LudumData

Galaxy Connect by Baturinsky

[raw]
made by Baturinsky for Ludum Dare 59 (COMPO)

Rules

It's a card game against AI about connecting the galaxy to a global network. Each turn you click on a card to select it and then click on the star to use it on. Then AI does the same. You get one point for each newly connected system. The goal is to reach 150 points first. Green🟢stars are "wilcards" and match any color on the card. Other colors have no special meaning.

Press "C" to enable the colorblind mode (marking each star iwth the first button of the color) Press "N" to start the new game in the new galaxy.

The Plot

Year 2x26. Humanity has colonised a big chunk or the galaxy, but the space-internet is still pretty slow. But one day, Signal Crystals were discovered. They can allow passing signals between the star systems fast, but are quite whimsical about which stars they can connect. And also, very rare.

You and your rival and colleague, Bartholomew G. Wilkinson, are tasked with assigning the limited amount of the crystals which humanity has procured. Your performance is measured by the amount of the systems you both have personally connected. You start with 5 crystals each, but get a new one after using one, so you always has 5.

UI

The ◡ under the star mark the already connected systems. The numbers are how many new systems you would connect with the currently selected card. Hover the star to see which star would be connected with the current card. Last AI move is drawn with the pink on the map. The rest is, hopefully, self-evident.

AI

If you were wondering, AI is not cheating, and uses a pretty simple tactics of just picking a move with the most immediate points earned, without thinking further ahead. AI also is not gettining better cards - card dealing algorithm is the same for AI and player. The only advantage that AI gets is that it gets more score at the start of the game.

Link https://github.com/baturinsky/signet
Link https://signalnet.netlify.app
Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/59/galaxy-connect

Ratings

Overall 266th 2.833⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Fun 254th 2.69⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 113th 3.5⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Theme 190th 3.405⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 233th 3⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Humor 194th 2.029⭐ 19🧑‍⚖️
Given 18🗳️ 14🗨️

Feedback

xotraz
Apr 21st · 00:05 UTC
This remind me of Hex (also called Nash) and Havannah.

![Oops.png](///raw/daf/2/z/7147a.png)
I got crushed. :sob:
hotaloca
Apr 21st · 18:38 UTC
I was also following the same strategy as AI (or at least I thought) - select all cards, select top number of connection... Somehow it did not occur to me what might be a better strategy. Maybe its just late though. I like this game however, nice graph based game - Congratulations!
gdman
Apr 22nd · 21:29 UTC
This looks interesting, altough a little bit tiny to see all the numbers. And I haven't managed to beat computer, obviously he's better at calculating graphs and always 1.5x ahead of me. But I liked it too.
dod108
Apr 26th · 11:18 UTC
The idea is cool. I didn't find other strategy than the same what the AI is using (maybe it's a me issue). Indication which systems are connected could be a little bit more visible. Maybe option to zoom in would be nice?
Astoeth
Apr 26th · 17:03 UTC
Seem like i won !
![Capture d'écran 2026-04-26 190019.png](///raw/855/d2/z/72c42.png)

Cool idea, the map is maybe a bit big / things are too small at screen. The only strategy i found was to try to reach big group of same color when i had card to connect them all. Else always tryign to maximize by clicking on all the actions

It would have been nice to have an actual end game (unless i missed a star that neither me or the ai managed to connect in a few turns ?) but it still was fun to play !
zbrogdom
Apr 26th · 22:20 UTC
Everything is so small that it's tiring to look at, and the colors blend together. Overall, the graphics are consistent and game is engaging.
🎤 Baturinsky
Apr 26th · 22:49 UTC
@astoeth Congratulations, you are officially better at this game as me:) I could not win even once
🎤 Baturinsky
Apr 26th · 22:51 UTC
@zbrogdom, @gdman, @dod108, @astoeth sorry for small scale. I have 2k monitor, so it looked better on it. But I definitely should have added zoom.
fractalsunrise
May 02nd · 04:19 UTC
I really enjoyed this game; it was relaxing and fun! At first it seemed like the computer was too hard, and I'm not sure which of us hit 150 first, but eventually I ended up with more points than it did and felt very proud of myself. I liked the creative gameplay and playing on a graph of connections. I would love to see randomized levels instead of the same one every time, and also a screen letting me know the game is over after no more moves are possible. It might also be interesting if playing a card gave that option to the opponent next time (like the board game Onitama) instead of both players having the same set of options, though it was good this way too. Great job!

![img2.png](///raw/546/1/z/73027.png)
🎤 Baturinsky
May 02nd · 09:40 UTC
@fractalsunrise Thanks! You can get the new galaxy layout by pressing "N". I should have made add it as on-screen button too, but forgot.
fractalsunrise
May 02nd · 13:10 UTC
@baturinsky Well look at that, it can make new random levels; yay! Looks like I just missed it in the description. Thanks for clarifying!
LDJam user 374028
May 02nd · 21:40 UTC
Interesting reskin of a zero-sum game. Reminds me of Ishitori. It's a shame I can't zoom in, it's hard to make anything out in this tangled mess. Also it seems that the game does not end at 150 points or when no more moves can be made because most of the galaxy has already been connected.