ONLY WHAT YOU HAVE DONE SO FAR MEANS ONLY WHAT YOU HAVE DONE SO FAR
A downloadable game
[[MOVE WITH MOUSE WHEEL / ARROW KEYS / CTRL + F.]]
[[READ WITH EYES.]]
Requires: 4 dice (tangible or digital) to play
An experimental roll-your-own-journey essay written for the 2020 Game Maker's Tool Kit Game Jam. The theme was "Out of Control." This essay considers things which are out of our control -- the circumstances of our birth, the impact our art has on others, the passage of time -- and underscores the theme by leaving a player's progression through the document up to a roll of the bones.
I also sought to demonstrate -- as so many undoubtedly will -- that Mark Brown surrendered his control of the interpretation of the prompt as soon as he began the jam.
Feel free to leave your feedback. I'd like to make other, more narrative-driven games with this core mechanic-set in the future, and I'd love to know how I could refine the core gameplay.
Thanks for giving it a look, and remember: only what you have done so far means only what you have done so far.
(Note: the author is not affiliated with random.org)
Download
Install instructions
[[DOWNLOAD THE PDF.]]
[[PROCURE BONES.]]
[[READ AND ROLL.]]
Development log
- [[CONSIDER THIS GAME COMPLETE.]]Jul 24, 2020
- [[PLAY BUILD 2.]]Jul 20, 2020
- Ach! Typos!Jul 13, 2020
Comments
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This is honestly the most fun game among those I am given to review. congrats!
At first, I found it dumb I got a pdf file and not an actual game. But as I read it, I got glued and followed each and every instructions. For page 14, I literally took a break and did something else before coming back! this happened 3 times! Actually more than that but I gave up and took the 1 die. I can't wait 14 min... or 14 days!!!
Now let me give some feedback and it has to do something with chances. You probably know this, with one die, all chances are equal, with two dies, getting 7 has the highest probability. 3 dies is 10 and 11. 4 dies is 14. Knowing this, these pages will be the most frequently visited. pages 19 onward is hard to get by. Speaking of 19, I don't really understand the first paragraph. regardless, I feel like I should be looking at the top part of the die unless stated otherwise.
I reached page 11 multiple times but never went to page 25 through that page. It just didn't feel right. I also went to page 11 pretty early (the probability of getting 11 is high as I mentioned)
I've played Adventure books before and the two things I wanted to do were: get to the good ending, traverse every single path. Given the probabilities of the dies, some pages are just near impossible to reach. And I wanted to reach all of them. I ended up cheating and reading pages 20, 22, 23 and 24. Yes I did manage to reach 21, that was my highest roll.
You don't know how long I've played this game. quite long really.
Your verbose game has prompt me to be very verbose as well. But to cut things straight, what I suggest is to balance the pages better so that the higher pages are easier to reach. It requires a bit of math with the probabilities. Also, for the common pages, make something happen. pages 7 does nothing. Page 14 does but that's just evil (if the player is like me who actually abides by the rules). It's a nice addition but it's a common page so chances of landing there is very high.
[[I BET YOU DIDN'T EXPECT SUCH ELABORATE COMMENT. PAT YOURSELF IN THE BACK IF YOU THINK YOU DESERVE THIS]]
[[ALSO PLAY MY GAME IF YOU THINK IT'S WORTH YOUR TIME]]
Thank you for the in-depth review! I will definitely take your notes about probability under advisement as I work on the next game (here's a sneak peek: you will read words and roll dice).
[[BE PROUD OF YOURSELF FOR LEAVING CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM.]]
[[IF YOU ARE NEITHER THE AUTHOR OF THIS GAME OR OF THE PARENT COMMENT, CONSIDER THE PARENT COMMENT AN EXCELLENT EXAMPLE OF CONSTRUCTIVE FEEDBACK.]]
[[HAVE A GOOD DAY.]]
Favorite Song: Billy Idol - Don't Need A Gun
I'm 23 15th next month so missed the mark just a bit haha.
I'd suggest to change the bold lines of text related to bones to a different color or something to separate them more easily from other bold texts for more easier readability when replaying.
This game is so unique that I don't know what else feedback to give. It's a very interesting game. I really enjoyed reading the pages and playing along with the instructions.
Thanks for the feedback!
Radiohead - How To Disappear Completely
The first instruction on page 18 made laugh as I felt tricked. Of all the other 'bonuses' that one was the only one independent from me, it was set in stone from the day I was born.
The reason for the game's name could be that you will often repeat things, however, you are not going to explore all the game has to offer.
Tom Traubert's Blues (Three Sheets to the Wind in Copenhagen) - Tom Waits
The Wind - Zac Brown Band | Sour Patch Kids - Bryce Vine (because its summer)