Bug Warz by hotaloca

[raw]
made by hotaloca for Ludum Dare 56 (COMPO)

Goal

Attack or charm enemy bugs so you can grow your bug colony to be the biggest and single colony in the world! (Now ok, in this local hive or something). Screenshot MainSmall.png

How to play?

I left a detailed how to play in the itch.io webpage. Please read the instructions, because I had to finish the jam early so could not polish the game too much.

Screenshot Attack.png

Developer Notes

For some time I wanted to test whether I can greate a game where you cannot just kill your enemies but you can also charm them. And I was thinking how this latter option would be the only way to make your enemies stronger - so you get fighters but really bad at charming/giving birth to new generation of leaders but you still need them... Now I could not fully exploit this concept, but I did a try with this game. My focus has been on game mechanics, less so much polishing or making the game more fun. I hope it still works as a reasonable entry. I would be interested in your feedback, whether this is an idea which worth investigated more - or how could this be improved / simplified.

Developer Tools

Unity for Game Dev Affinity Designer for Graphics JSFXR for Sound Effects

Ratings

Overall 320th 2.423⭐ 28🧑‍⚖️
Fun 322th 2.058⭐ 28🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 171th 3.308⭐ 28🧑‍⚖️
Theme 215th 3.365⭐ 28🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 288th 2.76⭐ 27🧑‍⚖️
Mood 309th 2.135⭐ 28🧑‍⚖️
Given 21🗳️ 33🗨️

Feedback

Leonardo213
06. Oct 2024 · 21:46 UTC
I might be dumb but i dont understand shit
Setter
07. Oct 2024 · 13:52 UTC
I think it's an interesting idea however you may need to explain it a bit more
GrUt607
07. Oct 2024 · 13:54 UTC
The game may be cool but it's just not clear how exactly it works. A more precise explanation of how attack and charm work is needed here
manabreak
07. Oct 2024 · 13:55 UTC
Sorry, but I'm with @leonardo213 in this one. I couldn't understand the rules at all.
Zz1p
07. Oct 2024 · 13:58 UTC
Even after reading the guide several times, I still understood almost nothing. Ideally, it would be necessary to make a guide, but I understand that most of the time was spent on mechanics, but still, for such games you need a visual guide in the game itself. And so the idea and mechanics are interesting!
impiaaa
07. Oct 2024 · 14:08 UTC
I think it could definitely do with some more explanation. Like, it wasn't clear at first that the box pattern came from genes, and I still don't know why there are three square colors. I could see it being an interesting battle mechanic in a larger game—instead of a battle outcome being determined by who has the larger "attack" stat, you have to consider the relative pattern of each combatant, and decide which of attack or charm gives you an advantage. As it is, the "overworld" view doesn't have much strategy, just decide whether to "attack" or "charm" then do that to each enemy in order.
EpiFai
07. Oct 2024 · 14:33 UTC
It is very difficult to understand what is happening during the fight. Some animation wouldn't hurt. With the guide, I understood how it works, but unfortunately, even knowing the principle fully, it is still very difficult to predict the outcome of the battle, you have to sit and think. Overall enjoyable. Beat random level once
SkyyStorm
07. Oct 2024 · 18:31 UTC
The fighting/charm mechanic seems cool, but I couldn't really figure out if I won by clearing the map? There didn't seem to be any win condition. Music and some end of game loop might help the game be a bit more fun?
Cobear25
07. Oct 2024 · 20:35 UTC
Even after reading the rules I was slightly confused, but I did manage to beat each one. I'm curious what this game could turn into given more time. Well done.
LDJam user 233347
08. Oct 2024 · 09:02 UTC
Very hard to understand due to, in my opinion, unlcear intructions as to what the fields mean.
Yet somehow I managed to "complete" a world.

A very promising idea and concept for sure!
Stefan B.
08. Oct 2024 · 09:15 UTC
A little hard to get into
Lakea
08. Oct 2024 · 09:21 UTC
I managed to beat the odd bug, but unsure how as I didnt understand what was going on.
RilleP
08. Oct 2024 · 09:24 UTC
Definitely a very interesting idea! I do think the randomness of the placement ruins it a bit, but maybe that was the only way to make it work. But it was fun to figure out the rules, and finding which enemy I had the biggest chance to beat was also fun.
🎤 hotaloca
09. Oct 2024 · 05:22 UTC
Thank you all for the great feedback. Clearly indeed this would have needed a lot more work on helping the players understand the world rules, with much more visual support like animation and also a better built maps to help the learning curve. After having a slept on this and taking a step back, maybe this would be better off a card game, where there are multiple choices of bugs for you to play, and multiple enemies to fight - giving you a better freedom to progress, and having clarity on what's happening maybe more clearly. Anyway I really greatly appreciate everyone's help to make a try - and for the ones who were able to beat a map - super congrats and thanks for getting into difficulty on understanding the logic to some point at least.
Nazariglez
09. Oct 2024 · 09:25 UTC
Interesting concept with the charm and attack mechanics! The idea has great potential, and the strategy element is engaging. A bit more guidance would make it shine even more. Gj!
Loig
09. Oct 2024 · 11:06 UTC
I very like the game idea and mechanics, I think it allows to make really interesting puzzles.

However, I felt that the levels were a bit too much random: you have to play with probabilities but you are frequently in a 50/50 situation or even worse.
ChrisBeck
09. Oct 2024 · 11:25 UTC
I feel like the mechanics of the game could be explained a bit better - it took me a while to understand what was actually going on. I like the graphics and SFX, but could have done with some simple background music to add atmosphere. Good job!
ellaris
09. Oct 2024 · 12:44 UTC
Very hard to understand what was going on and felt very random, like I was trying the same thing and was getting different results. I think it needs a better presentation.
Paroxysmal
09. Oct 2024 · 20:37 UTC
I will have to come back to this one to see if I can grasp it.
Harmadillo
10. Oct 2024 · 21:08 UTC
The combat system was interesting but i couldn't work out if i would win a fight before stating it.
Sasha20
13. Oct 2024 · 18:54 UTC
A compelling game that looks amazing and offers a smart take on its theme. God job!
Odronin
18. Oct 2024 · 13:16 UTC
I can't say for sure whether it's a game of chance or a subtle calculation. Without fully understanding the rules, I accidentally defeated all the bugs in battles. I'll go buy lottery tickets.