LudumData

Harvest for a Murder by Zuwu

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

Play as a caravan of crows in the harvestman's field. You must escape his field before he harvests it, while getting enough grain to survive the winter.

Guide: Use A and D to move the camera left or right Your goal is to (within 5 days) reach the rightmost hexagons of the map and get 100 grain

You move to nearby hexagons by clicking on them, doing so may prompt an event or notification (IE found food, encountered locusts, etc). Moving costs 6 food but is decreased by 1 for every five crows you have.

The five resources in the top left corner are: Grain or wheat, crows can't eat it raw but its useful as currency, additionally you need 100 grain to win. Food, necessary for movement, running out will cause your crows to slowly starve. Wood, necessary for camping, the only way to increase morale. Morale, how content your crows are, if it drops to 0 you'll lose the game. Crows or manpower, how many crows are in your caravan, if this drops to 0 you'll lose the game.

Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/52/harvest-for-a-murder

Ratings

Overall 663th 3.079⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Fun 678th 2.833⭐ 20🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 569th 3.026⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Theme 354th 3.789⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 525th 3.342⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Audio 384th 3.083⭐ 20🧑‍⚖️
Mood 444th 3.395⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Given 15🗳️ 15🗨️

Feedback

PickyDogFish
09. Jan 2023 · 22:02 UTC
It might be because im tired and drank a beer or two, but the close game button being on every popup doesn't seem like the best idea. Good job tho!
🎤 Zuwu
09. Jan 2023 · 22:33 UTC
Yea it isn't, but I needed to put it somewhere
Sn4pi
10. Jan 2023 · 02:06 UTC
I needed 20 tries to beat it. Really rough luck is what I had. Good idea to harvest yourself to stay alive, while also fleeing from "the harvesting".
Found Bow Tonight
10. Jan 2023 · 12:15 UTC
I don't know how to play.Please tell me thanks.
Alex de la Cour
10. Jan 2023 · 13:20 UTC
This really reminded me of the Oregon Trail, that sort of hopeless travel where death is always one move away. I liked the music and the sombre mood, and the game has tons of character and personality. I died a lot and sometimes it seemed like the RNG or whatever was really against me - perhaps some balancing with regards to that could have helped, often I went across what seemed like 4 or 5 clicks without getting anything - I like a challenge but this just seemed a tad unfair at times. Apart from that though, I thought this was a great take on the theme and a fun game that made me want to try again each time I lost.
Efilheim
10. Jan 2023 · 13:36 UTC
Cool atmosphere in this retro game, even if the randomness is a bit unfair.
Kelvin Mulungu
10. Jan 2023 · 21:07 UTC
I finally got the pun in the name after playing the game(Guess its not really a pun huh?). This is super fun, reminds me of death road to canada, with having to manage a team, keep morale high, have them well rested and still gather adequate resources. Lovely game. Music matches the vibe, sound effects were kinda loud even with volume down but I guess thats just how jam games be.

I will forever remember the crows that died under my leadership. Great work
JormaRysky
11. Jan 2023 · 12:28 UTC
After few times running out of things it was clear what was goal and about how to achieve it. It works well, even if bit random. Bigger part of screen could be dedicated for resources UI, it is hard to tell what is what. I don't think including close the game button for every pop up is good idea, if something it gives impression of devs not having confidence for their game, "Go away and play some better game, this one sucks".
Yamzho
14. Jan 2023 · 16:34 UTC
I lost. A lot.

This is a nice entry. Not sure this was the best idea to put the "close" button on each turn pop-up. Also, I missed having a "retry" button when we lose. But i liked the variety of events.

Good job!
minjutin
17. Jan 2023 · 08:06 UTC
Nice pixel graphics and simple yet interesting game loop, I was also confused by the exit game button but learned to not press it after a few accidents.
gord10ahmet
17. Jan 2023 · 22:05 UTC
I loved the visuals and audio, they reflect the mood perfectly.

My feedbacks are about UI/UX.
* I had no idea what the icons at the left top meant. Maybe there could be names next to them.
* It took me some time to understand that the green and red buttons meant "yes" and "no".
* A more readable font could be used.
* The "close game" button.
DFaouaz
25. Jan 2023 · 00:44 UTC
Nice game! I really liked it! Nice job!
zubspace
26. Jan 2023 · 20:26 UTC
I like the art style and the music. The hover animation of the hexagon tiles is great. The background and even the UI looks good.

I'm not so convinced of the game play. I mean, I like survival games such as this, but I have the impression that this one relies too much on the RNG and the everything works against the player. There are just too many things you need to manage (morale, grain, pumpkins, time and movement) and too many random events which completely destroy your run without you having any say in it.

However, I'm still impressed what you achieved in such a short time. Well done!
BeastCountenance
26. Jan 2023 · 21:29 UTC
With more balancing and events, this could be a really great game.