Cut for Power by hexkritor

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

GAME PLOT

"According to rumors, not far from the village where I am, a gang of cultists who worship Serpent God have decided to perform a summoning ritual to our world. I just became aware of this, that means the ritual is already on. I've already sent a message to the Order, but it's unlikely they'll have time to stop it. I need to hold them off, or at least distract them from the ritual while help is coming from the Order. There aren't many scrolls, but by cutting and combining them, the odds can be even"

-Astorus, mage of the Order of Order

GAME DESCRIPTION

As Astorus the mage, you have to stop the ritual. By casting spells from the scrolls, Astorus can deal damage to enemies or create a damage-absorbing barrier

Astorus can also cut one of the scrolls into two pieces by pressing the "Cut" button (costs 1 mana). You can adjust how the card will be cut by turning the cut line on the scroll

The resulting pieces Astorus can combine into a whole scroll, which goes into his hand

​​Authors

​​Hexkritor - programmer

Desm1t - gamedesigner

Julia L. - artist (characters, backgrounds)

TrolliusАля - artist (UI)​

​KaterinaEl - artist-animator​

Ratings

Overall 725th 3.5⭐ 24🧑‍⚖️
Fun 684th 3.386⭐ 24🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 472th 3.523⭐ 24🧑‍⚖️
Theme 1253th 2.977⭐ 24🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 665th 3.682⭐ 24🧑‍⚖️
Audio 670th 3.19⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Mood 832th 3.364⭐ 24🧑‍⚖️
Given 13🗳️ 13🗨️

Feedback

Helen
05. Apr 2022 · 22:17 UTC
Music is chosen well and fits together with the graphics. Honestly I was a bit lost, which items I should choose and which buttons I should click. Otherwise it would have been more fun. In my case it was simply guessing what to do next :D
I somehow got stuck on this screen: I couldn't press the green button anymore, no mather what I selected.
![Screenshot_2.png](///raw/151/a1/z/4ce24.png)
SofiGnedova
06. Apr 2022 · 19:24 UTC
Good game! However, making the game only in Russian is a controversial decision.
🎤 hexkritor
12. Apr 2022 · 01:34 UTC
@helen thanks for feedback!
We now have the english version of the game, so you can make another try to beat the game :)
🎤 hexkritor
12. Apr 2022 · 01:41 UTC
@sofignedova thanks for feedback!
We apologize for delaying the english version of the game :(
Proxy-Games
12. Apr 2022 · 06:23 UTC
This game is interesting conceptually, though it does feel a little incomplete. The graphics and UI work are very nicely done, and the audio works in setting a mood for the entry. The gameplay loop is quite satisfying, as the use of mana cards allow for players to smartly stack up effects as long as they add the right card at the right time. The difficulty is a little easy at the moment-I had no issue defeating line after line of enemies, so that could use some balancing. I also feel like there should be more variety in the enemy types, as having the same enemy sprite with the same general stats makes the game feel really repetitive. Overall, there is a good foundation for a game, and I'd like to see more add on top of it in terms of enemy types and card types.
🎤 hexkritor
12. Apr 2022 · 13:26 UTC
@proxy-games thanks for feedback!

I agree with you that this game needs more variety in mechanics and enemies. In fact, some of mechanics are already implemented in the game. But we decided not to add them in case of making the game really unbalanced
sanjuro
13. Apr 2022 · 11:46 UTC
As a fan of card games I enjoyed the game and I really like the Cut and Combine mechanic, it is very original and it could be expanded more, great job!
adobobo
13. Apr 2022 · 13:02 UTC
Okay the concept for cutting and combining was really cool. I really hoped the idea would have been refined and fleshed out.

For the card game itself, it would have been nice if we had some animations or feedback of the actual cards doing something like when the enemies perform their actions. Also having more mana that changes through out the game would have been also cool. Like cards that increase max mana for some number of turns. Or have you hold some mana and/or cards for the next turn. Like a bank for mana or cards.

Anyways, really cool concept, great game, thank you for submitting. Awesome!
🎤 hexkritor
13. Apr 2022 · 15:47 UTC
@sanjuro thanks for feedback!

I totally agree that the Cut/Combine has a potential to be expanded. I hope that someday it will expand into a finished game
🎤 hexkritor
13. Apr 2022 · 16:01 UTC
@adobobo thanks for feedback!

I agree with you that the game has a lack of visual feedback and UI elements, which turns out not understanding what's going on and what should be done now
About mana banks and maximum mana manipulations, that's a cool idea, but it needs to be checked in practice
ditam
13. Apr 2022 · 20:12 UTC
A very interesting mechanic! It felt a bit cheesy that you can make 0 / all cuts of cards, and combine the "all" parts to basically combine the full effect of any two cards. The audio and the graphics are nicely polished, with a bit of UI/UX work (or maybe an in-game tutorial) this can become an excellent game.
🎤 hexkritor
14. Apr 2022 · 08:26 UTC
@ditam thanks for feedback!

About the cheesy moment you mentioned, yes, you can make these type of cards. But by adding lots of empty cards you will lower your chance to get a card with effect. Also making one card with great ammount of symbols can't help you either, because it's mana cost will increased too. So it's about making low-cost cards with good efficiency
And I agree that the game has UI/UX problems, which can cause misunderstanding how to use Cut/Combine mechanic and other stuff
Yngvarr
14. Apr 2022 · 17:46 UTC
Man, I felt so smart when realizing the cut mechanic, but apparently, that was the intended way to play. :D

While I'm absolutely in love with the smooth enemy animations, the game lacks some polish in the UI department. Some indication of what enemy is about to do could add some tactical aspect to the game. And a cancel button for a cut screen would be nice. ^_^ That said, the game is solid and interesting to play, I'm curious to see a post-jam version. Very cool! :thumbsup:

I've recorded a playthrough, in case you're interested:
https://youtu.be/4hFHwCutQ00
🎤 hexkritor
14. Apr 2022 · 18:21 UTC
@yngvarr thanks for feedback!

Yes, the Cut/Combine mechanic is the intended way to finish the game. If it wasn't then it would be pointless for use. And it also mentioned in game plot, so you will delay the inevitable: trying to cut the cards :)

For cancelling the Cut, it follows the Touch-move rule like in chess. Also, in case of random appearance of symbols when you try to cut the card, with cancel button it could be heavily abused for rolling better symbol positions
japes
17. Apr 2022 · 17:52 UTC
The artwork for the enemies is amazing! gave me slay the spire vibes, but this is even better imo.
I like the lore/story as well.

My main criticism is that the instructions could be clearer, I felt like I was chucked in the deep end at first. The fact that there is no visual indication of whats happening when you click a card besides numbers going down made it harder to pick up and play as well. Just a small slash animation or something when attacking would've helped a lot.

I did manage to pick it up though, so I guess it is good enough. But someone who's never played something like slay the spire would struggle to understand how it works, I think.

The main cut/combine mechanic is a really cool idea, with some more work it could be the basis of a cool game. The card cost seems to automatically scale appropriately, which is nice. It would be nice to be able to see what the cost of the resulting card would be (perhaps it is shown, but I missed it...)

The audio is appropriate, if a bit repetitive. As others have said, having more enemies/cards would be cool, but I'm sure there would be if you had more time
guzzungo
17. Apr 2022 · 20:16 UTC
Nice game. It took a bit to get the best from the cut/combine
shp
17. Apr 2022 · 20:26 UTC
actually a really nice game! the artwork is great and the game play while kind of simple still had plenty to think about while playing
yusovv
17. Apr 2022 · 21:09 UTC
Awesome game! Send me the link when you're done so I can buy it!
🎤 hexkritor
18. Apr 2022 · 04:13 UTC
@japes thanks for feedback!

I totally agree that the game needs more instructions on how to play to users, who play card roguelike genre at first time, but it takes not so much time to understand what's going on

The card's cost depends on card's difficulty which based on used symbols in the card. Some symbols can increase or decreace the difficulty for sertain ammount
🎤 hexkritor
18. Apr 2022 · 04:16 UTC
@guzzungo thanks for feedback!

Yeah, it takes some time to understand Cut/Combine, but it's worth it
Eretol
19. Apr 2022 · 11:35 UTC
the cut combine mechanic was funny and nicely implemented
Helen
21. Apr 2022 · 16:28 UTC
@hexkritor I played the english version and yes, definitely made more sense :D I like how you can combine all those things.