Sneaky Signals by almost

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

Coordinate with your partner to win by any means possible in this card game!

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Controls: Mouse and keyboard

Card Game rules: Teams of two. Everyone plays one card. Each team's cards are totalled, the total that is closest to 15 without going over 15 scores a point. Best of 5.

Ratings

Overall 111th 4.024⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Fun 153th 3.81⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 28th 4.275⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Theme 18th 4.6⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 198th 4.175⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Audio 106th 4.05⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Humor 43th 4.175⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Mood 135th 4.132⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Given 6🗳️ 12🗨️

Feedback

Wabutt
Apr 21st · 05:57 UTC
Really enjoyed the concept, the feedback was very subtle, but likely that was intentional. Very cute overall!
Magalix
Apr 21st · 07:47 UTC
😄 The design is great! I love their faces. Nice work.
Tundra
May 04th · 00:39 UTC
Very charming game! The concept was really neat and something I haven't seen before. The escalation in signals felt a bit wonky though. There weren't enough signals to beat the 4/5 tricks game reliably and then there were too many signals after that game. If the change in the number of signals was adjusted or the game cheated a bit more in your favor I think it would flow a bit better. Love the cats and audio. Overall great game!
Maxwell3000
May 05th · 01:25 UTC
Learning how your partner works is a really interesting take on a card game that I could see getting really in depth, but I wish the game started out with your partner telling you 3 of their tells, then expanding each round after that. Well done!
LDJam user 261037
May 05th · 01:59 UTC
I agree with @maxwell3000. It was confusing the first round, especially with none of the signals meaning anything (that I understood). The card game itself was a fun concept though.
Carraka
May 05th · 03:05 UTC
I really liked this take on the theme! I may have become overwhelmed after the cat said they could play forever...that was probably the moment to start taking notes, but I decided to just come here and give feedback instead. I guess I was less invested in winning the card game than my partner...sorry, partner. I enjoyed the subtlety of the signals. I agree with others that it would have been nice to have a signal to look for in the first round. I was really worried that I was playing it wrong.
Kyle Farwell
May 05th · 04:06 UTC
Fantastic! Clever concept, loved the fancy cats & voice acting :)
Madbarron
May 05th · 04:34 UTC
This is very cool...I feel like the bones are here for a really cool game. The first round, I was trying to deduce what the signals were that the cats were already using. I think that could be a fun variant instead of working with signals that are explained to you. Or maybe you and your partner cooperate on signals, but in the game it's also important to decode the other team's signals.

The art is so good, I love the charming cats. And I think the other team gets more and more suspicious as time goes on which is such a good touch.

One frustrating thing about the card game is that if you want to get 15 and the numbers only go up to 10, then numbers 1–4 are just bad. A 5 is always better.

Thanks for the cool game! Be sure to play and rate other games so you can get 20 reviews!
Tetracold
May 05th · 12:32 UTC
love the clever spin on the card game here, it both adds so much personality to the presentation and it's also just an interesting idea that I haven't seen a lot of before. very cool way to integrate the theme

I really like the style in particular. The choice for cats as the characters is really cute, it instantly reminded me of the dogs playing poker paintings
MikhailNe
May 05th · 13:56 UTC
Such a cool game. It's a shame there are so few reviews.
The only problem is, I didn't immediately understand what to do.
colverok
May 05th · 20:31 UTC
An atmospheric game, cute cats, I loved the concept and the execution! I enjoyed tricking the cats, but over time they started to get suspicious... The sounds are very cute and the music is pleasant. I also can't help but mention the clear tutorial <3
hammy275
May 06th · 02:31 UTC
Super simple but great! I had a lot of trouble remembering all the signals later on and had to write them down :sweat_smile:, but the challenge of trying to remember and messing up is part of the fun! This also fits with the theme very well, and I had a surprising amount of fun trying to coordinate with my partner cat in winning this game.

The music makes for nice atmosphere, alongside the "fancy" vibes of the place, and I find all of the sounds to work very well! I do appreciate that the meow is not an annoying stock meow sound, but is more toned down to fit the rest of the game.

I think a multiplayer form of this game would be fascinating to see. Both having to coordinate with a person, while also making sure your other two opponents don't catch on and act accordingly (through some new mechanism). But I digress, this was very well done! If I had to offer one improvement, it didn't occur to me when playing the first time around that I was learning the game, and would learn the signals later. Maybe hide the prompts to perform the different coordination actions until then?
VenomousMouse
May 06th · 12:16 UTC
Such a cool design and very cute characters. Nice mechanic and overall great game.
DaveCo
May 06th · 12:46 UTC
Reminds me of Liar's Bar! This would be super cool in multiplayer.
Antoine Bodin
May 06th · 17:45 UTC
Very nice theme interpretation! I loved playing it, thank you for that experience.
fabonacci
May 06th · 19:58 UTC
Nice game. I think there is too much rng to beat the game with skills only. I had to retry multiple times using the signals. The idea is cool and the diversity of actions make it feel organic. Well done!
jordantanner
May 07th · 03:53 UTC
Great atmosphere, 3d models and animations, fun vibes. Meow sfx were puurrrrfect (sorry). Light jass music set the relaxed tone very well. Card game was simple although I had trouble determining how to use the signal system properly. Definitely had a blast gesturing like crazy though. Perhaps a more clear way of communicating to the player when a signal was effective, a cue when one is needed, etc could help. Awesome entry, congrats!
F1Krazy
May 08th · 22:57 UTC
Very clever entry! I was confused at first, thinking the signals didn't do anything, until I realised that was a practice run without them and the signals gradually came into play afterwards, which I thought was a really interesting way to ease you into the mechanics. Eventually it got to the point where there were too many signals and I couldn't remember them, but that's where the difficulty stems from, I guess.

The music sets a great atmosphere, and the whole thing feels lively and strategic. Good job!
🎤 almost
May 10th · 00:55 UTC
Thanks for the rating and feedback to everybody that played!