Degrowth by Cryptomnesic

[raw]
made by Cryptomnesic for Ludum Dare 50 (JAM)

Growth is Bondage. Consumption is Slavery. Cities are Prisons.

The Endgame is the End of the City. Unbuild the City and escape the cycle of consumption.

Controls:

Mouse to drag/pan the map and also everything else.

Ratings

Overall 1117th 3.161⭐ 30🧑‍⚖️
Fun 1171th 2.875⭐ 30🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 374th 3.607⭐ 30🧑‍⚖️
Theme 1285th 2.893⭐ 30🧑‍⚖️
Humor 948th 2.5⭐ 24🧑‍⚖️
Mood 1235th 2.82⭐ 27🧑‍⚖️
Given 41🗳️ 37🗨️

Feedback

Gus Goucher
05. Apr 2022 · 16:40 UTC
I'm not sure if I was doing something wrong, but the game seemed very easy. Very nice pixel art though, and polished! Big SimCity vibes, nice work.
🎤 Cryptomnesic
05. Apr 2022 · 17:19 UTC
@gus-goucher That's actually hilarious because I have a hard time beating it........ :cry:
Gus Goucher
05. Apr 2022 · 18:16 UTC
@cryptomnesic Definitely must be misunderstanding something then. Cool game either way :)
Chocolat-Endive
05. Apr 2022 · 20:33 UTC
I enjoy the idea of a reverse-city builder. The only thing is you really should opt-out for graphics rating, since you used Aleksandr Makarov's tileset.
wondry
05. Apr 2022 · 20:37 UTC
Great pixel art. Awesome idea: Consumption is Slavery :-)
Helzinko
05. Apr 2022 · 20:38 UTC
Love the graphics, it looks so polished. This game would be even more better with sounds
mibehu
05. Apr 2022 · 20:40 UTC
Graphics are great, but the game itself is a bit confusing without any introductions. I guess it is like a puzzle where you have to remove buildings in right order, right?

Edit: After few games, my friend found how to play it. Retails were in a huge role: SPOILER ALERT! Do not destroy them.
Recher
05. Apr 2022 · 20:58 UTC
There are explanations when you put the cursor on an icon or a value, but even with that, I cannot understand the global game mechanics and I ended not being able to remove any building.

Also, I cannot determine if the game is real-time or turn-based. Does the game situation changes when you wait a little time ? (citizens going away, power supply reorganizing, ...)

It's a nice idea, but the game is unclear for me.
🎤 Cryptomnesic
05. Apr 2022 · 21:30 UTC
@chocolat-endive I double checked just now and I am opted out, good catch.
🎤 Cryptomnesic
05. Apr 2022 · 21:31 UTC
@mibehu Correct, basically a puzzle box
🎤 Cryptomnesic
05. Apr 2022 · 22:21 UTC
@recher Mibehu has a good spoiler above
Recher
05. Apr 2022 · 22:47 UTC
Thank you @cryptomnesic and @mibehu , I managed to end the game.

I understood a little more of its mechanics, even if I'm totally not sure of having understood all of them. At the end, I was mainly clicking on a random factory, then all the empty residences, and so on.
GreenRadiation
06. Apr 2022 · 09:05 UTC
Cool idea! It's a bit difficult to understand the mechanics, but when you understand how the game works, it becomes very easy to win.
firescape games
06. Apr 2022 · 23:48 UTC
This is a nice game, took a bit to understand but once I got the hang of it was very fun. Well done with this game!
Nidel
07. Apr 2022 · 11:34 UTC
Nice one, I came for the SimCity vibes, I stay to destroy everything until the earth recovers :) Not sure to get everything but I liked the theme. I've had some trouble with the drag feature and the tooltip making difficult to control or "read" the action sometimes but nothing too serious. Nice job there! Congrats
Jake G
08. Apr 2022 · 03:16 UTC
What a cool idea! Clicking every single house was the hardest part. I definitely had fun with this.
Sheol
11. Apr 2022 · 03:47 UTC
Took me a while but I managed to figure it out after a few tries and reading some of the comments! I think the idea is that you have to strategically "unbuild" the city (since you have limited demolish points) and get everyone out of there. Interesting idea!
BattleToast
12. Apr 2022 · 07:19 UTC
Neat game, took a few tries to get strategy down, enjoyed the concept!
joe40001
18. Apr 2022 · 06:45 UTC
Interesting idea, I gave it three attempts but the mechanics are not clear. You should likely add an instruction page. Even if it's meant to be a puzzler, having some sense of what the icons mean would help. I kinda get what the drill icon means, I understand what creates/consumes power, but it's unclear how this affects the people who live there, and what makes people leave.