2020 · 16:54 UTC
Very nice graphics and atmosphere, well done!
I managed to end game, story was fun, but objective is really unclear.
Overall, it was interesting experience.
Macmist
06. Oct 2020 · 16:56 UTC
That's a cool and unusual experience! Love the idea, and the graphics are gorgeous. Lots of good lines as well! Sound effects are well placed too. Maybe it lacks a bit of interactions, but it is also very chilled and relaxed. Well done!
Cary Stanley
06. Oct 2020 · 17:17 UTC
The visuals are really great! The monster chatter also makes it more immersive. But as far as game play, the user is only left with route choices, and since the choices obscure the map it feels like it's harder to make a "right" choice. I was probably supposed to pay more attention to the conversations. I think I got the "Bad Ending" the first time. After playing the game though a 2nd time I got the "Good Ending".
grenk
06. Oct 2020 · 17:39 UTC
Really great aesthetic!
theStoff
06. Oct 2020 · 17:54 UTC
Really interesting game. It felt like a unique idea and really created a nice atmosphere. I will admit I never found the objective but it was interesting going around listening to passengers, establishing the world
Gzuis
06. Oct 2020 · 21:40 UTC
Nice game, really loved the graphics, the sounds and atmosphere overall. Gameplay wise, I felt confused about what the goal was until I realized there was a story behind, the lack of decisions made me lost at some points, but there is really something nice about this game's visual style and its concept
orlandobatista
06. Oct 2020 · 22:39 UTC
I didn't quite understand what was the goal, missed a bit more of player's interaction, but there are really nice graphics and overall atmosphere, with everything well placed and good lines. Well done!
JulienLussiez
06. Oct 2020 · 23:20 UTC
It's a beautiful game, it's not clear what you need to do at first but this game has potential. I don't know if you plan to improve it but with clear instructions, it could be very good because at the moment the atmosphere is very engaging.
Stanimir Velichkov
06. Oct 2020 · 23:23 UTC
Great job! The idea does have its potential to be grow more in the future! Once again good job and keep up the good work!
Eugenik
07. Oct 2020 · 02:54 UTC
Amazing original concept!
m7rk
07. Oct 2020 · 03:21 UTC
I thought the main gameplay loop was too slow. Unclear what the end goal is. It does look pretty, though.
AndideBob
07. Oct 2020 · 11:54 UTC
This game is so relaxed! And so beautiful! I just enjoyed this as a really nice and chill experience in between all the other games, which require me to solve some timeloop puzzles! Really well done!
Bauke Regnerus
07. Oct 2020 · 11:57 UTC
Love the Nintendo DS setup, the graphics and the atmosphere. Relaxing to play, good job! The only thing missing is music.
Artyom Volkov
11. Oct 2020 · 19:08 UTC
Small and neat game, it's simple, but interesting to play. I love characters and atmosphere.
Roikku
11. Oct 2020 · 19:09 UTC
Very awesome art! Love the characters!
elysiagriffin
11. Oct 2020 · 21:10 UTC
Thanks for submitting your game for me to play on my livestream!

If you’d like to rewatch the playthrough, you can find it here:

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/767505473?t=0h26m54s

Good luck on your ratings, see you next LD! :D

💜 Elysia Griffin AKA Button Feedback Lady

https://www.twitch.tv/elysiagriffin
Kaldrin
12. Oct 2020 · 19:23 UTC
I really loved the graphics, the mood is so beautiful, I love the street lights are beautiful, the night ambiance is cute, everything is so neat, even the map, really cool and nice fun twist to make the characters monsters!
The audio is also on point, simple but does work well, nice job!
I enjoyed how chill it was, but maybe there was a little too much waiting even if the characters were speaking.

However I did not understand the gameplay, it was really confusing, the stops weren't clear on the map which one was named which one, it's not very useful that the choice is over the map so I can't see the map while deciding, and only one choice per day is maybe not enough. I played multiple times to try all choices, it had no impact, only the precinct on the third day was where the murderer was, I found it a little sad only the third day was engaging with actual info on the murderer that were usable.

The concept is interesting though and original, nice job!
I'd love to have just this aesthetic of animation looping on a screen in buses just because it's cute and chill at night :)
Honest Dan
15. Oct 2020 · 19:10 UTC
a good foundation for an interesting game experience! I like the potential and your ambition - and you should be pleased with home much you got done in the game jam duration! In its jam state it was easy to miss the intended purpose of the game, but I was glad you were in chat to help me see the games intended direction!
🎤 Kyrio
15. Oct 2020 · 20:54 UTC
Thanks @honest-dan, I really wish we had time to achieve our initial vision but we strived to give a proper glimpse of it. I'm glad you saw potential in there :heart:
JUSTCAMH
23. Oct 2020 · 14:24 UTC
Hey, I got your game on stream, and enjoyed playing it! Here's the vod if you wanna rewatch; https://www.twitch.tv/videos/779148172

And thanks for submitting your game!