Overall, we had a great time with the game!
However, on several consecutive occasions, we ended up assembling a crew with no undercover cops in sight. Which, frankly, somewhat undermines the core mechanic that makes the game tick.
Perhaps we just got exceptionally lucky with the draw.
We never quite cracked the code on which cards to trust, but even so, the experience remained consistently engaging and kept us coming back for more.
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How does the game fit the theme?
Build a crew team using cards, however some cards are secretly undercover cops. Detect the cops and eliminate them.
What code and assets did you not make from scratch during the jam (if any)?
Sounds & music are from asset packs.
How many people worked on the game?1
Comments
Awesome game! The UX part of the game kinda confused me a lilttle at the start but once I got used to it, this game get ssuper addictive! The sound effects makes the whole experience pop really well and I just like the premise overall. This is basically balatro, but you kinda have to think a lot which makes it a puzzle roguelike-ish which is awesome! The visuals are great though I wish there were more personality on the cards (though this is asking for a bit much for a game jam game). The difficulty is also very well balanced and I had a blast playing this! Overall, this was a really fun game and I highly encourage you to work on this game more after the game jam!! Awesome work!!
Submitted
Trust No <Code>I liked this Balatro inspired jam game a lot! It was confusing at first, but the more I played and understood the purposes of the cards, the more I was able to really appreciate the game loop you've created. From the hypnotic, calming music, the synergies among the cards, the poker hands multipliers, the clever incorporation of the theme, to the rogue like upgrades, I was invested the whole time. My only critique if I had to give one is it would've been nice to have some art on the cards, but I'm sure it was a time issue. I'd be interested to see where this goes if you continue to develop it post jam. Great job!
Submitted
ESCAPE!I really enjoyed playing this game. It took a little while until I figured out some of its quirks. I think the round to round plays more or less perfectly, with some UX improvements. But I’m lacking some meta-progression and variation to continue for more than the half hour I played. Is there an overarching goal we are striving towards (i.e. paying back a debt, becoming most wanted heist lord) or is it a set number of heists we need to do? Also since the only difference round to round that I saw was increasing the quota, it does become a bit repetitive after a while and I think it would need some sort of variation in how the game plays every 3-4 rounds (aka boss heist) to mix things up and keep it interesting.
Very good jam game though!
Play-through with more feedback:
Submitted
Trust No One...Hey, I watched your video and really appreciate that you recorded the gameplay along with your commentary. Seeing how someone actually approaches the game and figures things out is incredibly useful!
Regarding your comment and the feedback in the video, I definitely agree that the game takes some time to understand. I initially wanted to make a proper tutorial and introduce the mechanics gradually, but unfortunately I ran out of time and ended up having to throw pretty much everything at the player immediately.
And yeah meta-progression and more variation between rounds are probably the biggest things the game is missing right now. At the moment the only real progression is the increasing quota, so you didn't miss any ending or overarching goal. After a while it definitely becomes repetitive.
I really like the idea of something like a boss heist every few rounds and even originally was planning to add that. An overarching goal for the run is also something I want to add.
Also I'm actually continuing development with the goal of turning this into a full game and eventually releasing it, so feedback like this is especially useful. A lot of the systems I originally wanted to include, simply didn't make it into the jam version, since by the time I had the deckbuilder + deduction concept working properly I only had a few days left to actually build the game :D
Really appreciate the time and effort you put into both playing and recording the feedback. It helps a lot!
Great game! I had to think a lot for it. I think that there might be a bit of a bug; the +1 hand in the shop says it's $200, but when I pressed it, it only costed me $5. Other than that, I definitely had to use my brain for this one, and it was a very unique take on the theme!
Submitted
Tinfoil TerryGreat job, reminds me of social deduction games like werewolf or resistance. IT impressive that you made a social deduction game single player. I would love to see a smaller scale tutorial level (like starting with a smaller hand and no draw pile) Its really hard to develop a strategy with such a large pool of criminals. Overall a really great job, with a bit of refinement this could be a really interesting puzzle.
Submitted
UXploreNice game, i think i only lacks a onboarding where you have to play, like a tutorial : "play this", "it does that, have you seen ?", that kind of stuff
Beside this, it's a good job, congrats !
Submitted
Eleventh King of HellVery, very nice! You incorporated social deduction and deckbuilding, and actually made it really fun! Every round was like building a custom trust logic puzzle! It got really difficult to figure out the actual imposter when there were two cops at once. My favorite method was stacking drivers to figure out who to mistrust. If only one driver saw an imposter, he could be the imposter! Mark both and see what happens. Watchers were really powerful, but didn't make enough money.
Art and sounds and animations all folded together very nicely. The bonuses from poker-like combinations were a nice surprise too. I think that if you added a bit more content in terms of types of cards, and a bit more control of the upgrading and knowing what the roles + names of the cards were, you could build this out to a full game.
I ended up not making quota at 234/250 - but had just weeded out the last undercover cop
Submitted
Honest Abe Cannot Be TrustedOverall, good job!
The visuals work well (someone mentioned in the comments about adding more visual indicators or icons along with the text, and I agree, I was playing on split screen at some point, and it was harder to read what is on the cards. Otherwise, it works).
I was a bit confused about how things work. For example, I was unsure if eliminating 0 cops would affect me and how (maybe I am just bad at this, lol). The cards mention different abilities, but at times, I found myself randomly picking them and wondering if there is a strategy I am missing on (besides the combos of duplicate cards for better payoff).
The instructions mention that removing innocent members can hurt you, but I never quite got how or when it happens. Maybe some further indicators on how well you did (or did not do) at the end of the round (s) would help. I'd also consider adding a 'start over' for abandoning progress and restarting a new heist.
I will probably try playing more to see if I do better. Other than that, good job!
Submitted
Mental TrapHey, thank you very much for the detailed feedback! I was originally planning to add a proper tutorial and clearer feedback but unfortunately ran out of time during the jam.
The main idea is that undercover cops give no payout and always lie in their hints. Eliminating an innocent card means losing that cards payout. Also if it was part of a "poker combo" you could potentially lose the combo bonus as well. So eliminating the wrong cards can make reaching the quota much harder.
If there are no undercover cops among the cards you played, then not eliminating anyone is completely fine. And there is a text which tells you if there are any undercover cops among heist cards.
You're also right that the game doesn't really communicate how good or bad your decisions were besides the final payout/quota. That's definitely something I'd want to improve with clearer indicators and feedback if I continue working on it.
And a restart button is a good suggestion too. Thanks again for playing and taking the time to write all of this!
Cool concept! I liked the mix of deckbuilding and deduction. It took me a little while at the beginning to understand how everything worked, but once I got it, the gameplay became much more enjoyable.
Submitted
Slap the SoldierSuch an addictive game absolutely loved finding a strategy to figure out who the cops were!
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Go Go Will ExecutorReally nice concept. Making little Avatars instead of cards might make it look even nicer and you might not always have to read the text again if certain avatars always have a certain ability. But even without this visual upgrade this is a very solid idea for this jam's theme and it feels polished. Nicely done!
Submitted
Pawn Hub – The Art of the StealReally liked the deck building idea, got pretty addictive lol. The UI and visuals fit the theme really well too. Nice job!
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(NOT) TRUST THE ROYALSI really liked your deck building card, honestly pretty addictive, liked the UI and visuals as well, it pairs nice with the theme, great job !!!
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Eleventh King of HellReally nice deck-building game! Turning the concept of a heist and undercover cops into a card game is super unique!
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DEAL ME A LIEHey, I saw the stream really appreciated! However you missed a few points from the game that didn't let you play to the fullest. Basically undercover cops ALWAYS lie and if a driver card which tells a card is safe becomes an undercover cop it will falsely accuse other cards. Also combos are formed just like in poker so that's how you get extra money. But really appreciate the feedback!
Nice deck-builder! I worked with a team on a deck-builder for GMTK iirc. I also really like the soothing nature of the music, as a composer myself. Really solid entry, good work! Only suggestions would have been art for the cards and an either picture or interactive tutorial.
Submitted
Shifty lil'WizzlersInnovative take on deckbuilding games with the idea of eliminating cops that just really makes fun and brings lots of cool twists
Submitted
The King's Shield
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