The Social Avarice of an Adult Mayfly by Several

[raw]
made by Several for LD28 (JAM)
A wobbly 2D game with flying and social functions.

Play as an adult mayfly. Live your one allotted day in one slightly-longer-than-usual minute. Attend what seems to be the same party over and over again. Make first impressions.

Contains alcohol & tobacco references, and maybe a couple of so-called 'dictionary words'.


TO PLAY:

As fast as possible:

1. Check "important guests." Note what they like & don't like. Note their appearance.

2. Click on the options below to dress accordingly.

3. Click the "GO" button to attend the party.

4. Fly around the party with the arrow keys or WASD. Consume alcohol from a straw if necessary.

5. Try to get reasonably close to the guests, so they will notice your appearance. (Or, if they like it when you stand close, stand as close as you can without bumping their wings.)

6. When you have made your good impressions, head to the exit to prepare for the next party.

7. Repeat as often as possible. Time or drink will stop you soon enough.



Pro-tips:

1. If you're not running the webplayer build, you may have to exit by using the appropriate hotkey for your system. Sorry about that.

2. The crudely-drawn gifts portray the following:

(from left to right)
Gray rectangle-thing: Flask
Green round thing: Moneybag
White-ish angular things: baseball tickets (pointless)
Brown oblong: cigar
Magenta-ish angular thing: perfume bottle
Blue with brown on top thing: Cologne bottle



Additional notes:

I tried learning new things, making everything (barring what Unity provides) from scratch, sleeping 6-hour nights, and doing a normal Monday workday + commute within the time limit. Perhaps next time I will be less ambitious.

Let me know if the Windows and Linux builds work. I'll track down someone with those operating systems.

Might try to develop it further. This isn't quite what I'd originally envisioned.

Ratings

Coolness 73% 3
Overall(Jam) 2.74 410
Audio(Jam) 1.25 478
Fun(Jam) 2.32 457
Graphics(Jam) 2.55 436
Humor(Jam) 3.41 62
Innovation(Jam) 3.34 105
Mood(Jam) 2.39 431
Theme(Jam) 2.74 274

Feedback

code-11
17. Dec 2013 · 02:53 UTC
I would like to have more interaction with the party-goers. As it is, there are only a few that you can interact with each round, which makes most of the game a frantic search for them. That could be good, but I think the reaction-time-flying aspect of the game is not as fun as the planning stage. It would be cool to emphasize the score you're getting in real-time.
Lacutis
17. Dec 2013 · 06:02 UTC
Funny game, I like the idea of it and the way you used the theme.
TinyMoonStudios
17. Dec 2013 · 09:58 UTC
I very much like the idea of using the life span of a mayfly as the focus for a game but the interaction mechanic is a little vague.
natpat
18. Dec 2013 · 01:15 UTC
There was a lot to take in, and I'm not sure I got it all. But it was fun, and nice to try and plan your outfit and gifts to please everyone.
pkenney
18. Dec 2013 · 01:24 UTC
Ha! Crazy topic and cool style, I spent a while dressing for the first party but I blew it completely. I sort of got the hang of it a little after a few parties, but I missed most of the points.
MrTedders
18. Dec 2013 · 01:37 UTC
Yeah a little more interaction in the part sections would go a long way. Well done tho, it was an interesting idea!
porglezomp
19. Dec 2013 · 02:17 UTC
Quit interesting, I liked planning for all of the different people, but I didn't really feel any payoff to it. Probably because I didn't understand how to play during the party.
javifugitivo
19. Dec 2013 · 03:05 UTC
Its funny how get ready for the party! Lol
Hyde Wyvern
20. Dec 2013 · 04:19 UTC
Really interesting idea, I like how you oriented the idea and the game mechanics. What I would consider is improving the sprites for more detailed ones so it's easier to spot the characters. Amazing job, I loved your idea :D
davisan
20. Dec 2013 · 22:24 UTC
Very original idea. Maybe larger sprites would help to identify better the guests. But overall, this can be really funny with dialogues and animations.
steamgirl
21. Dec 2013 · 17:13 UTC
I liked the concept more than the actual execution. My favourite part was planning beforehand, I got very confused about what I was actually supposed to do at the party. Also, quite a few times the guests liked teetotallers and drunks but I was never quite sure how much I had to drink and whether I was drinking at all (until alcohol did me in). I also noticed there's a countdown in the planning stage which seems to be in a slightly weird place?

I agree with what others have said, more feedback during the real-time game as code-11 suggested would be great, and I agree with davisan, it has the potential to be really hilarious with a bit of dialogue. :)

Overall though, good job! Hope you carry on with this game and polish it up!
archaeometrician
23. Dec 2013 · 03:36 UTC
Hahah nice game, I was not expecting that ;)
Xanjos
24. Dec 2013 · 18:14 UTC
Took me a while to work out how to actually "win" but the concept was pretty interesting.
pkenney
28. Dec 2013 · 03:00 UTC
Leaving a second comment here, because when someone came over and said "So show me something interesting from LD," this game popped into my mind. Gave it another go together and definitely scored a lot more points this time around, having some sort of clue.

Toward the end of this second run I realized you could leave the party... it seemed like maybe you can alter your dress and change who you might appeal to. What a poser. ;) I never exploited this strategy, but I guess it shows how deep you can get into the skill curve of TSAoaAM.

My crude strategy was still to just dress in a generally approval-worthy way and then buzz around to each group while trying not to bump them. I think my chances would improve short-term if I could better make out who is who at the party. I think my chances to learn and get better at the game would improve if it was more in my face than "++!" for example, "Mr Soandso Loves your tie! ++" Or perhaps colored word ballons with "What's the awful smell?" etc, where red loses points and green is good.

However I appreciate that this sort of concrete information may be for the plebians and philistines, and could erode the mystique.

Anyway, thought you might like hearing that your game stuck in my brain after reviewing >100 entries, nice work.
mtinkerhess
06. Jan 2014 · 02:48 UTC
I like the mechanics, I just wish there was more of an objective. Cool idea, maybe there's some way to expand upon the idea of socializing to make it more game-y.
mmickyman
06. Jan 2014 · 09:15 UTC
Your screenshot didn't give it all ahah.
Moosefly
06. Jan 2014 · 15:42 UTC
As others have said before me, needs more feedback. Idea was great, execution a bit lacking. Anyway I enjoyed it :D