Pass The Torch by Dan Smith
PASS THE TORCH
My first ever game jam submission. Was a massive challenge, but pleased to have gotten it over the line!
Delay the inevitable silent demise of humanity's last survivors.
A survival game made in 48 hours for Ludum Dare 50
Almost three hundred years ago, humanity lost its battle against The Winter..
It came without warning, alive and with purpose, and claimed the lives of all those who could not stay warm...
Survive The Winter and find shelter before the torch burns out. Your goal is to keep humanity alive as long as you can and manage a small, but growing group of survivors.
Each journey threatens the lives of the weakest - only those that keep up will survive. Pass the torch to save who you can, but you’ll have to make sacrifices if you want to stay alive.
Controls:
A,D to move the torch holder.
Click on a valid survivor to pass them the torch.
The young, old and weak walk slower.
Some Thoughts
The feedback has been fantastic, so thank you for that.
There's definitely some things that would've made it in there, had I had more than the 48hrs. Some variability in strategies, narrative decisions and preparation options for each journey. Overall, I'm pleased people recognised that the slow gameplay and sluggish inputs are designed to reinforce the hellscape winter that your survivors are having to cross.
By @RealEntropy on Twitter
Ratings
| Overall | 217th | 3.603⭐ | 104🧑⚖️ |
| Fun | 582th | 2.519⭐ | 105🧑⚖️ |
| Innovation | 230th | 3.49⭐ | 105🧑⚖️ |
| Theme | 86th | 4.097⭐ | 105🧑⚖️ |
| Graphics | 18th | 4.452⭐ | 107🧑⚖️ |
| Audio | 38th | 3.98⭐ | 104🧑⚖️ |
| Mood | 9th | 4.437⭐ | 105🧑⚖️ |
| Given | 27🗳️ | 44🗨️ |
Overall, though, great atmosphere. Definitely the best-looking game I've played so far.
Thanks for the entry!!
The music that keeps getting more and more intense as you reach the end of the flame's existence is stressful!
Thanks for this game, well made and narrated!
@kamikaziuk @kosmosael @myttz Thanks for the nice feedback
The persistent characters was awesome. My first playthrough, I ended up losing almost all my tribe and then slowly died out as my remaining human got old and slow. You learn and adapt in this game, which I thought was interesting.
Definitely needs some work on the player-experience side of things. The primary loop is interesting, but I can see it getting a little repetitive. More interaction, more things for the player to do, more ways to make choices (maybe choosing who cares for the baby as well?), larger tribes. These are all things that would make this so much better.
As is, you've nailed the mood and the feel. So much potential here!
The game is perhaps slightly too slow but it is a superb work that was done, bravo
@skalv @rafael-garcez @gabriel-dias-oliveira-de-almeida @hechi @homineludens @jni @tyrannas @kazuren
Wow thanks folks, didn't expect such nice feedback!
@scalliondelight Thanks for the kind words, there's a bunch of QoL and additional features (like number key selection and more decisions) that would have made it if wasn't for the 48hr rush xD
it is quite an intense experience having to choose who to leave behind and then go forward with those choices, it absolutely goes with the theme.
and i dont even need to mention how good the art it
Thank you for making this game.
Simple concept but amazing work on it !
Well done !
The graphics and mood of this game are insane.
5/5 all around this game is amazing
Wow! Intense. Makes me think. ... No words.
Impressive presentation (music and graphics and effects). Very fitting the theme.
Great!
My only mini comment, and that is taste wise: I think another font would better fit the theme, some handwritten, serif. The 8 bit to me feels out of place.
One other thing: When the light went out, I did not understand why. I did not have any indication, at least I did not notice any, before-hands, so I could plan.
Besides that: My highest rating, except for fun. It is not fun, it is emotional deep.
P.S.: Thank you for providing the code. I am curious and will have a look to learn.
As much as I loved the experience, I felt as a game it was a little lacking, and I couldn't figure out how to play it well, even though I really tried to get a grasp on it. So maybe there were some hidden mechanics I did not understand, but even though I tried multiple runs, I couldn't get to round 4, but getting to round 3 was fairly simple. So there was not really a difficulty ramp between the outcomes.
So what I thought happened was that I started out with three adults, one of which carried a baby. So the first day was pretty easy and everyone survived. In round two, the baby turned into a kid and there was a new baby. During the round, based on chance, one of the adults grew old before reaching the hut and had to be left behind, but the other survived. So round 2 was doable, but only if I sacrificed the kid, who was too slow to reach the hut. So when round 3 started, I only had one adult and a second kid because the baby grew up. But in order to survive that round, I had to sacrifice the kid, so round 4 would have been the last one, but I couldn't reach it because the adult turned into an elderly and did not make it. So the crucial point was that I could keep my lineage alive if the kid survived round 2, which I never accomplished, or to barely drag myself across the finish line in round 3, but that did not happen either. Maybe there is a way to get to round 4 with enough luck, as I saw there are some RNG elements to the game, but that did not happen to me.
Going into gameplay, I was wondering what the torch passing mechanic was supposed to do. From what I could see, there was no advantage or disadvantage in passing the torch. Handing it backwards would not change anything about the progress because the receiver would have to catch up to the former carrier. Despite the game being about the unavoidable death of the group, I think it would have been great if there was a little more control about how the game played out. Managing travel speed or torch longevity through some player decision might have made the game more intense, like maybe keeping closer to the torch would speed you up but made you age faster so you would have to balance your characters' position more. Some decision making during the rest period could have given the game some additional depth. Maybe you could decide to stay longer in order to fill up the torch more, but at the risk of your people getting too old.
Specifically I would have liked if the kid was able to turn into a teen while walking (just like the adult turns into an elderly), because that would have given me the last minute speed boost I needed to have my offspring survive.
Anyway, these shortcomings don't take away from the fact that you have an amazing grasp of atmosphere and created a haunting, wistful thing of beauty that truly stands out among what LD usually has to offer.
Great job!
I really loved the visuals. Mixed with the ominous music it really added so much power to the mood and is probably the most stand out thing for me here. Even though there wasn't as much in the way of gameplay the idea of passing on the torch to continue the journey is a really nice touch that to me is more story than gameplay. Being able to see who was traveling with you really added to the sense that making it out together was just as important as making it out alive yourself.
Amazing game!
cool idea, keeping the torch alive is a great metaphor for surviving.
Gameplay wise, the game is slow paced but immersive, I don't know if there are specific strategies to be able to keep as much survivors as possible, I feel like there is not other option than sacrificing the elders for example.
Good job for making it, especially with a game this good :slight_smile:
Music also really good and it do the cool game mood.
Story really deep.
Game play is really unusual. But it is really slow. So I can play in slow games, but it is really unfair that you haven't any saves(((
So I failed when Max has born and it was the end for me because in a first time it is a challenge to survive. But to reapeat a distance - it is quite boring.
But still awesome! Very well!