Lifes Decisions by squarepug

[raw]
made by squarepug for LD33 (JAM)
This is a story based game, designed to target real life emotions, the dialogue is arguably more important then the gameplay with something like this I feel.

I decided to use the theme of 'you are the monster' to create something a little different to what other indies were doing, so I used a popular game called Thomas Was Alone as my inspiration. Obviously I have got nowhere near that level of quality, but I feel for such a short amount of time I am pleased with the effort.

The aim of it is to help you question yourself about the decisions you make in life, and consider the subsequent effects they have on other people. We always think other bad people are the monsters, but maybe you are the monster too?

Please play it all, it will take you less than 5 minutes so you can rate honestly. Thanks for your time, game on players.

If you don't want to play it there is also a video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bydMPIotKR8

Change log:
Aug 25th - Ported to windows (plays much better then the flash experience!), fixed a few major bugs, gameplay is identical tho.

Ratings

Coolness 48% 1268
Overall(Jam) 3.47 313
Innovation(Jam) 3.37 257
Mood(Jam) 3.94 73
Theme(Jam) 3.53 471

Feedback

glimaleite
25. Aug 2015 路 16:15 UTC
Right in the feels! I loved the fact that you focused on decisions, and how being a monster is also a choice. Great job!
Jani Nyk盲nen
25. Aug 2015 路 16:23 UTC
If I use a die to choose the decision, am I a monster...? Great game, anyway.
Gamepopper
25. Aug 2015 路 23:00 UTC
I like the amount of morality displayed in this game, the monster is your own ethics...
馃帳 squarepug
26. Aug 2015 路 09:15 UTC
Thanks for the comments guys. Im glad you all "get" what the game is trying to do, I found it very difficult in the short amount of time to try and make a game like this where it is about the story and the emotion, not the graphics, so Im pleased it has worked on some level.
McFood
26. Aug 2015 路 11:31 UTC
It was a great use of the theme. It felt a little in your face in parts, but the ending text tied it all together well.

Something about the deadly text obstacles seemed off to me. They didn't feel solid or deadly enough at first. And the rhythm needed to stay on the ceiling felt clunky.

Great experience overall!
Brainfreezeman
26. Aug 2015 路 11:33 UTC
The mood is really nice, with the dialogue and the music. I think I would've liked if you were able to click something when you've finished reading instead of that being decided already. It can be a bit annoying having to wait for the text to disappear I felt.

Interesting 2D Platformer that lets you jump infinitely though, and like I said, the music set a great mood. The Thomas Was Alone inspiration is also pretty obvious, but that's not a bad thing.
jeapple
26. Aug 2015 路 13:00 UTC
This is great, although you used future tense
which means you will possible be a monster and
you are not monster even never be.
wg_phancock
26. Aug 2015 路 13:32 UTC
I like how you make people decide to be the monster.
Nichii
26. Aug 2015 路 13:34 UTC
Good message to give us all, although to be honest, ive seen this many times before but you managed to portray it in a unique way. Good design choices. The dialogue could be skippable at times since seeing the same ones over and over again can be kinda boring. Good luck with your future games :)
Slashee the Cow
26. Aug 2015 路 14:03 UTC
Downloaded the Windows version, unzipped, ran "PLAY Lifes Decisions.exe". Got error "Could not load module std@get_env__1".

Flash version works though. I think your game is better written than mine. And considering I just did something in Twine, that's either something you should be proud of or something I should be ashamed of. Maybe a little bit of both.
geckojsc
26. Aug 2015 路 14:45 UTC
A solid entry! Personally I couldn't relate much to the story or characters, but I still found the game quite thought provoking, and you managed to achieve a nice atmosphere :)

In some cases it felt like I needed more information to make a good decision (for example, I could donate money at the start but I have no idea what else I might need that money for later, because the game didn't tell me enough about my character)

Btw, I noticed it's possible to farm coins by dying on the first stage over and over, or by jumping over the exit warp.
Dizzyman572
26. Aug 2015 路 15:01 UTC
This was a good entry. I really liked the moral choices I had to make as the money added another perspective that you have to examine these problems with. For instance, I actually ended up refusing to give the homeless guy money who was asking for 15 buck because I was thinking more about my family. I was all like, "Dude, I only have 31 dollars that I picked up from the street to feed my family, let alone pay the bills." If there was some other way for me to have helped him, or if I had enough money, I would have, but if it's a choice between my family and a stranger I would pick my family every time.
ceosol
26. Aug 2015 路 16:58 UTC
The flash was very laggy. Seeing as the graphics were small, I think you used the 4x, 3x, 2x graphics to make it 5 MB. It should be around 0.6 MB. Go into setting, display and uncheck all of the high-res graphics. Then do run>clean project and debug>cleanup unused files. Close and reopen the game and it will be a lot smaller. This should improve performance.

I see where you were going, but it is not always that simple in life to make these kinds of decisions. Plus, the green guy seems to be making a lot bad choices on his own when he only has $100 to his name (which was given to him by the wise one) and keeps getting his lover pregnant.
Saf
26. Aug 2015 路 19:14 UTC
Games like these make me happy :) Great work
t4u
26. Aug 2015 路 21:04 UTC
I liked the audio but I felt there was too much narrative in the balck field instead of putting in the game itself.
LMT
27. Aug 2015 路 15:07 UTC
That was so awesome. The music and atmosphere are so fitting. It also reminded me of the pretentious game.
Grahhhhh
27. Aug 2015 路 23:21 UTC
I was captivated and compelled to prove you wrong and to not be the monster. While I was hoping the ending would have a deeper reprecusion, it felt as though I could've made any decision and simply self-reflect, which isn't bad either. The music was crazy spot on to move the point forward, overall nice game.
ShellfishGames
28. Aug 2015 路 09:03 UTC
Well done, quite an engaging little game. And nice to see there are no "wrong" decisions and it all seems to be a matter of subjective interpretation.
Karai17
30. Aug 2015 路 04:05 UTC
Interesting game, but maybe a bit too over done on the emotion?
dregamr
02. Sep 2015 路 18:02 UTC
Lovely game, from the beginning until the end. Good work!!
ETHproductions
12. Sep 2015 路 20:03 UTC
Very nice! This seems like an excellent start to a longer game. I hope you are able to take this further after LD. :)
Darkflint
13. Sep 2015 路 00:20 UTC
Very deep. It make you wonder about a few things in life.
Jupiter_Hadley
08. Oct 2015 路 12:40 UTC
Really nice story. I included it in part 31 of my Ludum Dare 33 Compilation video series, if you would like to take a look :) https://youtu.be/smH_qgd8pMY
Jupiter_Hadley
01. Dec 2015 路 04:25 UTC
I also included your game in an article of my favorites from this jam and added a trophy to your Ludum Dare profile!! :) http://fireside.gamejolt.com/post/jam-favorites-ludum-dare-33-part-2-jbncejqm