Detective vs Killers by tmpxyz

[raw]
made by tmpxyz for LD31 (JAM)
Detective vs Killers is a logical game derived from the table game "Killers" with extra spice of "Minesweep".
You will play as the Detective, and your task is to find out the Killer hiding among the Citizens.

***Player Action***
0. Arrest: Arrest this guy, reduce credit if it turns out to be a Citizen;
1. Inquire: a citizen will mark possible cells if the killer is near him; Killer will not mark any cells;
2. Trace: Color a person, so you could still distinguish him in next turn;

***Rules***
1. The Citizen and Killer could move1-tile at Night;
2. The Killer kills after moves, and could only kill 1-tile nearby citizens, so check around the corpse closely.
3. The point is to deduce and guess where the killer is as soon as possible. Don鈥檛 need to be 100% sure to issue an arrest order.
4. You lose when your credit is not enough to issue arrest.



P.S.: Also try my current WIP project which is based on my LD #30 entry.

Ratings

Coolness 75% 2
Overall(Jam) 3.42 315
Audio(Jam) 3.18 319
Fun(Jam) 2.98 555
Graphics(Jam) 2.94 659
Humor(Jam) 2.63 478
Innovation(Jam) 3.81 97
Mood(Jam) 3.21 377
Theme(Jam) 3.30 711

Feedback

Wilson
08. Dec 2014 路 23:11 UTC
I like the idea, but couldn't really get my head around how the inquiring worked, so it was a bit too difficult.
Esaucm98
08. Dec 2014 路 23:15 UTC
Very interesting game! The music and Sfx are very good, and the idea of the game is nice too, i found a little bit hard to arrest the killer after the population increases. Good game.
folmerkelly
08. Dec 2014 路 23:39 UTC
I'm into the idea of this, gets quite hard though. As a concept, it's something to consider expanding on
馃帳 tmpxyz
08. Dec 2014 路 23:45 UTC
Hi @wilson,
A marked cell means where the killer *could* be.
If you inquire a killer, he will not mark any cell for you.
ChronusZ
08. Dec 2014 路 23:52 UTC
I like the idea a lot, but I don't think it's balanced super-well. It gets quite confusing very quickly.
Asaratha
09. Dec 2014 路 00:33 UTC
The game is very confusing.
jstzwd
09. Dec 2014 路 00:52 UTC
Great!
silentsea
09. Dec 2014 路 03:53 UTC
Impressive, the author must be handsome.
peculiarhu
09. Dec 2014 路 03:56 UTC
very interesting, the author must be a smart guy
Hellequin
09. Dec 2014 路 06:45 UTC
Unique concept! But a bit difficult and confusing
Nuclear Napalm
09. Dec 2014 路 09:03 UTC
Amazing! Logic game. Good idea and easy to play.
goodbadokay
10. Dec 2014 路 17:54 UTC
薪褉邪胁懈褌褋褟 懈写械褟! 褏芯褉芯褕邪褟 懈谐褉邪
RadStar
11. Dec 2014 路 15:31 UTC
really good game, but really difficult too... 3 actions per day, with so many options, it's barely impossible
DrGeraud
11. Dec 2014 路 15:35 UTC
I didn't get it at first, but it's a nice concept. =]
gebirgsbaerbel
11. Dec 2014 路 15:50 UTC
Nice little game. I love logic puzzles. However I did not like that you always hat to wait so long and move so far to trigger the next action. It distracted me from my thinking process. It could have been nicer if you would have used the different mouse buttons for the three actions as a short cut. The dialog window for witnesses is also not really necessary.
馃帳 tmpxyz
11. Dec 2014 路 16:02 UTC
@RadStar: Hi, indeed if you observe it a little more closely, 3 actions are usually enough to make a guess, sometimes enough to 100% determine killer position =)

@gebirgsbaerbel: I agree that those elements could slower player a little, but without these things, there will be no mood and be just like minesweep. :)
Zi
14. Dec 2014 路 06:33 UTC
This is a very innovative and well-designed game. It proved to be way too complex for me to handle personally, but that is not a flaw of the game, just me. Very impressive, congrats! =)
Zi
14. Dec 2014 路 06:36 UTC
May I just say that this would make a FANTASTIC party board game. The real-time element just made it really difficult for someone like myself. Perhaps consider adding an "easy mode" which removes the time flow, and you just continue when you're ready.
jachepe
14. Dec 2014 路 11:01 UTC
Very interesting idea :D
Backterria
14. Dec 2014 路 11:04 UTC
Nice game!Loved the music and sound effects!
marsermd
14. Dec 2014 路 14:46 UTC
nice game! I love the mafia style puzzles.
ljdp
14. Dec 2014 路 15:14 UTC
I really dig this idea, and can see potential to develop it further. I'd actually rather play are more logical minesweeper like game than it is now. At least this isn't as abstract as minesweeper and a lot more compelling.

If you were to continue working on this the difficulty needs work, also I wasn't sure if the killer murders and then moves or moves and then murders and the majority of citizens were not helpful. Really innovative entry though!
馃帳 tmpxyz
14. Dec 2014 路 15:20 UTC
@ljdp, yeah, killers move first then kill, so they're guaranteed to position near the corpse. I'll update the rules description.
thristhart
14. Dec 2014 路 15:39 UTC
In desperate need of a mute button!
FloatingGhost
14. Dec 2014 路 15:47 UTC
Nice concept, I'll play this more
klianc09
14. Dec 2014 路 17:26 UTC
Woah, really love the concept. Although you praise it's logic aspect, there are many situations where it comes down to pure luck (and the penalty for guessing wrong is really high). And the short time-limit also feels extra stressing, especially in the later levels. And 3 actions I felt like are too few, the latter levels with 4 actions are a lot better.
The last level felt especially unfair, far too few lives with the murderers killing people every turn, while I can only watch. I only managed to beat it after lucking two fifty/fifty chance arrests.
The tracing mechanic is what makes this game really great. It gives it a lot more depth. It's just difficult keeping track of all the colors after tracing many people. Really wish I could sort the traced people into two categories: "possible murderers" and "clearly not murderers".
Also understanding the rules is vital to playing the game (especially rule 2), they should be better explained and maybe even visualized in-game.

But still, I really dig this game, and if you expand/improve/polish it a bit, I would really like to see more of it.
馃帳 tmpxyz
15. Dec 2014 路 01:42 UTC
@klianc09, thanks for your valuable feedback,according to the feedbacks, I'll update the game to adjust the starting action from 3 to 4. And after player clearing the game, they could play hardcore mode with only 3 actions.

There're many expandable/improvable places, I'll see if I can make it more interesting later.
馃帳 tmpxyz
15. Dec 2014 路 02:56 UTC
updated, available actions in one turn is adjusted from 3=>4, now it feels easier, I think;
MrBadIvan
15. Dec 2014 路 10:47 UTC
This a great game, very innovative, fun and atmospheric! I enjoyed it much.
dunin
19. Dec 2014 路 09:32 UTC
cool. I love logic game. just one question: I always waited the first kill to start my search, is it the good way? (if yes, why don't start with a corpse somewhere...)
馃帳 tmpxyz
19. Dec 2014 路 11:09 UTC
@dunin, you have a good chance to find out the killer before any victim appears in small map, if you have good luck, you can catch it in the first or second turn. :)
lemmily
19. Dec 2014 路 11:30 UTC
Why is there a timer AND a cost for actions, I feel it should be one or the other. The cost is also not understandable, it says cost 2 for inquire, but the number goes down by 1! However I really like the idea, though it's a bit hard in its current state because you mostly get nothing from the inquiries in the second sized map, and with such limited actions eep!
t4u
19. Dec 2014 路 13:24 UTC
Like the idea but I dont understnad how to play in efficient way.
mortus
19. Dec 2014 路 13:40 UTC
I've played until I've got killers moving 2 tiles and killing 2 tiles away and it was lots of fun. After that it became too random for me to enjoy. I was always feeling like I'm guessing though, but I was always right, so either I'm extremely lucky today, or I was choosing less randomly than I thought.

Anyway, fun game, will play it more later, the only complaint I have is that it's hard to tell that you have limited actions in the beginning, not sure if I've read about it anywhere in the game. I was thinking the timer is glitched and the night starts too early my first few turns, so I've had to restart the game and start playing properly from beginning.
FlipskiZ
19. Dec 2014 路 16:20 UTC
I really liked this! Everything is well done and polished. One of the few games I played to completion, good job!
馃帳 tmpxyz
20. Dec 2014 路 02:15 UTC
@lemmily Thanks for your feedback, though I don't find such situation of "1 for inquire"; the cost is mainly used to prevent people doing "crazy arrest test"; as for timer, 40sec is usually quite enough, it just keeps people from going absent minded.

@Flipskiz Thank you!

@mortus guessing is a valid strategy! As for the action counter, I should add some dynamic effect to make it more noticable.
馃帳 tmpxyz
20. Dec 2014 路 02:41 UTC
Yeah, reached 53 votes! Thank you all for that, people.