Please Press Button by shadow64

[raw]
made by shadow64 for Ludum Dare 59 (JAM)

Follow instructions. Emit the signal. Stop the clock.

Please Press Button.

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2026-04-20_14-53-22.png size

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Ratings

Overall 751th 2.98⭐ 27🧑‍⚖️
Fun 801th 2.5⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 636th 3⭐ 27🧑‍⚖️
Theme 790th 2.52⭐ 27🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 682th 3.083⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Audio 315th 3.56⭐ 27🧑‍⚖️
Humor 138th 3.696⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Mood 378th 3.7⭐ 27🧑‍⚖️
Given 21🗳️ 25🗨️

Feedback

Loki Drams
Apr 21st · 10:02 UTC
Very fast game over there!
The visuals are very fluid and the rhythm is good.
But it’s very short and there isn’t much to do.
I also liked that clicking causes a bad event, and doing nothing does good, but it’s not very visible. In the end, we have the press code or not, maybe there is a combination for other purposes, but the game doesn’t reward that choice and doesn’t really make you want to start over again.

But good job!
🎤 shadow64
Apr 21st · 11:19 UTC
@loki-drams Thanks for playing and leaving feedback. True, I decided to keep the mechanics ultra simple, the meaning a bit up for interpretation, and the game very short since I tend to overscope my projects during LD. I'm happy to hear that even though you didn't feel like playing again you still took so much away from the experience. And thank you for the compliments on the visuals and the rhythm as those were both a focus for me in this jam.

Good luck and congrats on finishing!
breadstick
Apr 21st · 17:55 UTC
there may be disasters and multi-car pileups out there in the world, but at least I get to enjoy this evening's delight: a nice slice of pie.

Cool typography system, and the music track was catchy!
🎤 shadow64
Apr 22nd · 03:07 UTC
@breadstick That's the spirit! I mean you did have another option... Buuuut that's choices for ya! ;) Thanks for playing! And great job with Coo Coo Chef. Complete chaos!
bellicapelli
Apr 22nd · 16:34 UTC
great job on the text effects and song. I'm surprised you were able to convey your desired mood so effectively given the system you decided to go with. I guess I just wish there was more to do.
skale
Apr 22nd · 21:30 UTC
I didn't quite understand what was happening at the start, but I eventually got there. I really liked the pacing, though I didn't have enough time to actually read the news! That said, the visuals, animations, and sound are super cool. Great job
🎤 shadow64
Apr 23rd · 09:34 UTC
@bellicapelli Thank you! I really appreciate you saying that about being able to convey the mood. It's something I always try to keep in mind and I try to see how quickly I can establish it through sounds, art/animation, and mechanics. If I can make players feel uneasy about simply clicking a button then success!!!
🎤 shadow64
Apr 23rd · 09:36 UTC
@skale Hahaha well I appreciate that you stuck with it until it clicked. And I'm glad the pacing worked for you. The news is admittedly kept to a short timer both for pacing and also because I wanted the player to just get a sense of what's happening - almost like wherever they are they ALSO don't get to see the full story. It's meant to give a "Wait...what did that just say?" And thank you for the compliments on the visuals and sound. That's very kind of you. Thanks for playing!
skale
Apr 23rd · 09:44 UTC
@shadow64 I imagine how hard it is to balance display time. Every player is different and all of them need a different amount of time to match the intended feeling. May be you could do some sort of calibration, like "read the next sentence as fast as you can and click when you finished", and use that time as a reference to tweak display time for each player in runtime. But I guess that's a lot to ask.
Xientra
Apr 23rd · 10:29 UTC
Actually so good. Do I understand what the point is? No. Do I love it? Absolutely. Someone had a vision and executed it so smoothly. Very well done!
Nombrillus
Apr 23rd · 20:47 UTC
Strangely addictive. Well done!
🎤 shadow64
Apr 24th · 11:32 UTC
@skale Definitely something to think about if I take it further. Having that information could actually lead to a lot of interesting design choices. Great suggestion!

@xientra Thank you! Hahaha. And I loved Enigcremental!

@nombrillus I'm really happy to hear that it grabbed you. Thank you for playing!
LDJam user 280189
Apr 24th · 20:30 UTC
Really liked how you did the text animations, very smooth and engaging! Will definitely take some inspiration from that in my own projects! I also love the title of your game, very memorable!
LDJam user 427212
Apr 25th · 00:13 UTC
I feel like all it needed was an ending that really tied it together and gave it more narrative purpose and a balatro-style background! Nice job.
🎤 shadow64
Apr 25th · 10:04 UTC
@kazuren Thank you! Godot's text engine and animating with beziers was definitely helpful in this regard. Highly recommended!

@shanzpro Hahaha! True. Bit of a spoiler below, regarding your ending note:

!>I don't want to put my finger on the scale too much but since it's been out a few days I can say that if you do press 10 times (or fail 10 times) in a row you WILL get a different response than whichever you would get if you just choose on round 10. The "10/10" news stories are meant to suggest an ending of sorts either way.

Thank you for playing!
smilewood
Apr 26th · 15:58 UTC
Simple and effective. The gameplay loop was basic, but well executed and perfect for a game jam. the music was great and coupled with the quick pace of the game really set the mood well. Overall a solid game, well done!
daniel
Apr 26th · 17:33 UTC
Very neat, even if I didn't fully understand it! Really impressive how much personality you were able to give off with thoughtful style choices and so few visual elements.
🎤 shadow64
Apr 27th · 12:06 UTC
@smilewood Thank you! I'm glad it felt cohesive and it came across well! That means a lot.

@daniel Similarly, thanks! I really wanted to see how much depth (and unease) I could give just pressing a button. :)
atmospherium
Apr 28th · 13:48 UTC
This was an oddly complete feeling game for being so simplistic. The fluid text animation and audio were super satisfying and you built a weird dystopic mood. To press or not to press, that is the question.
🎤 shadow64
Apr 29th · 09:13 UTC
@atmospherium Huge thanks! I'm glad that it all worked for you and felt complete.
Prakkus
May 08th · 05:12 UTC
Cool idea! I found myself wishing for more of a throughline or something so that it were clearer that I was progressing and not just being presented random snippets from a list. Once I gave up on that and stopped pressing the button though, I realized that I'm a sheep and got what you were going for.