Switchboard Operator by CaptainSpoof

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

Only when every call of the day is correct the game will confirm your choice​!

Mariner’s Rest is a small coastal town. For the past few months, the town has become more restless than usual: the main radio antenna collapsed during a storm, forcing residents to use the old municipal manual switchboard, brought back into service after twenty years.

The town council has called you, the temporary operator, to manage communications until modern systems are restored. Due to unstable lines, many people are recorded in the logbook with only essential information: name, address, and job.

The citizens do not have access to the logbook for security reasons; it is up to you to discover who they are referring to and connect them to the right person. SCREEN1.png SCREEN4.png asdasd6.png

Ratings

Overall 252th 3.821⭐ 30🧑‍⚖️
Fun 362th 3.463⭐ 29🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 124th 3.875⭐ 30🧑‍⚖️
Theme 89th 4.304⭐ 30🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 262th 4.052⭐ 31🧑‍⚖️
Audio 301th 3.589⭐ 30🧑‍⚖️
Humor 241th 3.32⭐ 27🧑‍⚖️
Mood 310th 3.821⭐ 30🧑‍⚖️
Given 22🗳️ 40🗨️

Feedback

qwesasuke
Apr 20th · 20:26 UTC
I liked the narrative of the game. The rain that came in the beginning gave me a lot of comfort. I would like it to be there for the whole game, it's a pity that it ended quickly. Cool soundtrack!
Mezaka
Apr 20th · 20:28 UTC
I hope nobody has to deal with a switchboard operator as bad as me ^^ its super tricky to remember and connect all the details.
eXTeeGi
Apr 20th · 20:42 UTC
Really cool game! Couldn't figure out Day 4 though. I kept looking back at the windows expecting it to turn into a horror game lol.
LaurLehepuu
Apr 20th · 20:44 UTC
Really innovative concept along with a really good execution. Crazy that this was a solo project with the amount of polish it has. Artstyle is nice and relaxed, the environment is really chill. The feedback of each little wire connection making a little click is nice and satisfying. Only bugs i could find were that zooming turns my camera if im holding a wire at the same time and also sometimes i would have to switch out a wire for it to connect to the terminal. That being said, great job all around!
Podrez
Apr 20th · 21:43 UTC
Cool, I liked it, it only lacks some kind of instant indication that you connected the wires correctly
Juhan
Apr 21st · 16:46 UTC
Cool game, the gameplay was simple to understand and enjoyable. Only thing I noticed was that I passed through the 2nd and 3rd day without connecting all the wires, was it supposed to let me through?
robin_schmitz
Apr 21st · 18:36 UTC
A very polished game indeed. The immersion already kicks in during the intro and from then on, I remained hooked. The environment looks very complete, impressive for a jam game! The stories which unravel are very fun to discover. Very cool game :) Well done!
IndigoWolf
Apr 21st · 19:00 UTC
I really liked this, the environment work was brilliant. Anything with a diegetic UI is always a big hit with me. Only trouble I found was connecting the calls felt a a bit awkward sometimes, like it was too far away.
RIBOUT Horace
Apr 22nd · 09:52 UTC
One of my favourite game from the jam so far. I love Obra Dinn or The Roottrees Are Dead, so puzzle game like that where you start making connections from people to people is my precise cup of tea.

The execution in term of puzzle is really good (I just have trouble on the last day to figure out why the guy who talk about the leaking appartment above , need to be link to he nephew (the aunt has move to his house? It logic out of the box, but nothing indicate that the aunt wasn't in her home, so it feel like a huge gap when you're trying to decipher 3 puzzle at the same time) and I like that you kept the message in the log book.

The biggest problem are the numerous bug due to 3D jankyness and some cable who looks deconnect but are still connected. Maybe making the game in 2D with false "3D-ness" would have been better? But it's a lot to ask in a jam setting.

Anyway, very cool game! I loved it! Would love to see a full game like that where you can add info on people by hand to spice up the whole game
Jiri_One
Apr 23rd · 14:01 UTC
Really cool game, the cables are a bit finicky, but it was cool seeing the story told in small snippets.
denikk
Apr 23rd · 14:03 UTC
Hi! That's an incredible project! The art and music are fitting the idea very well.

What a great solution for the puzzle. If I am right, it was exactly like that in the past. Working on the station to connect people and looking at the "cheat sheet" to understand where to move the cable felt like an actual project on the market. Just add few more details, a bit of lore and realise it! That game would be hype!

P.S. Cables are a bit annoying to connect due to the camera angle, but making it in a front view would ruing the atmosphere. So just need to somehow make it work better xd

I like that project very very much! you've done well!
j3m
Apr 23rd · 14:56 UTC
I like the idea, but connecting the cables is SUPER finnicky. Like, game-breakingly finnicky... I couldn't connect a single one no matter how hard I tried! I had to quit before being able to connect any calls, unfortunately. Other people seem to have managed, so maybe it's just a problem on my computer?
TechnicalityCreations
Apr 23rd · 16:00 UTC
I liked it, and would play a steam release, but got stuck on day 3. Also, I encountered several bugs with the cables, and overall, the cable system needs more polish. Great game though!
LDJam user 423872
Apr 23rd · 16:14 UTC
I really liked the idea. I was able to connect two people. But for some reason, it just didn't work out. Even though I seemed to be doing everything right.
uroborei
Apr 23rd · 16:34 UTC
loved the execution of the theme here !! never would have thought of switchboard operators but this was really well done ! the graphics are really nice for something done by one person in a few days
plutonicrock
Apr 23rd · 18:10 UTC
This is some really amazing stuff! Amazing how you got this done in such a short timespan
JuanRod707
Apr 23rd · 20:01 UTC
Loved this game, wish the connection hotspots where a little bigger, but overall, superb entry!
gurkenlabs
Apr 23rd · 21:16 UTC
This is a very unique concept that I really enjoyed, and the mood and graphics were perfect. I would have wished for some more audio, and the cables were often buggy (plug-in not detected, trigger of last cable triggered text on the monitor despite not being plugged in anymore, etc.), so I was unfortunately not able to finish the game due to being in a sttate where I could just no longer plug stuff into the monitor.
Nice job on the narrative and the unique mechanics!
braktheman
Apr 25th · 22:24 UTC
Having played a few different switchboard games this jam, I really appreciated the unique take you had making a game that wasn't based around fast-paced plugging in of cables. The puzzle aspect was a nice touch of having to find the right person to connect the calls to.

Audio was very satisfying with the clicks and page turns.

I did run in to some bugs such as in one run the computer just stopped connecting and giving me the information and just having general issues with plugging in the cables. Starting a new game helped solve the problems I was running in to at least. Not sure if I was doing something wrong or just had some bad luck.

Still enjoyed the game regardless. Fantastic job especially as a solo project. Well done!
digital bacon
Apr 26th · 04:09 UTC
Nice little puzzle game. Love the art and sound design. Only quibble was trying to get the plugs into the sockets: took me a bit to figure out the mouse cursor needs to go over the socket, not the tip of the plug :rofl:

Excellent work -- well done!
SitronX
Apr 26th · 13:25 UTC
Very neat i liked it. Maybe i would make a colliders bigger so the manipulation is easier. In day 2, there is a bug. I connected only one slot and it automatically jumped to level 3.
LDJam user 423693
Apr 28th · 15:47 UTC
Innovative, cosy and really fun, loved the mechanic and how well it fits in the theme !
Luka420
May 05th · 19:17 UTC
Whew! Day 4 beat my ass, but I managed to get to the ending eventually! A very engaging game and a lot of fun to figure out!