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Digging Down Debt's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Enjoyment | #150 | 4.247 | 4.247 |
| Narrative | #802 | 3.571 | 3.571 |
| Audio | #973 | 3.582 | 3.582 |
| Artwork | #1223 | 3.953 | 3.953 |
| Creativity | #1870 | 3.824 | 3.824 |
Ranked from 170 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
How does your game fit the theme?
7 days ticking away to pay back your debt, 40 digs per day to find the money you need...
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Comments
What a masterclass!
I really wish I did my menu like you did, making the player interact with the main mechanic from the get go was a master stroke, and the game afterwards is just as genious!
I'm quite sure this isnt your first game just from how polished and well thought the whole experience is and you can really feel it, this game is like an aged whisky. Really well done!
Super kind words <3.
I like the concept of turning digging into a risk/reward system.
And i liked that the game is quite relaxing.
This game was phenomenal. Simple idea, executed perfectly. It really reminded me of Motherload, which I put dozens of hours into as a kid on Miniclip, You all really captured the same vibe: dig down as far as you can, buy upgrades, see if you can get further the next day. Even the ending was a great add, and adds that bit of mystery and accomplishment of how it feels to get really deep that you've unlocked a crazy mystery.
Agreed that tuning is not flawless, but honestly, I loved that for the game jam. I failed a couple times (which is still hilarious and fun) until I cheesed it with ladders and TNT and got to the ending. I think if you all embraced that idea and made a game where buying TNT and Ladders was just the logical next step in progression, added in more layers and story, and fleshed it out more you'd have a fully featured game I'd pay money for.
Also, love the dog addition. It's just the kind of fun you should be adding in a jam. You all rock, great work!
thank you so much for the kind words! <3
I think you're right that one path to better tuning could be to just go increasingly crazy with items and depth/exploration and let the TNT/ladder just be powerful for this phase of the game. When we were scaffolding out the structure of the game world we gave ourselves space for x3 the amount we ended up actually using, but all of the mechanics only really game together on the last night, so by the time we sat down to design the world and tweak the items etc. we just didn't have enough time to use all of the space.
We had tons of ideas for what a more fleshed out world could look like, like block types that required certain items to break through so they would sort of gate you above a particular area and force you to explore and collect money with your current tools before proceeding. That was ditched partly for time and partly because the 7 day time limit was kind of at odds with that.
Anyway, thanks again for playing :D
Cool game, could not beat it in my first trys, but looking forward to succeed. I like the artwork and SFX! Very good work, especially for the limited time. Also fits the jam theme very well.
Fun digging game with clear presentation. I like how the blocks are revealed as you get close to them.
ty! we actually went back and forth on how to render the distant blocks, but having them be obfuscated ended up feeling the most mysterious. we had some visual tweaks to the block reveals and the shaders that we really wanted to get in but just ran out of time, so i'm glad it worked for you haha <3 I was feeling like it came across a little unpolished
10/10 great game! The long fall at the bottom of the world was a really cool idea. I also really liked that you could get a dog to follow you down the mines.
thank you for playing!! :)
ok this is really nice, gameplay loop is very polished
I guess it did take me a while to realize how far down I could actually dig, and also that the usable items weren't single-use... oops
and despite all that effort they still took my house away?? unbelievable
anyway, very solid entry, presentation is clean, the digging sound is crisp, loved it
thank you! :)
the usable items went in at the 11th hour and we didn't have a ton of time to refine their mechanics, let alone the interface haha. some kind of indicator would definitely improve it.
and yeah, EVIL BANK CORP is not known for rewarding effort!
Really creative and fun aswell! I love the pixel art, and the mechanics are really nice. Very cozy also.
Glad you had fun! Thanks for playing :-)
That's a really creative idea! Let's trade ratings if you have time!
Nice! I thought I was earning $5000 instead of $50.00 at first and was confused where all my money was. Once I figured that out I had a great time trying to pay off my debt. I do wish we got one more day or a big red warning sign since the game ends on Day 1. I really like the map system on the side as well.
That minimap on the right was like 4 hours of time to do, and 3 of it was pointless because I had to throw it all out and think of a different way to do it.... But thats game dev! Thanks for playing <3
quite fun! you've already heard the feedback about ladder/TNT etc so I won't repeat the same, I did however find a bug where I managed to offscreen by a tile, and couldn't go back inside after. Thankfully this is not a softlock because you can just exhaust your turns either way. Also, given the price difference I think the mythical shovel is not that much better than super shovel? Or perhaps super shovel could also be pricier perhaps
Unfortunately balance wasn't something our team was able to get to in the end of it all. We thought about having the TNT cost money to use each time instead of exhaustion but even then probably too powerful. I am happy you found the bottom of the map though. It was my favorite part when I got to see what my team was doing!
Simple satisfying core loop and I didn't expect the hole at the bottom. Also that victory screen made me chuckle, well done xD
The bottom of the level was also my favorite part to discover when I eventually got to playing the world my team created. Was really fun to find. Glad you liked the cinematic at the end. It was truly the "down to the last hour" creation!
I am broke so I dig in my backyard for mone :< very relatable
You might find oil!
Mom, help... I think I fell into the backrooms...
Very nice experience! I wish that the goodest boy in the world had some kind of use other than mental support for a guy who's going to lose all of his personal belonging soon...
Keep up the good work!
We really wanted to put a "Pet" option in there but it was at the very bottom of priority list. At some point we just had to wrap things up sadly. Maybe next year's jam will be a little bit longer for the good dogs that need pets.
Such a cozy exprience! Played multiple rounds, digging felt so satisfying. I like the concept of balancing upgrades vs. paying the dept. This gives the game way more dept(h).
I see what you did there ;-). Glad you liked the concept!
Straight away from the Main Menu I could tell this was going to be a great game! Very creative way of tutorialising the 'start' button. The SFX are great and satisfying and the sprites are very well-done and perfectly matched. The only thing I'm missing is a way to pet the dog (unless there is one and I'm a fool)! Well done!
unfortunately petting the pupper was next on the list but the time crunch at the end is too real 😭 thanks for playing, glad you enjoyed it! after the jam is over maybe we’ll get a pupdate in
This game feels really cozy to play, great job
So cozy~ i could just mine all day
Must get the dog every run
Nice vibe, nothing like counting down the days until your debts are due :D. Maybe its a little to chill in the game haha