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Bureau of Military Intelligence's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Theme | #13 | 4.417 | 4.417 |
| Overall | #275 | 3.549 | 3.549 |
| Visuals | #391 | 3.792 | 3.792 |
| Audio | #398 | 3.333 | 3.333 |
| Innovation | #482 | 3.208 | 3.208 |
| Gameplay | #486 | 3.208 | 3.208 |
| Enjoyment | #504 | 3.333 | 3.333 |
Ranked from 24 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
How does the game fit the theme?
You have to sort the fake messages from the real ones ; no one is safe from being impersonated by the enemy
What code and assets did you not make from scratch during the jam (if any)?
Music, sound effects and fonts
How many people worked on the game?2
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Comments
Really well-done! Gameplay-wise, I think it would have been nice to have more feedback on how you're doing overall -- I won, but I wasn't sure like, how well I did, and I wasn't really sure if I was going to win or lose until the end.
I wasn't sure if I'd forgotten that a particular person had failed before, so maybe I should have been failing more of their messages or something.
Really well-done! Gameplay-wise, I think it would have been nice to have more feedback on how you're doing overall -- I won, but I wasn't sure like, how well I did, and I wasn't really sure if I was going to win or lose until the end.
I wasn't sure if I'd forgotten that a particular person had failed before, so maybe I should have been failing more of their messages or something.
Thank you !
Improved feedback is coming as soon as the voting period is over, the update is just waiting to be published
Though there is no score, maybe it could be something to add
The game was made harder to win as well
I liked the subdued colors - it really gave everything an authentic military feeling.
The gameplay itself - I'm not sure about it - I ended up mostly reling on comparing the signatures, and I think sometimes a very obious negative message seem to indicate that it's a false message. I realized a bit too late that the losses seem to correlate with me picking the correct thing. I'll be interested to realize how many things can be used to identify false documents, because I assume I just scratched the surface.
Regadless, we won the war, so I guess I did something right. Nice job!
Thank you !
The different variations possible are the signature, the font used (there's a typewriter or handwriting font specific to each character) and the character's name that can be misspelled, or their assigned troops being written in roman letters numerals instead of the arabic letters they usually use (or the reverse). There is a bit more, like the falsified message often using the word "target" instead of "objective", but we didn't put it as a lone clue because it seemed a bit unfair to players.
The game is definitely lacking some clearer feedback, and a bit more balancing I think
I hope you had a nice time playing it regardless
Oh my god this is so well made! Just like "Papers, Please" you really need to do a deep analysis, every detail gotta be checked, that's what made me like your game so much!
Amazing music choice, it combines a lot with the atmosphere of the game, maybe the "table" you're working on could be a little more detailed in the background, having only that knife there made my think I would use it somewhere lol but that's just a way to improve something that's already very good, I would love to play it again if there's more content in the future :D
Thank you very much !
We're thinking about making it a full commercial project ! If you're still interested despite a potential price tag I can add an anwer to this comment when it comes out/when the game page is created so you will have the information
We initially intended to put more things on the table but didn't have the time to do it in the end (and the knife will actually be useful)
Please comment! It would be wonderful to play a full version :)
What I liked: The gameplay loop is very engaging. The graphics are simple but effective. I like how the enemy is just able to replicate the messages one to one by the end
What could be improved: I would like to see more variation to this. More difference then just being the font, maybe writing style difference. I thought one of the characters was different because they didn't write in long starches of text but when I rejected them I lost a lot of soldiers. Some time limit for how long you take on a letter could be implemented as well.
Additional Comments: This is an amazing base for a good paper please like game. You can easily add forms of deception into this maybe even mini events. I'm looking forward to see what you guys add if you continue to work on this.
Thank you very much!
We are currently thinking about expanding the game into a full commercial release (probably with a low price) with a lot more variety and features. If it happens and you're still interested despite a potential price tag, I can post an answer to your comment here when it comes out?
We did think about the time limit but decided to make soldiers die over time instead (so you're a bit pressed by time if you decide to care, but that might not be constraining enough for now) and we did think about the writing style difference but didn't get too much time to implement during the jam as we had to rush a bit to write the messages. If you remember anything (though I guess it would be difficult to remember the details), I would be curious to know which message you found suspicious because of its length though, as we did try to keep a consistent writing style for each character and I couldn't really figure out which one you meant by going though all messages (except maybe the ceasfire one which is considerably longer than other messages from said character, but it doesn't result in many ally losses)
I would also be curious to know what kind of events you were thinking about ? We did think about updates about the front line in the form of maps and seeing the result of your actions in subsequent messages, but I don't know if it ressembles what you had in mind and any suggestion is very welcome.
Sure! I'd love to check it out atleast.
I think the soldier's dying is good but at some point I was so ahead that I took my time. The time factor could be for urgent requests (Oh this is what I meant by mini events as well), like a battle is currently taking place and you are to verify the order to either face them head on( which I think is already in the game) now if you take too much time with it the troops do not receive that order and that results in automatic loss.
About the writing thing I might be have confused two people I don't remember exactly, what I remember is it's one of the ones just before the ending and I lost around 700 soldiers.
Lastly about the map. I think it would be an amazing addition. Maybe you can have a version of it to keep track of all the information you receive. Like you get information that you've won some battle you mark that down as correct. Next a letter is received from that location that you also verify to be true. But turns out the battle was lost and the location was not under your control meaning the letter you received from that location is also falsified. Also what I had in mind was you receiving a direct request from the enemy and you can decide to help them or not. Sorry if the suggestions are way out of line from what you had in mind XD I just think it would be cool to see. And good luck in your endeavor!
Not at all !
We thought you could be able to update the map yourself with the informations given if you wanted before receiving the official reports
I do think having a scale factor on the death counts in key points of the conflict could be a great thing to add to emphasize the importance of certain messages
Thank you so much for the detailed feedback and have a very nice day !
I like the presentation on this project, the mechanics are simple yet fits the theme well. I thought the knife was supposed to be interactable but maybe it just didn't make it into the release. Some suggestions are if you added some more effects to the stamps or pages turning it could add a lot more to player engagement. Good work overall!
Thanks a lot !
The knife was an axed idea about opening letters before reading them (it's actually more of a paper cutter)
By "some more effects", do you mean animations and visual effects (that's the impression I got from your message and yes, it would definitely be nice) or did you have something else in mind ?
Fun concept! Maybe I'd put the stamps on the left side of the screen, so that you don't have to close the comparison letters tabs, or put the tabs themselves on the left. But ultimately enjoyed it, well done! ☆
Thanks a lot !
We'll think about changing that after the voting period has ended, you're not the first to point it out
I went for a very similar concept, very stamp oriented :) Great execution overall; I see some people mentioned this, but I think that giving the player some feedback would have allowed some more engagement as well.
Feedback in the form of stronger animations on the casualty counter, to give the player some feeling that they made a mistake, or the right choice, or feedback in the form of instructions indicating what they did wrong (e.g., inform the player they flagged something as verified when false, because they failed to check the signature, or the platoon number).
Great job to the both of you!
Thank you very much !
And yes, the game is definitely lacking some feedback. The main idea would be to at least give the counters some colors when they change beacuse of your actions, and if we ever expand this into something more, to see the consequences of your actions in subsequent letters.
I had a great time with this one, great work!! :)
Thanks a lot ! =)
An interesting game, with the characters seem to have their own personality!
One gameplay change I would suggest: moving stamps to the left of the screen so that they could be used while the notes menu is open.
Thank you very much !
We might think about it if we decide to continue working on the game
I really like the overall presentation of the game! I was wondering if the knife is actually useful for something. Will you reveal the secret?
I think the decisions could be made a little more noticeable. Maybe some kind of visual effect, like the numbers changing color instead of only increasing, would help.
I also found the beginning a little confusing. Before I had a chance to read the information, I noticed that the number of soldiers was changing, so I wasn’t sure whether that was a good or bad thing, and it made me feel like I was already running out of time. I also tried clicking on the paper and the knife, and only figured out at the end that I was supposed to use the stamp.
Overall, I really enjoyed it. These are just a few things that I think could make the experience a little clearer.
I like the ending with the newspaper. I think it’s a great way to wrap up the game :)
Thank you very much !
We did think about adding feedback with color but it was on the last day so we left it like that. I'm pretty surprised you're the first to point out a lack of feedback, actually.
The numbers are increasing a bit even when you're not doing anything to cause a bit of a feeling of urgency and to show that the war keeps going on.
Now, for the big secret : the knife is actually a paper cutter !
At first, we thought about opening letters with the paper knife beforehand (there would have been a dedicated seal for the generals and the bureau that would have needed to be verified as well) but it didn't make it into the game.
We still decided to add the paper cutter to make the desk feel a bit less empty.
Take my comment with a grain of salt. Increasing the amount of feedback is simply one way to make the game more engaging for people with ADHD (I don’t have ADHD myself). They need immediate feedback, which is why it can sometimes be worth emphasizing it
SFX could also work well for more important decisions
Great game!
In fact, our own first game concept was literally the game you have created!
Great game!
In fact, our own first game concept was literally the game you have created!
Thanks a lot !
We also had a game about censoring information to fit a totalitarian governement's narrative in our initial brainstorming actually ! It was one of our favorites
We chose the current concept because it felt overscoped for the both of us though
All 5 star! This was really well put together. I liked having to reference the messages to make sure their messages were legit. I BELIEVE I won.. not entirely sure xD
Thank you so much !
Well, can you trust the fact you've won ?
More seriously, there are three endings in the game, and each has its own newpaper article : if the newspaper says the war is won, it means you sorted at least 75 % of messages correctly and won the game.
Very cool and creative Idea, great job :)
Thanks a lot !
Really nice game!
I enjoyed the gameplay, maybe at some point it was a bit too repetitive but it's probably just because of my ruined attention span hahaha
Pulling the notes & comparing the signatures / fonts / ect. made the game really interesting.
Sadly, I didn't have music at all (but I saw that there WAS music in the credits at the end so idk what happened).
Anyways, amazing submission to the jam!!
Thanks a lot !
We're really glad that you enjoyed the game, although I can see how it can become repetitive - we will add a bit more diversity if we ever decide to expand the game, but we kept it simple for the jam.
For the music, we tried to keep it a bit discreet so the volume isn't very high and we forgot to make it loop so maybe that's why you didn't notice it ? Another comment did say they heard the music so it doesn't seem to be a problem with the export.
Ahhh, it must be the volume because I played another game just before playing yours and I maybe put the volume too low to hear it.
Have a nice day and, if you have some time, please try out my game :)
what a nice, well made game, makes u think and i had to pull out the notes and compare, i even had their signatures memories by the end so i didnt even need the notes lol, the music fit so well (tho it did cut off mid game but still) simple, but executed the idea so well and its a good idea for the theme, i really enjoyed it, well done!!!
ps. that cursive font was really hard to read or maybe it was just me...
Thank you very much !
We weren't sure if the game would actually feel good to play so we're very glad to know you enjoyed it ! =)
It seems we forgot to make the music restart... but I think it fits the "bug fixing" period allowed for the jam so I'm going to fix this this afternoon I think
And yeah, the cursive font might be a bit hard to learn. The problem is we selected fonts according to signatures rather than the contrary, and although we did think it could be hard to read, we decided to keep it with a bigger font size since it is really close to handwriting seen in old letters (even as close as our grandparents - it seemed normal at the time but it feels so hard to read now ?) - but that may have been a bad design choice.