St. Orchint's Orphanage by Double Zero One Zero
This is a game about running an orphanage during war time. Have fun!
Controls:
- Mouse
- Left mouse button
Known issues:
- Balance
- The tutorial is super duper long. And a bit confusing.
- A bit riddicolus ending screens. Lack of sleep will do that to you ;D
This game became a quite a bit more complicated than we expected, but we still managed to end up with something, so enjoy!
Controls:
- Mouse
- Left mouse button
Known issues:
- Balance
- The tutorial is super duper long. And a bit confusing.
- A bit riddicolus ending screens. Lack of sleep will do that to you ;D
This game became a quite a bit more complicated than we expected, but we still managed to end up with something, so enjoy!
Ratings
| Coolness | 33% | 1922 |
| Overall(Jam) | 4.17 | 30 |
| Audio(Jam) | 3.86 | 102 |
| Fun(Jam) | 3.40 | 321 |
| Graphics(Jam) | 4.09 | 170 |
| Humor(Jam) | 2.59 | 556 |
| Innovation(Jam) | 3.73 | 130 |
| Mood(Jam) | 4.53 | 3 |
| Theme(Jam) | 3.14 | 875 |
It's moody. I really like this kind of concept.
-Hey, a letter, that's pretty...
-Oooh, an orphanage! Yakuza flashba-...
-Wait, what? Soldiers? One day you will make a happy game, huh?
-Curse you, general T. Rutz! Curse you for taking the childhood of these poor innocents and crushing it!
-Oooh, requests, many different things to juggle. Fun!
-A children overview... what, sick children can't work? Well, they'd better not fake being sick, the little bastar-... -oh my god, what is this game doing to me?
-Music... haunting piano music... I am so jealous of these skills.
-COAL MINES? Jesus... that's harsh.
-Huh.. I wonder what font they use...
-Hmmm, I'd better get some medicine up front, these kids will probably get sick at the drop of a hat! Not like in my day, when we worked all day and then worked some more at night!
-Huh, how do I add kids to military school? Oh, the game probably does that itself. Huh... makes sense. But am kinda sad I can't make my own kiddie army and take over the country from within....
-Hahahaha, chimney sweep has a lethality rating. They drop off the roofs! I really shouldn't laugh... really shouldn't...
-Oooh, a paper. Ha, the Westport Independent! I love it... wait, are all these games somehow interconnected? Papers Please, Westport, St. Orchint's? Is this all part of some kind of huge bleak future metagame? Wow... ;)
-Oh huh, I don't get food if I don't click the send button. Yeah, that kinda makes sense. Stupidity as a player, detected!
-Oh wow... I love how this game makes me think. Bombing run? GREAT! More orphans for me, more monnnneeeey! I'm such a monster. Such a monster.
-OH SHIT I have run out of food. Sorry children! I shall quickly order some more. Now, back to work! No complaining!
-Oh no. Oh no no no no. The kids are sending me letters. I think I shall tell Emily her little friend went to fight for the glory of the fatherland, and we can all be proud for his soon-to-be-sacrifice.
-Owww, I can't reply to the letter. Maybe that's a good thing.
-OH NO! I can see the little deaths at the bottom of my screen... dear god, I'm a monster.
-WHAT? No! Not an Epidemic.... goddamnit, there goes my medicine... *grumbles*
-I have decided that the children that are working in the coal mines are the bad children. Those who did not behave properly. My consciousness feels a lot better. Or maybe that's the whisky.
-Jean has the time to send me a letter from the coal mines? WHAT? If he has time to write letters, he has time to work!
-Alright, I will put all new children in the sweatshop. That seems like the nicest thing to do.
-....
-I just thought putting children in a sweatshop was the better option. Damn you, game!
-I just had a horrible thought. If food costs me 4 per day right now... and kids eat one portion per day... putting them in the sweatshop really doesn't work.
-Man, fuck these letters..... I'm not crying, you're crying! Will someone shoot that piano player already?
-I have decided to stop my children sweeping chimneys. Instead, I'll fill the sweatshop until it bursts and let the rest do coal mine work. There's always dissidents....
-No wait, that doesn't work... okay, more kids to the coal mines then.... sorry, kids.
-WHAT? Oh goddamnit, I didn't make enough money, game over.
I shall try again!
(Loved the game. So much)
Probably the most interesting take on the theme I've seen so far - and the reference to the Westport Independent made me smile.
By the way, when I had to rate it i was like "humor ? sorry, didn't find any kind of this in the game :'(" x)
The artstyle was very fitting the somber experience and the mood was well-crafted, even though sometimes it nudged slightly towards the melodramatic.
The audio was also well-done, fitting the somber more introspective experience you were trying to convey, although it became a bit repetitive after a while (but then again, that was only after two consecutive playthroughs :P).
The only nitpicks I have is some of the things you've already adressed in the description. The balancing is a bit strange at some points and it felt as though the government shut me down a few times even though I had filled that sprint's quota.
Additionally, is medicine supposed to be capped at 1000? 'cause it didn't register a few times when I tried to exceed it, even though I had the funds.
I loved the narrative elements and especially the call-backs to The Westport Independent. I could definitely see this being a prequel to the game as it seems much more based in the Industrial Revolution and might work as a hint on how the Loyalists came to power. Even if this was not intended as such, I found it a fun reference.
Only downside though, was that I felt that some of the letters were a bit too much. I liked the concept in general of hearing from the orphans, though I think I would've gotten more invested if there had been some variety amidst the doom and gloom. Like for instance, receiving a drawing or a letter thanking you for the job from a kid who only in a later letter end up dead in a mine collapse.
I understand that might be a bit out of scope for Ludum, as it'd require a lot more flags but it would've been some nice variety.
Still, loved the game and if you'll excuse me I have more kids to kil- Er, I mean 'employ' :P.
5/5 Overall 5/5 Mood ... a dangit everything 5/5
The game auto pausing all the time was infuriating, it's like every 10 seconds I have to click the play button... no idea how anyone plays with something faster than the default speed :p
Food as 'expenses' didn't register with me for ages, for some reason... not sure why, perhaps me just being stupid. I also couldn't figure out how to put kids into school except when the current term ends. I started with 10 kids and had to have 15 for the mission, so I added 5 after the first 10 graduated and then the mission ended before I could finish. Overall I was in a lot of confusion most of the way through it haha.
I liked that you were sort of pushed to stick all the kids in coal mines, as you weren't earning enough money to feed everyone. Kids dying never seemed to really be an issue to address, as it was a slow trickle, so I suppose it's possible to regret your decisions later when you start running out of kids!
The letters are so </3
"This is a game about running an orphanage during war time. Have fun!"
Ha Ha, I laught at this one. X)
the medicine weren't a problem ,compared to the food , the children seems to eat way too much .
(why no option to choose the portion of food they get :P )
It's one of those where you're not sure if you really want to play it.
The letters are extremely effective in creating immersion.
Not sure entirely about balance, as I think certain jobs are decisively better than others, though it does make you put them into riskier jobs, causing you to feel like a cold-hearted bastard.
Music definitely fits, but a bit too repetitive to my taste.
One of the more interesting games I've seen in this LD, good job!