100 Seconds to Midnight by Substain

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

At doom’s doorstep: the clock is set at 100 seconds to midnight.

You are the leader of your people, you have a dream about your future and it's glorious. but there is suffering on the horizon, brought about by the torments of human existence. The fate of your people is in your hands, your decisions will shape history itself. Go and decide your future.

Play our government simulator and try to prevent your country from the ever present dangers of our modern world.

Credits:

Morgan Allen - programming and design

Substain - programming and UI

SamWain - music

Randomness - Art and UI

Ratings

Overall 1165th 3.107⭐ 30🧑‍⚖️
Fun 1191th 2.852⭐ 29🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 744th 3.259⭐ 29🧑‍⚖️
Theme 417th 3.885⭐ 28🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 1236th 2.571⭐ 30🧑‍⚖️
Audio 752th 3.037⭐ 29🧑‍⚖️
Humor 854th 2.667⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Mood 907th 3.278⭐ 29🧑‍⚖️
Given 37🗳️ 42🗨️

Feedback

fc85057
05. Apr 2022 · 21:21 UTC
Interesting premise! Easy to pick up and play with clear resources to juggle. The variety of events and their randomization definitely add to the replay value. It'd be great to have some more indication of just how much you stand to gain or lose on certain decisions, since it sometimes felt like a gamble where you may lose or not.
Dan Allison
07. Apr 2022 · 10:00 UTC
This is really cool! Really like the style and think the audio (spoken and music) do a really good job in setting the tone of the game. Having the four resources to manage is a good amount, it felt balanced in the right way - I tried a few runs where I focused on one specific resource and it always ended badly but did much better when trying to do things more evenly.
Roitchie
07. Apr 2022 · 10:11 UTC
Cool and unique premise. After seeing so many infinite survival games this is a breath of fresh air.

Resource management and the random events adds some nice strategy to the game. I do wish that some of the events with only one option had more so it felt less RNGey. But otherwise a fun strategy game.

One of the hardest genres to get right especially in a jam so you should be proud of that.
LabarreX
07. Apr 2022 · 10:22 UTC
Really cool, but a little bit repetitive.
bastilo
07. Apr 2022 · 14:33 UTC
Similar to Reigns. I like the idea!
Itzemii
07. Apr 2022 · 16:05 UTC
Wow, this feels dark. And yes, makes clear that decisions are not black and white. And you even "only" have added three things to consider. Feels deep and thorough. Makes me feel helpless.
Well implemented. The music fits very well!
Common
07. Apr 2022 · 21:00 UTC
Some of the options feel like they should lead to different inc/dec but it's very unique and well designed.
Blue Pin Studio
09. Apr 2022 · 02:32 UTC
Pretty good submission! Shout out to a fellow Canadian :D
taran95
09. Apr 2022 · 11:38 UTC
Nice game. It's kind of similar to Reigns. Random events and resource management adds chalenges to the game. I like the game concept.
LDJam user 280755
09. Apr 2022 · 15:05 UTC
Quite a cool concept and mechanics. The background music is very good. One thing really working for you is how quick the games are. I ended up playing many times just to see if I could do any better! I think my best was 1 year 8 months.
Sodoj
09. Apr 2022 · 15:58 UTC
A very cool idea! I like it a lot! I wish the events were happening a bit less frequently, it would've made my choices feel much more grander. At this state it feels like picking my favorite color, which brings down mood a bit.

Overall, nice stuff! Good job, made it to 2 years and 5 months!
p-r
13. Apr 2022 · 08:50 UTC
Nice music, I like the information in each panel of how they impact the stats
sMttz
16. Apr 2022 · 09:26 UTC
really interesting idea, nice
Terabyte
16. Apr 2022 · 19:50 UTC
such an unsettling soundtrack. Cool! So atmospheric!
interesting game.
Good job!
Zitao YE
17. Apr 2022 · 10:55 UTC
nice mood and reigns-like gameplay!
Molpe
19. Apr 2022 · 22:50 UTC
The more I tried to use some kind of strategy, the worst score I got :smile: My shortest is 2 months! The audio is very well done!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4zAAHSZsjA
Mateu
20. Apr 2022 · 23:03 UTC
This reminds me a lot of the mobile game "Reigns". For a game jam game, I think you did a pretty good job and it's cool that you have something this complicated that was finished. My only problem is that this game is almost *exactly* Reigns. The plot is a lot different, but gameplay wise it's really not. That's not to say that this is a bad game, I just would've liked something a little bit more unique. Anyways, what I did play I enjoyed and I think you did a pretty good job (setting aside my one little gripe).
LDJam user 288502
21. Apr 2022 · 01:01 UTC
Interesting concept, well balanced.

I found a loophole: if you don't choose any option, the months keep passing by with no penalty.

One of the options was "Do nothing" -- which is effectively what I am doing --, but since I didn't click it, I wasn't penalized.

I lasted 11 years and 5 months doing nothing...

(I wonder if this is what real governments do)
Tatha
22. Apr 2022 · 10:54 UTC
@molpe It was so fun to watch you play, thank you for posting the video and thank you for the kind comment about my audio 😊.

@jamtempisto great insight. Will keep that in mind if we do something similar!

@mateu I hear you, thanks for mentioning the gripe, it's good to hear about!. It was complicated! Great programming and design by Substain and Morgan Allen. Thanks for the comment and review x

@zitao-ye Cheers for the review and play! Glad you liked it

@smttz Thanks for your comment and play!

@p-r It makes my day when someone says they like my music. Thank you!

@sodoj I love what you're saying about making the decisions grander by making the space in between longer. I think you're right. Great feedback thank you.

@daniel-username Cheers for the comment and noticing the replayability! You're an angel for mentioning the music, made my day thanks.

@taran95 Thanks for your comment and I'm glad you liked the concept.

@blue-pin-studio - cheers for your comment and review!

@common Cheers common! Thanks for your review

@itzemii Great! I love that you got this from playing and thanks even more so for commenting on the music, I love that. Have a great day x

@bastilo Thanks for the comment and review! Best of luck!

@labarrex thanks for the review and feedback x

@roitchie Great feedback and thank you for the kudos!

@dan-allison Thank you for mentioning my music! I love that it worked for you! It's great the game design made you want to play evenly too. Cheers for your time and feedback.

@fc85057 I agree, I think if we were to do it again more work going of what you lose and gain would be the way forward. Cheers for your feedback, it's really useful, all the best mon frere!