Diemancer by LDJam user 376203

[raw]
made by LDJam user 376203 for Ludum Dare 55 (COMPO)

Roll dice, upgrade your die sides and get the biggest score you can in 10 turns.

Controls: Mouse mostly. There is a button to reroll and end turn. Clicking on dice freezes them.

You can also use numbers to freeze or unfreeze dice and space to reroll.

Screenshot1.png

Screenshot.png

It's my first game jam and it can be seen. I had 0 time for music or polishing main menu and end screen. On top of that I had to cut 60% of dice side effects I wanted to add. But I hope you find it fun! Let me know in the comments what you thought about it :)

Ratings

Given 43🗳️ 54🗨️

Feedback

LDJam user 360310
15. Apr 2024 · 09:20 UTC
Ohhh, this is a sweet combination of yahtzee and vampire survival skills set! Easy to grasp, fun to play. Definitely one of my favorites so far! If I were picky then a hover on the gameplay dices with their info would be nice, as well as the calculation indications. Good luck!!
Andreas Decker
15. Apr 2024 · 09:24 UTC
Really enjoyed playing this, I think the dice have a lot of potential, and was already fun to play with. I was initially annoyed that I HAD to pick a new dice face, even if I liked my die, but then I realized that it opened me up to a new strat and the game had to force me to do so. Very nice!

I think if you wanted to take this further: Being able to etch multiple different dice and then pick how many of each you want to roll could be really interesting. Also, more interaction between the dice could be cool, and maybe environmental effects (i.e. my undead dice won't be as strong here, better roll more of my demonic dice, or however I etched my dice).
🎤 LDJam user 376203
15. Apr 2024 · 12:33 UTC
@freakyzelga Thanks, glad you liked it! Interesting correlation with vampire survival, it never crossed my mind that it would remind someone of it haha
🎤 LDJam user 376203
15. Apr 2024 · 12:37 UTC
@andreas-decker Thanks, love that you had fun with it! Picking dice was intentional choice and I'm glad it served it's purpose to force you to choose new strat.
Thanks for suggestions, environmental one is really interesting. It never crossed my mind and it could be really fun.
Ben Albert
15. Apr 2024 · 13:58 UTC
Yooo this is clean!! Looks super nice and love the effects! Would have loved a pass on options button, reroll on options and some sort of end state but obviously 48 hours is such a small time! Awesome work though!
LDJam user 388782
15. Apr 2024 · 13:59 UTC
I really like this. Feels like a dice version of Balatro, in some way. I think the connection to the theme is a bit thin. But great overall
Ron88
15. Apr 2024 · 14:06 UTC
I really like this game. It looks and feels so good. I got 4171 score at the end. I wish there were sounds.
tstapely07
15. Apr 2024 · 14:07 UTC
"It’s my first game jam and it can be seen" I beg to differ, I would never have been able to tell! Very easy to pick up the concept of the game, which I'm a big fan of.
I wouldn't mind being able to hover over the icons while rolling, to help choose what a good roll is.
SigmoidDev
15. Apr 2024 · 14:09 UTC
Honestly this was really fun - I loved its simplicity, and the art looks really nice! One thing I did find annoying though was that you HAD to pick something from the shop, even if the options were all worse than your current deck.
RilleP
15. Apr 2024 · 14:55 UTC
This was very fun once I got the hang of it. I managed to get 9215 score using the Demon Lord strat, with a lucky octopus drop.
🎤 LDJam user 376203
15. Apr 2024 · 15:42 UTC
@ben-albert Thanks, I spend so much time polishing the effects that I didn't had enough time to add all the mechanics I wanted haha

@ooboob Wow I'm glad you noticed that! I haven't played Balatro yet, but how they did calculating of the score was big inspiration.

@ron88 That's a good score! I'm glad you enjoyed it!

@tstapely07 Thanks, that means a lot! Yeah, hover in play and always seeing which dice sides you have was one of the features I didn't have time to add :(

@sigmoiddev Thanks, that was the goal! To make something simple and engaging. I'll keep skip button in mind if I update the game after the jam. Thanks for the feedback

@rillep Awesome, I'm glad you had fun playing it! In hindsight Octopus is a bit op, but definitely a key for huge scores.
Feynallein
15. Apr 2024 · 16:35 UTC
Interesting! Scored 1078!
LDJam user 384578
15. Apr 2024 · 18:45 UTC
Absolutely incredible, it's your first jam and you do that, we don't live in the same world... The overall experience is so cool
LDJam user 386211
15. Apr 2024 · 19:18 UTC
Fun and beautiful graphics! I would have liked to be able to continue seeing the stats throughout the turns since I kept forgetting. But other than that super satisfying to play. I think extra visual effects could really improve the experience too
Nash
15. Apr 2024 · 19:24 UTC
Really good as this was your first jam! I mean super, super solid.

It took me a moment to understand that the 6 dice in the upgrade window were the sides of that one die. When thinking back, this should have been obvious but since the graphic and layout was similar to the dice rolling screen, it tricked my brain for a moment.

I found it quite interesting that upgrades did not cost anything. It could have been one way to balance upgrades. Now some of them seemed quite powerful and it was possible to get them very early. This seems to potentially lead to situations where you get your "ideal" dice very early and just keep rolling with it and skip all upgrades.

But overall, very solid game. Looking forward to seeiog your games in the future.
CamD67
15. Apr 2024 · 19:28 UTC
Super fun game! Agreed with others, a "Skip" button in the shop would be nice.

I got a 1275 but I feel like I could've gotten more. stuck with gargoyles and frankensteins which felt good but I didn't feel like I saw better ones in the shop.
cogcomp
15. Apr 2024 · 19:40 UTC
Interesting idea and the graphics look really nice! Well done! Some ingame clarification of what needs to be done would make the game a bit easier to just dive into, but the premise is pretty easy to pick up anyway.
GodKnows
15. Apr 2024 · 19:54 UTC
Nice looking game, it's amazing that one person could make such great game solo.
CoffeeOwl
15. Apr 2024 · 20:13 UTC
This is a realy good game. I liked it. The combo with the bone dragon and the cosmic one is epic. Got 4k+ point :smiley:
Personaly I didn't have a problem with the "mandatory" change in the shop. It's nice that you need to go with a diferent startegy with every turn
🎤 LDJam user 376203
15. Apr 2024 · 20:48 UTC
@feynallein @dams333 @godknows Thanks! I'm glad you had fun with it!

@myse @cogcomp I agree, a lot of the polish around the game was left unfinished like tutorial and clarity of what dice sides you have on the field.

@nash Thanks, I'm glad you feel that way. Thank you for the feedback too, especially the dice sides confusion. I had no time to playtest, otherwise I would have probably added some way so more powerful monsters where harder to get.

@coffeeowl Thanks, I'm glad you liked it! Yeah cosmic horror is a bit broken, but feels good when you get big number using it haha
🎤 LDJam user 376203
15. Apr 2024 · 20:49 UTC
@paprigames Thanks! That's around the same score I got on the first try too lol
rhewid
15. Apr 2024 · 21:14 UTC
Final Score was 1198. Interesting concept, loved the clean Art. Would be cool to see the description of the dices when rolling them.
Owtuvammo
15. Apr 2024 · 21:30 UTC
![high_score.png](///raw/8c9/d5/z/6243e.png)

Bone dragons + cosmic horror. :kissing:

This was alot of fun! This is one that enticed me to give it several plays. I do wish you had time for some sound effects, but it was really, really fun!
LDJam user 141701
15. Apr 2024 · 21:31 UTC
I got 6273 on my second try.

Very fun! One thing I noticed though is how much it's *missing* sound. Like I'm not knocking you for missing it (solo jams are haaard), but it's just so noticeably *missing* the juice of clanky dice and sfx for each character.

Btw Cosmic Horror OP :up:
PieRo_PBeS_studio
15. Apr 2024 · 21:33 UTC
doing well for a game jam, and the game idea is cool and worth exploring. What is your best score?
wilsk
15. Apr 2024 · 22:00 UTC
Interesting idea and fun to play. I definitely think its got the ... skeleton ... of a really fun game with different combos and effects etc.

Time constraints are obviously a thing, but it felt like it lacked a little bit of *juice*, sound effects, visual effects when you make certain combs etc. I think it might have also benefited from having the "current" score tally up as you go or having the info panel pop up when you hover over the dice in the rolling screen, as its easy to forget the specific combos.

Great job!
Ilari
15. Apr 2024 · 23:10 UTC
So addictive! Nice mechanics. Played a ton. I like the art on the dice. Would love to see this developed further!
LDJam user 372150
15. Apr 2024 · 23:11 UTC
This was super cool! I could definitely see this being expanded upon. I really like the strategy that comes with the limited inventory and the different abilities!
0x0961h
15. Apr 2024 · 23:28 UTC
I would really say that this might have a lot of potential if you ever decide to expand it. It reminded me Balatro in some ways, just with dice. And I can already see what can be added and how it can be a very nice base for the game. Great job!
magnusfurcifer
15. Apr 2024 · 23:40 UTC
This is such a fun game play loop. I would definitely play a post-jam version that had a bit of juice and some sfx and things added because the core gameplay is addictive!

It also looks great, the sprites are really well done and suit the overall style of the game.

Awesome work!
netguy204
16. Apr 2024 · 00:29 UTC
Got a score of 1051 and was proud of myself till I read the comments. Very fun game. Great polish.
Pusheeneiro
16. Apr 2024 · 02:22 UTC
You made a really addictive game in such a short time, great job
Tykki19
16. Apr 2024 · 04:42 UTC
Instantly really inviting game and it's fun to upgrade your die. Even the simpliest audio would do miracles.
crafteverywhere
16. Apr 2024 · 05:32 UTC
Clear and clever idea, got a score of 1000 and want to try more!
OldDog
16. Apr 2024 · 07:18 UTC
I like this game,hope to have more game detail and content ,I can see great feature of this game
LDJam user 390834
16. Apr 2024 · 08:02 UTC
Nice and clean design and clever mechanics.
byazzle
16. Apr 2024 · 08:33 UTC
Nice dice builder. Clean and simple and the animations are an excellent addition to tell you whats going on. Great job! (18,184!)
Rob6566
16. Apr 2024 · 09:02 UTC
Loved this! The graphics/animations are great, and the abilities you can add to dice are interesting. Just needs some audio. Nice work!

![score.png](///raw/18b/94/z/63866.png)
Allax
16. Apr 2024 · 09:19 UTC
Good game, good design, a little lacking in sounds, but even so it's so far one of the best things I've played today
LDJam user 382819
16. Apr 2024 · 12:18 UTC
This is just bananas, you crafted this epic masterpiece all by yourself? It's so polished and so put-together, I don't even doubt it's ready to hit the Steam shelves right now. Come on, partner, shake a leg – I'm chomping at the bit to buy it!
🎤 LDJam user 376203
16. Apr 2024 · 13:26 UTC
@rhewid @owtuvammo @sirlich @piero-pbes-studio @wilsk @ilari @vegeo @0x0961h @magnusfurcifer @netguy204 @pusheeneiro @tykki19 @crafteverywhere @olddog @simontzky @byazzle @rob6566 @allax @drgcandle

Thank you y'all!!! I'm flattered with all the praise and comments, I never expected I would get this many!
I love seeing the comments with your highscore, it honestly made my day today <3

I appreciate all the feedback too, especially if I polish it a bit more after the jam. Thanks!
HolySparks
16. Apr 2024 · 14:35 UTC
Honestly a very strong potential for incremental game here, with the roguelike twist. Very fun!
MaggardJosh
16. Apr 2024 · 18:12 UTC
Yo! So polished and solid gameplay. Would love to see this more fleshed out, great work!
PorChor
16. Apr 2024 · 18:55 UTC
Very simple yet very fun! I felt some dice is clearly better than other tho. But really addictive!
duudel
16. Apr 2024 · 19:19 UTC
Quite interesting concept, reminds me of Balatro. But with dice :D
At first it was quite difficult to see what is going on, but after trying out different combinations it became clearer what I should try to do. It would be nice to get a bit of juice and maybe visualizing combos to make it obvious how good the combo was. That would also make it more addictive, I'm sure.
Kirass
16. Apr 2024 · 22:29 UTC
Cool game, I liked it!
Sozey
17. Apr 2024 · 09:40 UTC
Awesome work! This is definitely one of the most fun entries in this jam, and even more impressive for a first time! I hope you do keep working on it if you want, this is a really solid base. Congrats!
🎤 LDJam user 376203
17. Apr 2024 · 12:19 UTC
@holysparks @maggardjosh Thanks! Maybe one day it will become something more, who knows haha

@porchor Thanks, I'm glad you had fun with it! Love your profile pic btw, really catches the attention and reminds me of Patapon.

@duudel Glad you enjoyed it! I agree with your feedback more clarity of what's happening would go a long way for sure.

@sozey Wow thanks! That's a high praise. I'm glad you had fun with it :)
Alessandro2024
18. Apr 2024 · 18:34 UTC
Nice gameplay! Would be nice to have some elements carry over into the next round, so you don't always start from scratch.
CaptainDreamcast
20. Apr 2024 · 13:48 UTC
Super fun game! I also couldn't put it down and had to keep trying again, I tried to match some of the higher scores in the comments, but I couldn't quite reach the 4k range. Very well designed card effects, especially with the multipliers and the imps summing demons and demon lords, that really added additional layers to the strategies you could come up with. Card effects and card art looked great as well, very well done! Great job on this game!
Sariiger
20. Apr 2024 · 17:30 UTC
This is such an addictive game, I absolutely love it! I'm a dice fan, so this game really managed to suck me in. I almost managed to get 10k points, here's my record:

![diemancer.png](///raw/564/b2/z/648f2.png)

Great job on this game, it just plays so well.
maymay
20. Apr 2024 · 17:58 UTC
Great game, really addicting! I wish I could go longer than 10 turns-- with the current time limit it seems like it ends just as I'm getting going :)