Cramped Choices, a Lifetime Dilemmas! by Tommy
In this riveting game, you embody the daily struggles of an ordinary worker navigating through limited spaces, battling constant crowds, congested traffic, and confined environments. Every decision — from your commute through bustling streets to selecting a desk in a crowded office, choosing a lunch spot in a packed restaurant, and navigating post-work activities amidst a sea of people — is shadowed by the challenge of "limited space." Embrace the thrill of balancing amidst the chaos, where every move in this world of crowded constraints affects your health, life satisfaction, and finances. Can you master the art of thriving in the face of constant confinement and make the right choices in Cramped Choices: Lifetime Dilemmas? Let the limited space challenge begin!
How to play:
- for each scene, make your choice by clicking on one of the three available choices
- depending on how other agents choose and how many of them try to fight for the same limited space, you will see your back account, level of health and level of happyness vary accordingly (nothing is more stressful or unhealthy than a car ride to work in the same day in which everyone else seems to have taken the same unfortunate decision)
- at the end of each day, you will get a chance to refill your bank account (you should thank your company for that) and your health bar (some good old sleep time is still the best in that), but your happyness level will decrease a little (as they say, happyness is a constant struggle)
- if at any point any of the three go negative, you lose the game
Are you ready to face the dilemmas of limited space? Dive in, make your choices wisely, and experience the thrill of Cramped Choices: Lifetime Dilemmas!
Team
- Beatrice Mascheroni (UI/UX, game design)
- Ludovica Piro (art, game design)
- Tommaso Bianchi (programming, game design)
| GitHub | https://github.com/TommasoBianchi/LudumDare54 |
| Link | https://tb-95.itch.io/cramped-choices |
| Original URL | https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/54/cramped-choices-a-lifetime-dilemmas |
Ratings
| Overall | 989th | 3.043⭐ | 25🧑⚖️ |
| Fun | 1046th | 2.674⭐ | 25🧑⚖️ |
| Innovation | 659th | 3.239⭐ | 25🧑⚖️ |
| Theme | 557th | 3.652⭐ | 25🧑⚖️ |
| Graphics | 695th | 3.391⭐ | 25🧑⚖️ |
| Humor | 422th | 3.2⭐ | 22🧑⚖️ |
| Mood | 772th | 3.273⭐ | 24🧑⚖️ |
| Given | 15🗳️ | 27🗨️ |
Was not entirely sure if the choices are randomly generated and would be interested to play a more expanded versio n with more options
I did enjoy the usage of the theme though. The story is relatable, and makes me feel existential dread lol. As uncomfortable as that dread is, it was very effective.
It's a shame, too, because the use of the theme is smart, the graphics are nice, the game animates well, the music is absolutely on point. (Why can't I give it the 5⭐ it deserves?)
Just being allowed to watch people _enter_ the spaces, and having to remember where people went, would give the player agency and be much more interesting.
@caryoscelus @matt-walak @greytyphoon the way that other people choose where to go is not exactly random, as they prioritize places that got them good rewards in the past (i.e., if taking the car when everyone else takes it and thus having strong maluses to both health and happyness, then in future days the car will be less likely to be chosen). I agree with you though that this behaviour is not strong enough to be felt by players (expecially in the first few days of the gameplay); with a bit more time (we had to restrict ourselves to 24 hours) and/or with a dedicated game designer this aspect could have been certainly been polished more.
@greytyphoon the music is downloaded from a creative commons archive, so we opted out from ratings as we did not produce it ourselves.
A way to skip the animations would also be appreciated, at the moment if you click during the card reveal you can choose one even if you do not see what is written on it :smile:
The graphics are nice, and so is the music (it didn't loop, though, it just stopped at some point and there was silence). The concept itself is interesting and your interpretation of the theme is quite unique!