Architect Of Terror by Volatile Dove

[raw]
made by Volatile Dove for LD33 (JAM)
A small game made for the Ludum Dare Jam #33 "You Are The Monster". This is my second Ludum Dare and my first game made with Unity.

This is a dark game which deals with racist and inhuman totalitarian dictatorships.

Commands: Left/Right/Up/Down (or XBox controller directional pad). Esc to quit (without confirmation).

A web version of the game is available, see also the itch.io page ( http://volatile-dove.itch.io/architect-of-terror ). The Mac and Linux builds are totally untested. There is no sound, and it's *almost* intentional.

Ratings

Coolness 40% 1627
Overall(Jam) 3.77 128
Fun(Jam) 3.52 207
Graphics(Jam) 3.19 618
Innovation(Jam) 3.76 91
Mood(Jam) 3.81 117
Theme(Jam) 4.00 117

Feedback

Rongon
24. Aug 2015 路 21:07 UTC
Wow! Just wow.
When yellow guys turned to gray and stopped moving, I got chills.
I like the color representation and not using some complex models. Makes you focus on the essence.
Crowd implementation is great, did you use some library for it? I guess the source could be nice :)
nwdg
25. Aug 2015 路 09:18 UTC
Wow. No words to explain how much I liked it. Simple but meaningfull, that's a thing I appreciate. And yes, yellow turning gray and stopping moving is amazing, chills.
Muush
25. Aug 2015 路 09:26 UTC
Very compelling. Really good idea
peterkirk
25. Aug 2015 路 10:29 UTC
I've always liked minimalistic story telling. Great concept and great execution.
馃帳 Volatile Dove
25. Aug 2015 路 13:55 UTC
@Rongon no, just the Unity physics engine (Rigidbody component), and quite simple movement rules (like for example "red go to yellow position") causing interesting mayhem!
tmpxyz
25. Aug 2015 路 16:55 UTC
very good, I crashed into every other blocks to make them yellow, expected them to make some interesting moves when there's no red left.
Pietdagamer
26. Aug 2015 路 07:25 UTC
Simple yet powerful, great work.
Cliff Lee(CL)
26. Aug 2015 路 07:30 UTC
So deep..., and so real.
Great entry!
jk5000
26. Aug 2015 路 07:33 UTC
WEIRD
TackoramaLtd
28. Aug 2015 路 15:38 UTC
Creepy and mean. Mac build works.
inbetweengames
29. Aug 2015 路 17:56 UTC
Great job with the crowd behavior, crazy how much personality and life you managed to put into each agent even though they're just blocks!

Watching the crowd behavior unfold was 'entertaining' and it was impressive how you chose to tackle the theme.

Some things with basic readability I struggled with though, e.g. blue blocks turn red when I stand close which i interpreted as me turning them to my side. But why would they turn blue when I collided with them after this? Why would some blocks turn yellow when I run into them, but not others? And what was the purpose of standing on the podium and have the crowd gather around and listen to me (or did it not have any significance mechanically)?

Overall I got how the theme and mechanics related to each other and watching the red blocks push the yellow ones into the prison felt like a powerful moment. The unclarity of the mechanics i mentioned above made the whole experience a bit more confusing than necessary though.

Good job!
g_o
01. Sep 2015 路 11:19 UTC
Very minimal in its design yet it complements it. Just like in Thomas Was Alone.
Amazing experience, the way you start to feel your power when the red guys do as you say, the way you start punching blue ones for no reason. This is truely well thought and well executed. Brilliant!
g_o
01. Sep 2015 路 11:23 UTC
Forgot to mention: I L O V E the AI here.
When you get close to blue ones some get scared and turn into blue within seconds. I also like how the game communicates with you without saying anything except the two "speeches" you make.
Mykaelos
01. Sep 2015 路 19:39 UTC
Wow. This game is an example of how to tell a story with gameplay. The colored cubes were perfect for explaining what was going on without needing to make complex models. The flocking AI was also fantastic.

This is the kind of deep game that I wanted to see out of this theme. Well done!