LudumData

Bad Advisors by Yoav Kagan

[raw]
made by Yoav Kagan for Ludum Dare 59 (JAM)

Bad Advisors

Play as a King who needs to decide who is to be blamed and executed.
You do so by using your advisors, but the path to justice is anything but clear.
You have one Wise Advisor who knows the answer....
but the truth must pass through a line of "broken telephone" made of other advisors first.

Gameplay

Each advisor in the chain has a unique quirk that distorts the message. To rule correctly, you must identify these quirks to reverse-engineer the sentence and understand the Wise Advisor's original advice.
Can you filter out the noise and find the signal before the wrong head rolls?

SOUND SOMETIMES WON'T PLAY IN THE WEB VERSION PLAY THE WINDOWS VERSION IF POSSIBLE

we added a new build with only the sound bug fixed, we still have the build submitted in time available

Controls

  • Mouse:
    Click on the advisors to hear what they have to say
    Drag the chosen person to his fate

  • Keyboard: Use the kings notebook to help decode the scrambled signal

All Art, Music, Sounds and Screams was made by us during the jam :)

We have some bugs! The sound cuts off some times, and things are cropped off screen
We really didn't get to do everything we hoped for,
but we had a great time! see you in LD60 :D

ld59<em>2.png ld59</em>1.png

Link https://yoavkagan.itch.io/bad-advisors
Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/59/bad-advisors

Ratings

Overall 177th 3.92⭐ 27🧑‍⚖️
Fun 106th 3.9⭐ 27🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 88th 3.96⭐ 27🧑‍⚖️
Theme 540th 3.5⭐ 27🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 158th 4.26⭐ 27🧑‍⚖️
Audio 452th 3.19⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Humor 101th 3.875⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Mood 273th 3.896⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Given 5🗳️ 13🗨️

Feedback

MostLikely
Apr 21st · 04:26 UTC
This game blew my mind! There were no instructions, so it felt weird at first... by design. Then as I kept going, I had one revelation after another for how the game functions worked. This was built so intelligently, I kept feeling like I was a genius for understanding what was happening, but that just goes to show the genius of the creator of the game! For feedback, I would suggest the buttons on the Home Screen to match the vibe of the rest of the game closer, and there was no sound for me other than the intro music, which might be a bug, because I saw sound options in the menu. Overall, great game, had genuine fun, this should be launched on mobile or something!
![Screenshot 2026-04-21 at 12.23.00 AM.png](///raw/513/d4/z/71cb5.png)
tenthousandfireants
Apr 21st · 05:38 UTC
it was tricky to figure out some of these advisors.
BlushingCrow
Apr 21st · 05:48 UTC
Graphics and aesthetic were really well executed, I love the art. This feels like it couild be fleshed out to be a phone game. I liked the implementation of broken telephone, well thought out game idea!
Maocaroni
Apr 21st · 18:13 UTC
I love the art; I wish it had sound. If the game mechanics and how you figure it out require thought, I'd appreciate a hint. It's innovative but not very intuitive.
TheDerpyBeckett
Apr 21st · 18:17 UTC
You know it's a good game when the only bad thing I can say about it is "I wish there was more"! So much fun, super intuitive little puzzle game :)
Someday Not Today
Apr 21st · 18:17 UTC
unique art style for jam
penagwin
Apr 21st · 18:24 UTC
The art is nice and thematic. I thought it was tricky without a hint. It definitely feels like it would be an interesting game with a little bit more polish
LDJam user 82995
Apr 21st · 18:24 UTC
This game rocks. Such a clever idea, executed really well. Wish there was some more audio. But everything else is super polished. One of my favourites of the jam so far!
LDJam user 426774
Apr 21st · 18:29 UTC
Very good! I wish there was a bit more music, and constantly moving the screen back and forth was not super comfortable. But overall, really cool!
miltage
Apr 21st · 18:29 UTC
Very clever and unique game mechanic! I guessed the first two levels before realising you could speak to the advisors and see how they affect the original message - then suddenly it all came together! The notepad for working out the broken chain was also a clever addition.

Special mention for the unique and interesting character designs!
Jawdan
Apr 21st · 18:32 UTC
This was so well put together and the concept was great,, amazing job!
Kroko
Apr 21st · 18:35 UTC
Hahaha i love this
HJMW
Apr 21st · 18:41 UTC
Really enjoyed this one, the different characters were very whimsical and distinct. The chinese-whispers style puzzle was really interesting to see. I had lots of laugh out loud moments when figuring out the answers, so really great job with the puzzles! I would have loved for the animation of the chinese-whispers to be sped up a little bit as I found myself wanting to get on with the game a bit.

I was a bit confused on the final puzzle, I am sure I got the answer right but the giant grabbed the king anyway? I would have appreciated a bit more feedback that I got the answers correct along with a win screen. (I just checked and the feedback for getting something incorrect is good and clear, but the feedback for getting something correct wasnt)

Anyways this was a great entry that was super intuitive to play, nice work!
half-animal-half-beast
Apr 21st · 18:58 UTC
interesting game! nice visuals and simple but satisfying animations, though i’d love to see more detail overall.

the giant executioner hand is a great idea. even with the cute style it still feels unsettling and really reinforces that you’re sending people to their deaths.

the only thing that felt a bit frustrating was the pacing. there’s a delay after each action and the animations take some time, so you’re forced to wait. i kept wishing i could play at 2x or even 5x speed.

overall, really cool, well done!
LDJam user 424632
Apr 21st · 19:04 UTC
What a cool idea! It's the most original I've seen so far during the entire jam. Good luck with the game's continued development, and may success be with you!

The first time, for some reason, I didn't notice that you can talk to the advisors; a little onboarding would have been nice.
PeterLeBagarreur
Apr 21st · 20:29 UTC
Really enjoyed your take on the theme! Well done
Rinzu
Apr 21st · 20:48 UTC
The game's style is really cool. I really liked it.
steinhks
Apr 21st · 23:42 UTC
a very pleasant artsyle!
Eugenik
Apr 22nd · 00:26 UTC
The idea of having to piece together the real truth when information keeps getting distorted through various sources is fantastic. The whole broken telephone concept is such a clever way to structure a high-stakes mystery puzzle. This game has a really engaging hook.
Zwi Zausch
Apr 22nd · 01:59 UTC
Yooo this looks very polished, amazing work team! Very cool idea with the language/deduction and you did an amazing job building it so neatly in the given time.
I'm a fan of the derpy characters, we have somethig in common haha!
kuviman
Apr 22nd · 19:21 UTC
I edeyojn tsih gema vywe mchu!
braktheman
Apr 22nd · 19:22 UTC
Very clever puzzle design. Would have enjoyed some random generation to it but I understand it's a jam game so time was probably tight.

Fantastic work to the team I would play more of this!
II-P
Apr 22nd · 20:13 UTC
treaG !elzzup
These *aha* moments really worked! Well done as a level designer! The implementation of theme is outstanding too! Very appreciate the visuals hints int he advisers too. Still, the SFX and BGM are definitely lacking here. If not the great gameplay and riddles, I would definitely turn this one off. *(Maybe that was just a bug, but I could't hear anything throughout entire game T_T)*

!> snTahk rfo eht en!yrt