Numeric Summon Circle by BruceZoom
If the game cannot run on this page (what happened on my computer), you may play it in the browser on itch.io https://brucezoom.itch.io/numeric-summon-circle
The itch.io version is more up to date with some improvements suggested by players, while the one uploaded in this page is kept as the initial version.
Summary
In the world of rational numbers, one may summon minions using the Numeric Summon Circle. Summon minions use math operations and defend your number summon circle against enemies!
Instructions
- Step 1: Drag number elements (hexagons) in the bottom inventory and drop onto outer nodes of the circle.
- Step 2: Click inner nodes of the circle to change connections between nodes.
- Step 3: Wait for number elements to get combined following these connections and opertors on inner nodes.
- Step 4: A Number Minion is SUMMONED!
- Step 5: And it dies fighting emenies...
Tools
Game Engine: Unity
Arts: Aseprite
Audio: ChipTone
Changelog
All these changes are made to the version uploaded on itch.io. The game on the Ludum Dare page is the initial release version.
v1.1 (April 17th, 2024 09:24)
- Bugfix: left click can no longer kill your minions.
- Bugfix: number pickup's animation not going to the inventory
- Improvement: the next wave text now display count down seconds when the next wave is imminent
- Balancing: increase addition's initial production speed
- Balancing: minion's speed decreases as the number goes up until it reaches half of the initial speed
- Balancing: kill minions with your right click no longer drops any reward
- Balancing: adjust pace of certain waves
v1.0 (April 15th, 2024 08:37)
- Initial release
| Repository | https://github.com/BruceZoom/Numeric-Summon-Circle |
| itch.io Page | https://brucezoom.itch.io/numeric-summon-circle |
| Original URL | https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/55/numeric-summon-circle |
Ratings
| Overall | 209th | 3.364⭐ | 24🧑⚖️ |
| Fun | 224th | 3.205⭐ | 24🧑⚖️ |
| Innovation | 34th | 4.068⭐ | 24🧑⚖️ |
| Theme | 36th | 4.227⭐ | 24🧑⚖️ |
| Graphics | 282th | 2.864⭐ | 24🧑⚖️ |
| Audio | 259th | 2.548⭐ | 23🧑⚖️ |
| Humor | 248th | 2.381⭐ | 23🧑⚖️ |
| Mood | 294th | 2.75⭐ | 24🧑⚖️ |
| Given | 34🗳️ | 25🗨️ |
That character animation was delightful!
@lightningst The inner nodes with different operators will have different initial production time. For example, multiplications are very slow, about 10 seconds per operation, while addition only takes 3 seconds. You can speed up different nodes with upgrades in the shop, and they will eventually reach 1 sec per operation. (I guess I should add this information to the hover tooltip.)
@legendarypie As for the inconsistent spawning, maybe you are talking about rewards. When an enemy (and your minion) dies, there will be some probability that it drops its number and gets added to your inventory. If an enemy is killed by a minion with exactly the same number, then both will definitely drop their numbers. That's how I thought would encourage players to adjust their calculations to match enemy's number instead of just building a huge number.
And my guys were so HUGE that when I tried to click on anything in the screen (including the nodes in the sigil), it accidentally registered as clicking my unit... and yep he died so I was left undefended.
Really cool and unique design! Really great interpretation of 'summoning'. I like the math aspect and how overpowered you could make your units with a bit of multiplication power. It was really satisfying seeing them spawn at giant scale with huge numbers.
It was a little confusing when I first started the game — I didn't realize I had to start with the top-most node in order to produce any defenders. I think if that was glowing brighter than the others, I would have known that was a requirement to start. Took me a few Game Overs before I even realized that!
Really had fun once I got my army going, though! Until the bug I mentioned where I killed my own army by accident. The first was an accident, then the 2nd was me confirming that it was indeed a left click that killed my guy. Whoops. Things were starting to get a little crazy with the fractions going on too.
Really creative premise and fun game loop. I really liked watching the automatons fight each other. Excellent work!
Jokes aside though, this is a super clever concept. Trying to collect and create the right numbers to match the enemy minions' is lots of fun, but I ended up just using the multiplication node to create huge summons - which I guess wasn't the intended play style.
I think that the waves could have clearer start/stop times to make sure you can prepare for it and make the correct numbers, because as it stands, it's very risky to sacrifice ya boys to prepare some that match.
@goodwincek Sooooo sorry for the bug. I added this feature at the last moment because I realized some remainning minions from last wave may interfere player's strategy for next wave and it's better to remove them on player's choice. But I failed to test it thoroughly. Now I fixed the issue and may minion No.934(1/8) rest in peace.
@denilseven Thanks for feedbacks and suggestions. I added a count down timer before the next wave is imminent. (But I am too lazy to add a count down for the number of remaining enemies in each wave.) As for the multiplication power, I was using the low production speed as the trade-off for making large numbers but that could still not limit player's creativity in making large number and then I give up. But watching a giant kill your enemies is also a cool thing, and I don't mind players to enjoy this.
Considering this is a compo game the lack of clearer/fine-tuned visuals is completely understandable though. And despite not figuring out the main mechanic I still had fun randomly trying things while summoning an army of 1s (I got lucky with an army size increase on my first game), and I was able to last for a decent amount of time with only that. Nice job!
As you might have discovered, I am really pool at giving in-game guidance, especially when the game has mechanics more complicated than WASD :( I will try to come up with a better way to do that in the future.
@adamg Thanks for the feedback. That's also something troubled me, because I can't find a way to let left clicks go through these giants nor a proper way to display the nodes when a giant is standing above it. Then, I gave up and let this be a feature of these giants.
@anson-rutherford The ultimate goal is still beating enemies. You can still do that without matching numbers, but that would cause you eventually run out of ingredients (these numbers will have very low drop rate if you do not match numbers). And without gold coins obtained by matching numbers, the shop upgrades come much slower, and you might eventually be outrun by the increasing enemy spawn rate.
That's what I was in mind when designing the game, but really didn't have the time to perfectly balance the system.