Vortex of Life by Chenlola108
This is a card-based role-playing game where you play as a mouse scientist conducting experiments on tiny creatures that share certain similarities with him (well, at least he thinks so). By placing different material cards into the petri dish on the right and using a magnifying glass to observe, you will record your experimental data and draw conclusions. The state of the test subjects will influence the outcome of the experiment. How to play: 1. Click the left and right arrows on the cards below to switch card types either forward or backward. The numbers on the cards indicate how many of that type you have. (Note: there’s a temporary bug where the number may not update immediately after you consume a card. To refresh, just switch to the card type that you just consumed.)
Click the three magnifying glasses on the right side of the screen to view the three Petri dishes. You can choose whether to feed them the selected card, as different card types will affect the values of the three bottles in the lower left corner.
When you select "✔," it means one card of the current type is consumed, and a story panel will appear in the center of your screen. Please read it fully and wait for it to disappear before proceeding.
By balancing the values of the three bottles in the lower left corner, you can achieve the true ending before all cards are consumed. If any bottle fills or empties early, you will reach different endings.
Ultimately, these endings reflect your conclusions as a mouse scientist. You may successfully reach the true ending or fail early and receive a subjective false ending.
| Link | https://lola108.itch.io/vortex-of-life |
| Original URL | https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/56/vortex-of-life |
Ratings
| Overall | 989th | 2.935⭐ | 25🧑⚖️ |
| Fun | 1067th | 2.239⭐ | 25🧑⚖️ |
| Innovation | 433th | 3.435⭐ | 25🧑⚖️ |
| Theme | 796th | 3.333⭐ | 26🧑⚖️ |
| Graphics | 404th | 3.875⭐ | 26🧑⚖️ |
| Humor | 791th | 2.545⭐ | 24🧑⚖️ |
| Mood | 660th | 3.391⭐ | 25🧑⚖️ |
| Given | 13🗳️ | 22🗨️ |
I understand there is some social commentary in there, but i'd be damned if I was asked to extract any themes out of it.
Overall this has a lot of potential if you ever take the time to guide us through what you want us to see, and i'll be glad to give this a shot again if you ever do.
Big congrats to whoever did the intro slides and the game screen, this really IS a gorgeous game
How to play:
1. Click the left and right arrows on the cards below to switch card types either forward or backward. The numbers on the cards indicate how many of that type you have. (Note: there’s a temporary bug where the number may not update immediately after you consume a card. To refresh, just switch to the card type that you just consumed.)
2. Click the three magnifying glasses on the right side of the screen to view the three Petri dishes. You can choose whether to feed them the selected card, as different card types will affect the values of the three bottles in the lower left corner.
3. When you select "✔," it means one card of the current type is consumed, and a story panel will appear in the center of your screen. Please read it fully and wait for it to disappear before proceeding.
4. By balancing the values of the three bottles in the lower left corner, you can achieve the true ending before all cards are consumed. If any bottle fills or empties early, you will reach different endings.
5. Ultimately, these endings reflect your conclusions as a mouse scientist. You may successfully reach the true ending or fail early and receive a subjective false ending.
The graphic style is good and the mood interesting.
About the intro with explanation, I would have preferred previous/next buttons in place of automatic transitions (too shorts).
To better understand each petri dish's story, we suggest interacting with just one magnifying glass during each playthrough, then switching to another for the next game. This will help you gradually uncover the full story behind the three dishes. Also, pay attention to how different cards affect the bottles, and after using a card or restarting the game, refresh the card values by clicking the arrows to make sure you know the exact number and types of cards you have.
Remember, in the game, you are a mouse scientist, and the three magnifying glasses represent three different petri dishes. Using the news panel, experiment logs, endings, and card types as clues, you can gradually piece together the full narrative of the game.