Death Or Taxes by Fionnabhair
"'Tis impossible to be sure of any thing but Death and Taxes." - Christopher Bullock.
This is a humour/noir text-based story game a bit like the choose-your-own-adventure novels I read as a kid. The player must gather the materials necessary to fake their own death, including cash, a fake ID, and, of course, a death certificate. Choose your path carefully, because those choices will impact how the story unfolds and what the victory conditions look like.
This game was not built with mobile screens in mind, but it should be fully functional (at least in Chrome on an Android device).
The game does not take itself seriously, but the humour can be dark at times. It is not graphic, and I limited myself to only a single swear word*, but I would not consider this game to be kid-friendly.
Content note: there is a path you could take that will let you fake your own suicide. It's well-labeled, completely optional, and choosing to go another way won't hinder your ability to finish the game.
Notes: First, I would like to thank WikiHow. They actually have an article describing what one might need to do to fake their own death. (It's here, if you're curious.)
I really should have finished this in time for the jam, but I kept expanding what I wanted to do with the game. I tried to write something that took player choice into account later in the game, but that meant adding many, many branches. There are about 90 unique scenes. I am concerned that my best jokes might have been buried too deeply to be noticed. Alas.
This didn't have to be a Unity game, but I decided from the get-go that I wanted to try Unity. Thing I learned: don't try to learn a game engine the day of the jam, especially when you have as much coding experience as I have (which isn't very much). The game isn't too complicated conceptually, but I made bad decisions early on because I didn't know how to do it a better way, and that caught up with me later. Building the story in an array with 90 entries? That way lies regret.
*I used all the swear words working on this thing, there weren't any left for the game itself.
Credits: Music: Noir Rouge by Martijn de Boer (NiGiD) (c) copyright 2018 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/NiGiD/57451 Ft: Javolenus
Sound effects: https://freesound.org/people/ebcrosby/sounds/339484/ ; https://freesound.org/people/TurtleLG/sounds/80449/ ; https://freesound.org/people/suntemple/sounds/249300/ ; https://freesound.org/people/Boxwell/sounds/577972/
Image: https://pixabay.com/photos/typewriter-letters-antiques-writer-1603999/
Fonts: https://www.dafont.com/f25-executive.font ; https://www.fontsquirrel.com/fonts/compagnon?q%5Bterm%5D=typewriter&q%5Bsearch_c... ; https://www.dafont.com/blackcasper.font
Game changes: v1.2: fixed bugs that were directing the player to unintended positions in the array. Added additional endgame scene if certain conditions are met.
v1.3: fixed grammar, spelling, and audio effects. Promised Mike this will be the last time I make any changes. Quit Unity, no reopening it until Results Day.
| Link | https://jennadoyle.itch.io/death-or-taxes |
| Original URL | https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/50/death-or-taxes-1 |
Ratings
| Given | 16🗳️ | 13🗨️ |
Good game! :D
I just felt it was way too short, even exploring the other branches -- but this is a Ludum Dare thing: we never have enough time :laughing:
The writing is really good and engaging with a funny twist at the end. Great job!
@nullval Thank you! Glad you liked the name and the twist.
@saintchristopher777 Glad you liked the game! But if you're considering any tax shenanigans, you don't know me, okay? 🤪
A fun story with interesting branches.
Being able to quickly undo a decision is a nice touch that homegrown interactive fiction frequently lacks.
@a1stakesauce Thanks, and noted. Something I wanted to add to the game was an "inventory" the player could see. I was keeping track of that behind the scenes, but making that visible to the player had to be cut. Adding puzzles as well would be an interesting idea, too.
@rose I made the unfortunate decision to use a numbered array to store each scene of the story, and by the time I realized that was a terrible idea, it was too late. I managed to keep track, though, so if you think I can't keep track of *your* 20 versions, oh ye of little faith...
@ldjq Adding that back button was something I needed in order to test the game. I don't like punishing the player (because I don't like that sort of game myself), so it stayed. I put all that work into adding branches and writing scenes, it would be a terrible idea to not let the player explore. (And some of the failure scenes were the most fun to write!)