LudumData

ΗΠΛ Debate Club by Ava Skoog

[raw]
made by Ava Skoog for Ludum Dare 53 (JAM)

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Ethos, pathos, logos. Deliver the best speech to a flip-flopping audience!

Two-player rhythm game where both share one keyboard (WASD/ZQSD for P1, arrows for P2). See below for info on combos and items. The goal is to have more than 50% favour from the audience by the end.

⚠️ Notes

  • Audio desynchronises, it seems, if window is resized while playing! Please resize while still on the title screen if needed.

  • Web lags a bit for me. Threw in some last-minute resync measures but do try desktop version if input seems bad/unfair.

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🌈 Basics

On every beat you press a directional key to use either ethos, pathos, or logos. You have a limited amount of each. You only have four attempts each turn, even if you miss, so you can't spam to hit a beat.

After four beats of downtime, it's the opponent's turn, telegraphed by the moving spotlight.

A thought bubble above each individual audience member tells you which of the three you need to include to gain their favour. The contrast of their silhouette shows which side they're on, brighter for P1 and darker for P2.

⭐️ Combos

Didn't have time to explain it in the game but fill the star meter using one of these:

  • AAAA: four of the same
  • AAAX: three of the same, plus any
  • ABAB: every other
  • AABB: two pairs
  • ABCX: each different, plus any

The last (4th) slot scores you bonus favour from fans of its type. And the special item moves can only be used there.

🌟 Items

By filling the star meter, on your next turn you'll have star power during which performing a successful combo grants you one of these special item moves:

  • Crickets: doubles any minus points on opponent's next turn
  • Mic drop: turns any minus you get this turn into a plus
  • Blow kiss: spectators in your favour become more so, but those not less so

🎭 Credits

🛠 Fixes

  • Text that was meant to say "passed crickets on to other player" confusingly said "[…] to yourself" because I'd gotten the variables the wrong way around, so made it correct.

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Link https://prinsessa.itch.io/epl-debate-club
Link https://prinsessa.itch.io/epl-debate-club
Link https://prinsessa.itch.io/epl-debate-club
Link https://prinsessa.itch.io/epl-debate-club
Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/53/debate-club

Ratings

Overall 768th 3.409⭐ 24🧑‍⚖️
Fun 865th 3.114⭐ 24🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 150th 3.909⭐ 24🧑‍⚖️
Theme 850th 3.614⭐ 24🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 493th 3.841⭐ 24🧑‍⚖️
Audio 288th 3.714⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Humor 334th 3.5⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Mood 475th 3.659⭐ 24🧑‍⚖️
Given 26🗳️ 32🗨️

Feedback

LDJam user 299757
03. May 2023 · 00:56 UTC
Quite enjoyed playing this game actually! Love the rhythm game with the debate aspect, two that don't seem to go together but really make a fun time! Love the art and sound design! Good game!
spacemyname
03. May 2023 · 16:31 UTC
Love the concept, controls were confusing at first, but very fun once you get going!
SerialKamikaze
03. May 2023 · 16:33 UTC
Take a while to get how to actually play; haven't played any rhytm games for years. Was not hitting at all at first.
Nice game!
Manny
03. May 2023 · 16:38 UTC
Very unique and fun idea! Interesting take on the idea of delivery, nice job!
5huNo.3
03. May 2023 · 19:11 UTC
The gameplay was fun. Playing a rhythm game combined with a debate was such an interesting concept. Great work!
Kerdelos
04. May 2023 · 13:54 UTC
It was really hard to understand how the game worked at firt, even with the writtent instruction below, but once I got the hang of it it was pretty interesting ! A bit too intense for me though but I can see the fun in it.(Thinking of how to score a combo while maintening a speech that could convince the entire room was a challenge for me :sweat_smile:)
Overall the graphics and the audio fits well and the game feels polished, congrats !
OddballDave
04. May 2023 · 14:25 UTC
It seems simple on the surface, but this is actually rather complex. You don't get much time to decide your next combo which adds so much urgency and anxiety to things. I don't think I've ever seen a rhythm game like it. I kept struggled to hit that first 'beat', but that's more to do with my lack of skill than the games fault. Thoroughly enjoyable game.

Good stuff :8ball:
Local Minimum
04. May 2023 · 18:11 UTC
I won! But we both struggled quite a lot. There was quite a few things to take in at start. At round 3 or so I think I had it figured out quite well with selecting which keys / arguments to use depending on the audience and attempting some combos in there. Perhaps put a bit in the description about how the audience interacts with the scoring and clarify how the rounds carry over (or don't) and sum up to a winner.

I'm not sure if the game got harder and harder, but it would fit the theme quite well if the pace picked up with every round and the need for precision increased too.

The graphics was neat controls worked well and all in all a very solid entry.
🎤 Ava Skoog
11. May 2023 · 09:06 UTC
Thanks, everyone! I've updated the instructions a bit. My biggest regret is that I didn't make it clearer how much a given individual favours you, which makes the kiss move a bit of a gamble. Another thought bubble that clearly stated P1 or P2 would've worked.
gamebuilder
16. May 2023 · 13:49 UTC
So, Ava, you are a philosopher. I should have known. Brilliant game you have here — as if ethos, pathos, and logos constitute a musical instrument that woos the audience. I aspire to make a game with so much insight.

It would be good to see how truth fits in here — if you develop this game then you could have that be the basis of the other three. Logos depends on its starting point. Anyway, one of the best games here. Nice work my dear.
Sheepolution
17. May 2023 · 00:41 UTC
Nice concept! Had to play it alone, but I get how this could be fun to play with someone. I was a bit confused at times, like why I did or did not get points, but I understand not having a lot of time to add explanation to your game.
Thiago Nascimento
18. May 2023 · 18:48 UTC
I tried to play it alone but I only got one brain cell. I got the concept though and it is pretty creative, using rhythm on speech
ScrapMetal
18. May 2023 · 20:40 UTC
Love this take on the theme!! The multiplayer concept is cool too, but playing by myself, would have been nice to have an AI opponent of some kind. :stuck_out_tongue: But that is also a lot for a 72 hr jam!

I loved trying to deliver a matching 'debate', and there was a bit of quick decoding on the fly, which was great! I struggled a lot with the controls at first though and the rhythm part in general. It was very unforgiving in terms of exact timing. I kept trying to use the arrow keys at first and failing a lot. (Maybe the UI could indicate the input?). Once I figured out using WASD, I did a lot better, but still did poorly at hitting the timing. It might've been because of running the html build.

The art is super charming, and I loved the sound FX! Overall, this was great!
island-jam-2-group-3
18. May 2023 · 21:18 UTC
Original take on the theme! It was also a bit confusing for me why sometimes I got the points and sometimes I didn't but other than that congrats on the polished entry!
joao-marcello
18. May 2023 · 21:43 UTC
Loved the concept and very polish entry!

The art is cute and the sfx from the audience as the debate unfolded was an excellent touch.

It was a bit confusing figure out whats going on at first try, but once i managed the game keeps pretty enjoyable. However, don't having someone to play may spoil the fun (like others commented, add a AI opponent would solve the problem) and the Windows version presented lag after the third round.

Overall, a nice game! Congrats!
JulienLussiez
18. May 2023 · 23:06 UTC
Funny and clever way to deliver something! I enjoyed it!
betovf
19. May 2023 · 07:26 UTC
Very original and polished game. Good job!
🎤 Ava Skoog
19. May 2023 · 07:59 UTC
Thanks to all who played so far! I've been without internet for almost a week so it was only yesterday that I managed to catch up on ratings cos I was able to borrow someone's connection for a few hours ☹️ Mine's still not back. I have limited mobile data so I'm able to write here and heart your comments but not download and play your games back unless it gets fixed today. I hope it does.

@gamebuilder: Tbf that was Marte's idea (as was the game on the whole, and I implemented as much as I managed within the time limit)

@scrapmetal: WASD is for P1 and arrows for P2. I realise I didn't put that in the description, sorry. Fixing!

@joao-marcello: Yeah, the plan was a computer player from the get-go but I just ran out of time :c
gamebuilder
19. May 2023 · 12:30 UTC
Compliments to both of you then — implementation is half the battle. I look forward to seeing how _Ao_ turns out.
🎤 Ava Skoog
25. May 2023 · 08:32 UTC
Welp, *now* my internet is back, over a week later. Thanks again! 🙏