The Conflicted Merchant by pierogo

[raw]
made by pierogo for Ludum Dare 49 (JAM)

Once upon a time, in the vast land of Purpuria there was a little valley where the Red Castle stood. Not too close, but also certainly not very far away from it the Blue Fortress could be found.

For decades the two clans were living peacefully, yet as time progressed, a conflict between the Reds and the Blues started to arise.

Now, a mysterious travelling merchant has arrived on the battlefield. Could he be the one to help the struggling kingdoms end this horrifying war?

Well, let's just say that isn't exactly the plan of his.

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Approach the battling troops and sell them your goods.

Squeeze as much gold as you can from those fools' misery.

May this battle never end!

scr1.png

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Game created by CLOWNWORKS: - Krzysztof "Lisek Gagatek" Dobrzański - Kacper "Pierogo" Herchel - Maciej "Bułke" Ziółkowski

and CLOWNWORKS' friends: - Dominik "Dokan" Pałkowski as the composer - Arkadiusz "Arke" Victor as unit grunt sounds

Default controls: - Move with arrow keys - Interact using Space - Select inventory items using Z and X - Access the pause menu using Escape

Ratings

Overall 351th 3.81⭐ 31🧑‍⚖️
Fun 340th 3.776⭐ 31🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 68th 4.103⭐ 31🧑‍⚖️
Theme 649th 3.638⭐ 31🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 716th 3.65⭐ 32🧑‍⚖️
Audio 509th 3.482⭐ 30🧑‍⚖️
Humor 262th 3.724⭐ 31🧑‍⚖️
Mood 330th 3.804⭐ 30🧑‍⚖️
Given 44🗳️ 34🗨️

Feedback

ValidDark
05. Oct 2021 · 01:40 UTC
Interesting idea, I don't think I've seen a game like it.
subcreation
05. Oct 2021 · 01:42 UTC
Really cool idea and execution. Excellent tutorial section and voice work! Really set the mood of playing both sides. Red team OP :laughing:
CrimOudin
05. Oct 2021 · 01:43 UTC
This game was brilliant. I love the gameplay and the Idea fits the theme well. It gets a little weird when the battle is near a castle and you cant see what's happening. Overall great job my fav game I played this jam so far.
Skyward4d
05. Oct 2021 · 07:12 UTC
I really liked the idea. And the introductory tutorial/voiceover was really good (Although there was some display issues with the text).
Very frantic, I personally found it difficult to keep the balance. Which really drove home the theme of the jam.
Really nice job.
pidge
05. Oct 2021 · 10:44 UTC
Great gameplay and concept. Trying to retain control of both sides is a nice challenge
Hobzone
05. Oct 2021 · 10:55 UTC
Funny game. I loved the concept, congrats !
Moandor
05. Oct 2021 · 10:56 UTC
Really cool concept, the game is fun, looks good, is balanced, and the intro/tutorial is perfect !
Substain
05. Oct 2021 · 16:15 UTC
the intro was on point, it has a nice concept, and it was harder than I thought :)
kbf123
06. Oct 2021 · 01:26 UTC
Now that's a fun concept! I really enjoyed this!

I often struggled to sell to the right target though. By the end of the game, there was this massive blue knight just wailing on the red base and I couldn't even give the reds any support. Music was fine but got a tad repetitive.
Raphiell
06. Oct 2021 · 23:23 UTC
Wow a really good game! my only concern was it's a bit hard to juggle the controls quickly to give them what you want, and I just ended up spamming items to whoever was closest.

Really well done though, good job!
Inokentii_Best
08. Oct 2021 · 17:37 UTC
this game is very cool. Nice graphics)
JPGFG
09. Oct 2021 · 01:13 UTC
really enjoyed to artwork and it was pretty hard haha
Chairshot Games
09. Oct 2021 · 05:06 UTC
Really impressed by this game. The gameplay is original, I don't think I have every seen this concept before, and it works really well. The game is well balanced and feels very re-playable. It is also really polished, (Good UI, sound effects, tutorial, voice acting, etc) which is very impressive given the 72 hour time limit. The only problem I ran into is if you change the controls the bottom-screen UI gets glitched out and is a massive text box of all your custom controls. Overall your game is very innovative and I really enjoyed it, great job!
Sagan Rayner
10. Oct 2021 · 17:43 UTC
Really enjoyed this! Great game mechanics and it feels really polished. A lot of fun trying to manage the chaos between the two sides.
Sagan Rayner
10. Oct 2021 · 17:43 UTC
Really enjoyed this! Great game mechanics and it feels really polished. A lot of fun trying to manage the chaos between the two sides.
Soulo
15. Oct 2021 · 20:06 UTC
Interesting idea, really! Also liked art style. And using voice in the game is always good
730
15. Oct 2021 · 20:18 UTC
Interesting premise. I also like how it's 2.5D. It's nice to see it has a consistent aesthetic even if the art itself isn't very flashy. Good job.
![The_Conflicted_Merchant_2021-10-15_17-15-35.png](///raw/992/d2/z/4829d.png)
LDJam user 263057
17. Oct 2021 · 09:50 UTC
This is very interesting, and impressive. I don't remember any game quite like it. It feels polished and only lacking in content, which is a positive for a jam game. Great stuff!
xpoho
20. Oct 2021 · 11:52 UTC
Что будет, если во времена феодализма проникнет продавец из капиталистических времен? Он будет продавать мечи и щиты сразу всем!