Cosmic Relay by LDJam user 384191
You are #54-VDST, the operator of Llxazq's communication relay 03.
Relay signals to other planets in order to achieve galactic harmony.

Keep your relay operational by completing various standard maintenance tasks:


Controls
- Arrows: Move the cursor
- Z/X : Pick/drop icons
- C/V (held) + Left/Right : switch screen
Additional instructions are given in the game.
| Link | https://github.com/GhettoBastler/LD59 |
| Link | https://ghettobastler.itch.io/cosmic-relay |
| Original URL | https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/59/celestial-relay |
Ratings
| Overall | 7th | 4.275⭐ | 22🧑⚖️ |
| Fun | 12th | 4.15⭐ | 22🧑⚖️ |
| Innovation | 22th | 4.025⭐ | 22🧑⚖️ |
| Theme | 47th | 4.2⭐ | 22🧑⚖️ |
| Graphics | 15th | 4.325⭐ | 22🧑⚖️ |
| Audio | 29th | 4.025⭐ | 22🧑⚖️ |
| Humor | 34th | 3.7⭐ | 22🧑⚖️ |
| Mood | 29th | 4⭐ | 22🧑⚖️ |
| Given | 18🗳️ | 13🗨️ |
It was confusing at the start (I didn't realize why there was an X and I couldn't use it, not having internalized the screen switching controls). I also found the input prompts quite hard to read, which might be a limitation of the Pico (not sure if those input prompts are the "official" Pico buttons) but in particular the arrow keys were really hard to map in my head and could use an extra pixels to properly define the arrow shape.
In terms of the overall gameplay I think the biggest weakness is the lose condition or lack thereof. From what I can tell there are basically two ways the day can end: either the message queue fills up, or the timer runs out. Neither of these are "lose" conditions as you go on to the next day all the same, and the only consequence for filling up the message queue is opportunity cost to increase your score. I personally find "score" isn't as motivating as "you might lose the game" so I would rather that filling the message queue is an actual loss condition, so a bit like Tetris, in the harder levels I am fighting to stay above water and not be filled all the way to the top.
And then I would say that the countdown timer is kind of too similar to the message queue filling up (they are just two different ways to require me to move fast), so I would replace the countdown timer with a message quota that fills up: once the quota fills up, I win. That way there is a clear win condition (send X messages) and a clear loss condition (have Y messages in the queue) and I can have the satisfaction of *just* filling my quota before the queue fills up.
I say the above as constructive criticism because I really enjoyed the overall concept and rated it very highly. Good luck!
@matt-giuca I must admit the main idea didn't set in my mind until very late in development, and I ended up rushing the "several days" thing which is why there's no real win/lose conditions and only one ending. Next time I think I'll try having the different gameplay loops fleshed out before starting development. Thank you for the great feedback and suggestions!

I actually liked that conceptually the game always ends in failure, and the goal is to survive as long as possible. Pretty cruel, but very realistic 😄
The only thing I would suggest is adding a daily quota. Great work!

honestly I don't think I have any criticisms, the one issue I had with the game was entirely my fault this time. great job!
Very fun game! It had charming graphics and the gameplay was engaging. I think the only thing I might have done differently is to allow for selection wrapping, where pressing left when I'm on the left most screen takes me to the right most screen, and pressing up on the top selection takes me to the bottom selection. That is an extremely minor quibble and might even have been done on purpose as a form of balancing, but I think it would make the inputs that teensy bit smoother.
Absolutely wonderful game and probably the most fun game I've played this jam.