Monster Mail by CodeRaurus

Monster Mail is a management game where you operate a courier guild ran by monsters.
Gain enough reputation from your successful deliveries to meet the human King to deliver them something of value.
Controls: mouse and keyboard (keyboard is optional).
Enjoy.

| GitHub | https://github.com/coderaurus/ludumdare-53 |
| Itch | https://coderaurus.itch.io/monster-mail |
| Original URL | https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/53/monster-mail |
Ratings
| Overall | 273th | 3.288⭐ | 35🧑⚖️ |
| Fun | 347th | 2.803⭐ | 35🧑⚖️ |
| Innovation | 237th | 3.212⭐ | 35🧑⚖️ |
| Theme | 166th | 3.955⭐ | 35🧑⚖️ |
| Graphics | 41th | 4.258⭐ | 35🧑⚖️ |
| Humor | 196th | 2.867⭐ | 32🧑⚖️ |
| Mood | 287th | 2.969⭐ | 34🧑⚖️ |
| Given | 30🗳️ | 49🗨️ |
I managed to get an audience after 103 days, I guess i'm pretty slow :D
@castitatis Thanks for playing, I think you did good.
I ended up not carring which character to pick for each quest, as they all seemed to do it well enough. So probably a bit too easy/unfinished in this aspect.
I LOVE the art though! Incredible job on the art!
@defrag That's an excellent idea! Maybe I'll change the ending... Game's easy enough to have no issues finishing, especially when you give a little thought to choosing units. The stats were indeed for another feature which didn't make it. I fell for the classic... over scoping. Thanks for playing.
@spaceylake Thanks for playing. No, game is easy. I'd rather have more people finish it in a jam, unless it's meant to be challenging. And it is lacking the core challenging feature which was suppose to use defense and charisma as well.

@ollie-d Thanks for playing. I guess there could have been something in place to estimate the distance, say "Short/Medium/Long."
@bridgeonastick Thanks for playing. You could've kept playing after the completion and do a bit of grinding to get the rest. I was okay having them as "post game content", though now I'm unsure why. Extra laughs would have benefitted everyone.
Interesting gameplay idea, love when someone explore different genres. Good tutorial at the start, but maybe you should state the player endgame and tools to achive it more clearly, it will help to understand the purpose of what's happening at the start.
Well done!
it goes without saying that you've also done a great job with the art and presentation. i love the world and little creatures you've crafted here, it feels so cozy and full of charm! also like the random generation touches with the quests & characters
@dishwand Thanks for playing! I also want to see where the game could go with this premise.
@montigor Thanks for playing! First one commending the relaxed game play. I find it pretty rare in the jams.
@rasblo Thanks for playing. Yeah, I did a over scope this time around. There were meant to be different kinds of events which could either benefit or harm you, depending on multiple factors. And it was going to be the challenge in this one. I hope to return to this later!
My go to is 'mouth sounds'. As long as the game is somewhat silly it will fit right in, and you will usually get a boost to humor as well. Beepbox.co is very good for fast video gamey music, but it can also be used to quickly make sound effects as well. Just hit Shift + R until you get an instrument that sounds about right, add a note and chop it up in audacity.
Solid compo! Have fun out there!

QOL:
- the town I'm currently selecting a route for should be highlighted, it's easy to confuse a bit
- Towns should have names, it would compliment the pretty map more!
- Hirable couriers should not be greyed out, I thought they were unavailable at first
- Couriers are a bit slow imo
- I think the quest marker next to a town should be bigger and more discernable
Gameplay:
- There should be more incentive to choose different couriers for routes. It's currently a bit too easy
- I did not really understand what the courier's stats actually do (except for speed which is obvious)
- Choosing a courier for a quest and a route was a bit unintuitive
Overall this feels like it could be a very interesting game with more content and polish. The art is really good :)
@ruddiculous Thanks for playing and feedback! I actually wanted to name the towns proper but had to skip it in the end. Some of the information could be clearer when selecting the route, for sure. I'm glad you enjoyed the story.
@aile Thanks for playing! The game needs some audio. Perhaps I'll do at least that later if nothing else. I had some good ideas for them too.
@asieke Thank you for playing. The main component for incentive is missing, sadly. I meant to add different factors on the way. If I was able to do that then I would've also adjusted the difficulty slightly higher than what it is now. I could've made the RNG harder, yes, but I preferred having more people being able to finish the game instead.
@aviv-levy Thanks for playing and valuable feedback. I also want some audio in the game. The starting town is actually darkened but I also considered highlighting it. I have no idea what made me keep the former. If I had 15 minutes or more I could've added the names as well. My logic for units is that they are unavailable until hired, which lead to greying out. There could be some change or indication when you have enough money to hire. I left the stats as a sneak peek for what I was going to do but ran out of time to actually implement. If you don't mind, do elaborate on the last part a bit more.
About the units, definitely understand the logic, this is why maybe there could be two states for that, one that means "not enough funds" and another that shows like a green "hire" text or something
As for the stats, they do seem interesting, kinda giving me an Oregon Trail vibe, so I get that! But I feel like maybe it should've said that somewhere or that they should've been removed to avoid confusion.
Totally understand the need for more time btw ^_^ All in all this is really good for 48 hours! And the graphics are great. It'll be interesting to see how this game turns out if you keep working on it.
A really good job overall!
I really like the concept here. I was able to pick up the gameplay and finish on my first try, which is a good sign, though I had a bit of difficulty with some of the UX (highlighting clickable options or objectives, communicating steps for interaction). Maybe some animation would have helped make the towns with quests stand out a little more. More thoughts on design, I really would have liked to be able to see the map at the same time as the quest so I could make strategic decisions without having to click off the quest and review the place names against the time quota. Other than that, I did appreciate the way you increased difficulty and balanced income with hiring faster couriers.
Graphically, for a jam I think you were in a decent sweet spot for giving the player visuals that sold the story and communicated what they needed to. It's a shame you weren't able to get sound in there, but I've been there many times.
Overall, a solid / complete entry with a nice take on the theme. Pretty good work for a compo submission!
@adamcyounis Thanks for playing and the feedback. You made some great points and I've got them written down.
@0x-void-x0 Thanks for playing and the flattering praises. Didn't think anyone would take a look at the source for the art, haha. The gameplay fell short even though I spent a lot of time with it. I'll come back to the project and fill the gaps.
@le-don Ey, thank you for playing. Yeah, I figured that hiring units could be confusing without any good indication of being able to do so. I didn't make it clear enough but you don't have to sweat about the total days on top right. Once you hit "Go" on routing the timer for quest starts and there is no punishment for taking your time otherwise. I understand it might not be clear as a player.