LudumData

Goblindentured Harvester by Magnanix

[raw]
made by Magnanix for Ludum Dare 52 (JAM)

Had to cut a large amount of planned content from this one, even with a small scope it appeared to have been too much.

Although, the method of development I used this time made everything much easier than the normal spaghetti mess that jamming is.

The Game:

You are an indentured harvester, technically free - for the first time ever... however freedom is never free - and you have a debt to repay.

Not many jobs around for small goblins, none that will allow you to pay back the ridiculous 800% p.a. interest rate of the shady loan shark who purchased your freedom... except for a dangerous one.

The Goal:

Dungeon portals are lucrative, especially ones that are closing - no-one will even know that you are scraping the leftovers/missed minerals, corpse parts, and loot that has been left behind. Its dangerous, but you have organized for a rescue plan, its just a little more cost.

Enter collapsing dungeons, run through the rooms and harvest minerals, graves (corpses) and loot chests that have been left behind by adventuring parties. Escape through the entrance portal before time runs out, or you'll be slapped with a revival charge.

Harvest enough, whilst improving yourself with the small amount of money you keep, to pay off your debt and finally be free!

Controls:

(Gamepad should also work, but I ran out of time to set up menus/location selection for it). - Mouse Move + Left Click: Select Portals on the world map screen - WASD: Movement - E: Interact with objects, and attempt harvest minigame - Esc: Cancel harvesting early, allowing you to move once more

I had fun working on this game, there may be a few small bugs remaining, but nothing too egregious I hope.

I did have to cut out/concatenate a few functions (originally wanted an equipment shop to improve stats, or a "train X for a day" option like visual novels/etc - this became a quick [+] button shop). The art is also bare bones, as I left this until last, and spent the last 3-4hrs figuring out why PlayerPrefs wasn't working...

I hope you have fun and enjoy what is there, I may consider working more on this sort of idea if I can design a more full fledged gameplay loop :).

HTML5 - JAM ENTRY https://magnanix.itch.io/goblindentured-harvester
Windows - JAM ENTRY https://magnanix.itch.io/goblindentured-harvester
Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/52/goblindentured-harvester

Ratings

Overall 505th 3.342⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Fun 459th 3.289⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 590th 2.974⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Theme 370th 3.763⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 641th 2.947⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Humor 565th 2.472⭐ 20🧑‍⚖️
Mood 706th 2.868⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Given 10🗳️ 13🗨️

Feedback

MithosKuu
15. Jan 2023 · 01:55 UTC
Good work on getting a 3d game up and out in time

The game loop was a bit easy to blow through the debt, I wasn't sure what the upgrades actually did and they were too expensive relative to the debt to be worth chasing. You could try making the debt something far more massive and have the upgrades drastically increase how much you earn

The only major issue I had was the bar you use for the harvesting minigame could be cutoff if the mining spot was too far up on the screen or too close to the sides
3ggplant
15. Jan 2023 · 04:07 UTC
Core gameplay loop is really interesting, and can definitely be expanded upon. I think dungeon difficulty shouldn't just be on the speed of the harvesting bar and the time given, but can work with a lot more moving threats rather than just the static threats. I think the days counter is bugged/unfinished, but having the time aspect play a greater role could make things more interesting.
MilkWine
15. Jan 2023 · 04:35 UTC
The game concept is good, and it was fun exploring the dungeon collecting resources. I couldn't tell if timing the harvesting minigame changed anything -- it takes a while to wait for the icon to come back if you miss it, and mashing E seemed to give the same amount of resources. Doing this also got me stuck in the harvesting minigame until the time ran out.
One thing I'd add is some in-game explanation of how the stats work, and what changes between the difficulty levels.
I liked choosing locations on the map. They reset each time, but it would be nice to be able to clear them out one by one to have a sense of progress.
La bread
15. Jan 2023 · 04:49 UTC
Idk if im just a hardcore gamer but i beat the game in a few mins, I feel like if the debt was a bit more or if there was a new game plus (go for higher number, maybe have rent or other expenditures) to keep going. Since I beat the game soo quickly I also didn't really upgrade the goblin fella much. I think a tutorial or atleast explaining what each mechanic does would've been nice (idk what deftness was). nevertheless I beat the funny goblin game!
dob
15. Jan 2023 · 06:35 UTC
Really fun idea. I found it way, way easy, especially with all the obstacles being static. I couldn't figure out what any of the stats other than Endurance were doing for me, so it would be cool to know. It seemed like that was the only one that affected income very much. I also think the day counter wasn't advancing. I also had the mining bar offscreen if I tried for a deposit that was too high. But very nice work for something on such a short schedule.
SoonTheSpoon
15. Jan 2023 · 07:46 UTC
The goblin is cute, would like to see more of his face in-game as well. I like the idea and can see potential for the game. The harvesting mechanic is fun, but a bit repetitive in the current state of the game. It's a good start for a bigger game, Good job!
Pulni
15. Jan 2023 · 10:01 UTC
Nice game! :slight_smile: A little too easy, but hey, who has time to balance, right? :smile:

I agree with what the others said - didn't quite understand what the upgrades do, and there wasn't enough time to actually play with them. Different kinds of obstacles would've been nicer, but as you said, there just wasn't enough time to put everything you had planned, which is understandable. :slight_smile:

And that brings me to the thing I actually wanted to mention. This is the first game jam where I'm doing some planning (as in, writing down the plan and estimating the tasks, not just having a vague idea in my head). And I have to say, I feel it was quite helpful to keep things organized, and to understand what would be a reasonable scope. Am definitely planning to do it again next time! Here's a screenshot of my "amazing" plan. :smile: Perhaps it would be useful to you or someone else reading the comments! :shrug:

https://stuff.pulni.com/files/ebhz-plan.png
TildeCat
15. Jan 2023 · 10:13 UTC
Really cool game! Some tips: Overlapping portals on first screen were little glitchy. Sometimes, bar with harvesting was over the screen (upper locations). Also, harvesting is based on QTE, which can cost valuable seconds. But overall, very nice game!
Klaus Peter
15. Jan 2023 · 15:59 UTC
I liked the concept of mining minerals. But I think as others pointed out the player seldomly has to doge are interact with the traps at all. I thought that was a little bit missed opportunity to make the gameplay more diverse.
Rezioz
15. Jan 2023 · 23:51 UTC
This one have a good potential. You have something good here... It could be great if traps were more challenging, because they are too easily avoidable.
Veelivar
16. Jan 2023 · 23:59 UTC
Liked the idea, but there's definitely some things that need working out and balancing.

I found out pretty quickly that the minigame does not need you to hit in the green, just spamming E as soon as it opens lets you clear the loot at high speed - which pretty much nullified the debt in a few days. This bug became useful a few times, as treasures near the top of the screen mean you cannot see the minigame bar.

I also didn't find the traps a threat, as the telegraphing of them from the start meant I was playing proactively around them, not reactively. Having the shadow for the rocks only appear very briefly before they fall could mitigate this. Some of the spike traps spawn right against doors, so I was taking hits as soon as I entered a room.

It has potential, but needs a balance.
Flying Dog Fish
17. Jan 2023 · 22:19 UTC
Cool little game. I like the harvesting mechanic.
Glaikunt
22. Jan 2023 · 19:30 UTC
I'm free of debt. Great little game! The game is pretty cool, which there was more to it. Could use some sound effects as well. Overall it was fun to play through. Great Job! (not sure why it still says one day)

![goblindentured.png](///raw/2bb/43/z/56b98.png)