Play CARAVN
CARAVN: Roads Unwritten's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Execution | #10 | 2.745 | 2.810 |
| Innovation | #11 | 2.652 | 2.714 |
| Overall | #16 | 2.559 | 2.619 |
| Polish | #17 | 2.280 | 2.333 |
Ranked from 21 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Do you want to be considered for the GDC 2026 Festival Passes?
just participating in the jam
Leave a comment
Log in with itch.io to leave a comment.
Comments
Oh no, I wanted to beat a boss.
Great concept I would love to see the game expanded. The current state is already pretty fun, I liked building up both my wagon and my character. My main complaint is with the EXP, if I killed an enemy behind the wagon it's a pain to get the exp so I would usually skip it. I think it would make more sense for exp to always attract to you instead of having to walk near it first. I liked your visuals a lot, both the UI and models felt like they fit the game itself well. nice submission
please add more levels and make it an actual game if you do give me free steam key bc i am kinda broke.
It's a pleasure to have you here, but I'm still hurting after you ripped my soul out in the labyrinth of your game; I really jumped out of my chair with the blackjack monster's jumpscare.
Let's do our best!!! I swear! I'm broke too T-T I lost my job on Monday. But don't worry, your key will be guaranteed, I won't forget those who supported us!
Lol well i am fully supporting my fellow broke dev brother. And sorry about your job i hope everything goes well for you
It's a good idea but try to focus it a llitle bit more and you could become the next Mega Bonk
We will focus intensely on the project, immerse ourselves in our ideas, and bring out the best in them. If this becomes the next Megabonk, you can be sure I won't forget to honor each and every one of you who encouraged us.
Innovation - What a great concept! It felt like you took all of the best pieces from a dozen different genres (okay, maybe not THAT many) and smashed them all together into one really cohesive and delightful game! Part bullet-hell, part tower defense, part escort mission, part strategic placement, part roguelite. All great genres to pull inspiration from and I think what you made here was a really delightful game that I honestly felt kinda bummed when I beat it because I wanted to keep playing!
Execution - Like I mentioned before, I think the execution of combining so many parts from so many different types of games into one worked really well here. It wasn't overladen with too many mechanics or controls, it didn't get confusing. It felt just right. A really nice, low key exploration of some really fun concepts.
Polish - I mean, sure, the game was pretty bare-bones. But that's a game jam! I didn't run into any game-breaking bugs or any issues with controls at any point, so that's definitely a win. If you continue this (I truly hope you do!), things you'll want to focus on including (apart from the obvious stuff like models and clean UI) are:
1. Game feel - Things like screen shakes, vignettes, unique and pitched sound feedbacks when monsters die or when you cast a spell, vfx that play when the wagon gets hit, etc. Right now the game is very mechanical, which is great for a prototype! Just keep an eye on the game's juice when you're developing further!
2. Payoff - When I buy a gun, I want to see a gun! I want to see bullets flying! When I buy enhancements for my towers, I want to see those towers have some kind of visual indicator telling me"Hell yeah, that tower is upgraded!" Maybe it shoots different colored spells or different styled spells. Something to indicate that a change has happened.
3. Quality of Life - Having to run away from the cart to grab the orbs that my wizard shot all the way at the bottom of the map didn't feel great - make those orbs swarm the player! Lean into the bullet hell and let the player FEEL that power fantasy and not have to worry about "the little things" like picking up the far away orbs .
Overall - I honestly loved this game. I left those little points up above because I loved it so much and want to see this in my Steam library someday soon! You've got something really fun and really special on your hands and I think, looking at your roadmap, you've got the vision and the drive to get it done. Really excited to see where this game heads! Great job!
OMG!!! I SIMPLY LOVED YOUR COMMENT! I'll try to address it in parts.
I admit it might not be the most innovative idea in the world, but I tried to take a little bit from each game I love: Risk of Rain, Slay the Spire, Megabonk, Monsters Are Coming, Vampire Survivor, among others. And it's like you said, "smashed them all together," maybe it was too ambitious for such a short time, but the idea was to convey a concept of taking the things we love most and putting them in one place, in our case, roguelikes. I'm very happy that you played and liked our idea; we will continue working hard to make this project a success and get closer and closer to what I would like the project to be.
Regarding the execution, I would like all the mechanics and upgrade systems (weapons, equipment, caravan towers) to be easy to understand. Basically, create the build you want, choose your path, and crush the enemies. Many mechanics I would have liked were missing (choosing your path like in Slay the Spire; we ended up with 3 fixed maps). I can't blame only the time we had, but I also think we were too ambitious. Equipment was missing, our visual identity was lacking, among other things that we will certainly implement in the future.
I am immensely grateful for your visual, sound, and VFX suggestions; I read and noted each one. I really want it to be easy to understand and pleasing to the eye, in every sense. When the player upgrades a weapon, they should really have the feeling of "It is a real big gun!", even what you said, really having the feeling of a bullet hell, with numbers when dealing damage, on-screen sensations, sounds, and everything else. The ultimate idea is to have something that conveys a sense of progression, with creativity being the limiting factor. Besides redesigning the enemies and having different enemies, redoing the entire visual aspect to truly give it a visual identity, mini-events in the rooms, having rooms with truly different events, from a merchant to NPCs. As you said, delivering quality of life.
I really appreciate it, your comment was more than inspiring to me, it will be a great pleasure to give you the game as a gift in the future when it is released. We will work hard from now on! Again, thank you for your comment, which means a lot to us! May the good winds always guide you, just as you will guide the caravan!
Hahah! Wonderful! I'm glad my suggestions helped! Really looking forward to seeing where you guys push the caravan next!
innvoation: I liked the idea of upgrade carts, you took a simple upgrade system and made it even more strategic, especially with the turrets, you had to choose a good spot.
execution: the game was fun and casual. I wish I had the ability to shoot myself and the turrets were the only ones with the autoshoot, but overall it was fun.
polish: the gameplay was a bit laggy, and the 3d models were simple, but the main menu was good, and the gameplay was fun.
Regarding innovation, I really don't think I have anything that different from some big games, but I wanted to convey a concept, taking a little bit from each game that I'd like to have in one. We have many ideas in a project that can become very ambitious, from weapon and equipment synergy, to the map where you choose your own path with events, dividing the game into acts and even having an endless mode; we have many features that I haven't even been able to give a taste of yet.
Execution, polish: the game will undergo a visual rework; we have the idea of making (Act 1) a black and white map with enemies, VFX, player, etc. Anyway, I apologize for the not-so-pleasant experience, I am immensely grateful for the feedback and praise, we will work hard to keep this project going, I hope I managed to show at least a little of the path we are taking, again thank you very much for your comment, it means a lot to us <3
what do you mean by "not-so-pleasant experience", fun wise this game was really fun, I love roguelikes/lites and games that make you upgrade and evolve, this game did it well, it was just rushed in a 2-week deadline, like every game in this jam. and im sure with time and effort this could be a great game 😊
Sometimes a small translation error can occur, I apologize. I'm using a translator; only the other developer is fluent in English, I'm not sure if I expressed myself in the best way. xD
Foi mais no sentido de ( desculpa pelos travamentos, HUD um pouco bagunçada, coisas nesse sentido ).
I really appreciate your understanding and I'm so happy with your comments, it encourages me even more <3
Thank you kindly.
I had fun with this one! very easy to get into an casual! found a bit strange that mage upgrades to rifle : D
I'm going to start a petition to normalize mages with firearms 🙏🙏🙏🙏😂 , like "Death the Kid" (Soul Eater) or something similar😂😂.
Thank you so much for playing and commenting <3
really interesting take on a tower defense game, probably one of the more innovative ideas I've played so far. With some more polish this could be a really cool game! Good job!
I'd appreciate it if you could play/rate my game as well! :)
I'm really looking forward to trying your game! There are about 12 games left.
We know we have a lot of work ahead of us, we have a gigantic roadmap that I don't even know if it's possible to complete hahaha. But I hope I managed to convey a little of the concept of what the game is supposed to be. Thank you for your comment, we'll see each other soon (when your game reaches my queue).
Interesting game! I think the UI could use a little work because sometimes I wasn't sure what I was selecting, but fun idea! I think this has potential to be a really great game. I encourage you to keep working on it after the jam!
would like to thank you for the constructive feedback! We know we have a lot to fix and a lot of work ahead of us, thank you for encouraging us to continue. We do intend to continue the game; we tried to bring the idea to life, and I'm very happy that you liked it.
great progress! i think you did a great job, hope to see what would you do in next jam
Thank you so much! Seeing comments like this motivates me even more to keep hitting the road with this caravan!
btw peak pfp