Play game
Croaking Flags's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Theme | #20 | 4.221 | 4.667 |
| Originality | #35 | 3.819 | 4.222 |
| Graphics | #45 | 3.618 | 4.000 |
| Overall | #63 | 3.245 | 3.587 |
| Controls | #80 | 2.814 | 3.111 |
| Fun | #82 | 2.714 | 3.000 |
| Audio | #83 | 2.915 | 3.222 |
| Accessibility | #97 | 2.613 | 2.889 |
Ranked from 9 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Godot Version
4.7.2
Theme Interpretation
The player uses the semaphore flag alphabet to communicate.
Wildcards Used
Right Wildcard
The third wildcard (description pending)
Discord Username(s)
@imig_dev
GWJ Participation Level
2, 1
Team Size
2
Generative AI Disclosure
I confirm that this jam entry does not contain any AI-generated content
Leave a comment
Log in with itch.io to leave a comment.
Comments
Very cool signal interpretation! I really liked the painterly art style. Being able to draw on the paper was neat, though I accidentally erased the instructions and had to refresh the page lol
Nice work!
This is one of the more unusual and interesting games I’ve played in the jam. I really wanted to figure it out, and I eventually managed to finish with one incorrect answer!
The semaphore mechanic is genuinely interesting. I don’t think I’ve used this much scratch paper for a game in years.
Once I understood how everything worked, I ended up developing a whole process for decoding the incoming messages, translating them into letters, converting my answers into key combinations, and then transmitting everything back.
I actually created my own reference chart of all 26 letters and their corresponding key combinations. Once I had that, the game became much more manageable, although still pretty time-consuming.
The biggest challenge for me was getting to that point.
I spent roughly 40 minutes just trying to understand the controls and how to construct a response before I felt like I was making any real progress. I eventually figured out that you have to hold combinations of number keys simultaneously until the green circle completes a rotation, release them, and repeat for each letter.
A clearer introduction to that process would make a huge difference.
I also tried using the in-game note-taking system, but drawing the symbols with the mouse was difficult for me, especially since I’m left-handed. I ended up using actual paper to copy each signal, translate it, and then write the corresponding key inputs underneath.
It worked, but it was quite a process!
The other major issue is how unforgiving the game can feel.
After spending several minutes decoding and transmitting a response, getting the entire question wrong because of a single mistake is pretty discouraging. When I missed one, I seriously considered whether I wanted to keep going, knowing I might have to restart the whole sequence.
I’d really like to see a way to replay incoming signals, along with some more forgiving feedback when transmitting answers. Even knowing whether a mistake came from the translation or the input would help players learn without removing the challenge.
Visually, I really like what you’ve done. The artwork has this painted, almost cut-paper storybook quality that gives the whole experience a distinct personality.
The setting and presentation fit the unusual mechanics nicely.
It took me around an hour and a half to finish, and I think a significant part of that was learning how to interact with the game rather than solving the actual questions.
Once I understood it, though, I found the process genuinely engaging.
There’s a really interesting game here. I think making it easier to learn and a little more forgiving would help more players experience what’s good about it without losing the depth that makes it unique.
Really glad I stuck with this one. Nice work!
Thanks for the very detailed feedback, I am glad you continued playing and commented this I will try to take as much as I am able to so I can improve in the future.
Honestly the difficulty is the biggest let down in all of my games and even tho I try to make the games less hard I am scared that making them too simple will take away the core mechanics and/or make them less rewarding. A good example of this is the replayability of the officer's signals. I feel like if I would make it replayable the game would feel cheap and I thought I am countering the difficulty by making the red light flash in advance and by making the game not timed (My initial idea had every action timed, but I eventually thankfully realized how hectic the whole game would be.), I will probably add a game speed slider or an assist setting that allows you to replay the message post jam. I do understand that this part of the game can feel very challenging, but I didn't have time to somehow make it easier.
The note-taking system is janky, but I couldn't think of any other ways of implementing it (Feel free to suggest some!) and I necesarily don't see having to write on real paper is a bad thing, but I see the point you are making.
Tutorials are always something I hate doing and it is visible on most of my games because I always fail to make them understandable miserably. My previous game had a tutorial so bad, most people couldn't understand the game even after going thru it! The input in this game isn't explained at all and I'm so sorry the game took so much of your time (I really thought the one star in the conversion sheet would help, but I was naive to say at least.), this is one of the most important things I want to change after the jam.
Don't get me wrong, the game is hard! Maybe I will make the mistake system trigger on each wrong letter instantly and give the player like 6 mistakes in total, I believe this will make the game much more responsive and maybe even easier.
Thx for the feedback and the kind words, let me know if you think the changes I suggested would make the game better or worse!
I completely understand where you’re coming from with the difficulty. I’ve wrestled with that quite a bit in my own jam games, especially trying to find that balance between making something challenging and making it rewarding.
It’s even harder in a jam because you basically get one chance to introduce players to the mechanics and get them invested.
And I actually agree with your concern about replaying the officers’ signals.
Part of the challenge is observing them, keeping up, and recording what they’re communicating. If players could replay every signal indefinitely, I think you’d lose some of that tension. It also makes sense within the interrogation scenario that the officers aren’t going to patiently repeat everything until you get it right.
One thing I’d clarify about my original feedback is that I didn’t necessarily find the puzzles themselves too difficult. They were time-consuming, and figuring out how to interact with the game took a while, but once I understood the system, everything was manageable. I actually enjoyed having to pull out scratch paper and build my own translation chart.
To me, that’s a sign that the game has engaged the player enough to put in some real effort.
I also thought your conversion sheet worked well. I wouldn’t necessarily change it. The biggest opportunity might be how you introduce players to using it.
What if the first interrogation always started with something simple, like NAME? That’s only four signals to recognize, and it makes sense as the first question an authority would ask.
You could use that first exchange as a sort of guided introduction.
Maybe the four incoming symbols are automatically recorded on the in-game paper, and when the player opens the conversion sheet, those particular symbols are highlighted. Then, when they need to respond, you could briefly demonstrate how holding the corresponding number keys produces a letter.
That way, players experience the entire process once:
After that, you can gradually take away the assistance and let them work independently.
I also wonder if the difficulty could ramp up naturally through the interrogations. Start with a short question, then introduce longer messages and more complicated answers.
If you ever expanded the game to multiple encounters, you could even increase the starting difficulty of each encounter, so players feel like they’re becoming more proficient with the semaphore system.
I think that would preserve the challenge you’re going for while giving players a better opportunity to develop the skills needed to enjoy it.
As for the note-taking system, I really wouldn’t worry about players using actual paper. I thought that was part of the fun!
I wouldn’t necessarily replace it with something more automated, outside of perhaps using it to help teach that first exchange.
The more I think about it, the more I feel like the core mechanics are already in a good place.
I wouldn’t want you to simplify them so much that you lose what makes the game interesting. I think it’s more about helping players get that first successful interaction under their belt, then gradually asking more of them.
There’s a lot of potential here, and I appreciate you being so open to discussing the design!
I think theme wise, this was the best interpretation I've seen so far. I found the game quite challenging and I think it was not my cup of tea, but overall it's a very solid entry and you did a great job
A very cool addition that would make the game more fun would be an in-game note taking mechanic where you could try to draw the arm positions in a piece of paper or something with your mouse to translate them later
Also, I game speed option / difficulty slider would be a very welcome addition for more casual players
The difficulty slider is a great idea, thx for the suggestion. You pointed out an in-game note taking system would be great, so I suppose you missed the fact that there already is one :) You can write on the paper with the explanation (left mouse button to draw, right mouse button to erase). You can see this behaviour on the screenshots and it is even written on the paper itself.
Thanks for the feedback, I will probably add a difficulty slider or something similar in a future update!
The idea is definitely unique, but I don't have a numpad so the game is basically unplayable for me :(
That's a shame, you can still play with unicode number row or whatever it's called, it's just going to be a little bit harder as you don't have a visual representation of the angles like you would on a numpad. Hey but thanks for even trying the game.
I actually did try that, but translating angles into numnbers into actual signals and back was too much for me
Yeah, fair enough.
Absolutely fantastic submission! Art and concept are very unique and really fun!
Not being able to replay the message from the opposing side makes it tough when learning all the controls but is understandable game design wise.
Overall great work!
Thank you so much!!
My favourite entry so far! I absolutely love the art style; it feels so unique and atmospheric. The game can be challenging, but I think that’s part of the experience. Amazing job, well done!
Thank you so much. I do agree that the art style is phenomenal, my teammate did a really great job! Thanks again for the review, I'll rate your submission as soon as I can.
I like the idea of translating the messages with the arm gestures. It is very unique.
Is there a way to replay the message they are sending you? Without that the game becomes almost impossible. I could not get too far because of this
Thanks for the feedback. I recommend drawing the officer's arm positions like lines on the sticky note and then translating them afterward with the translation sheet. I feel like making the message replayable would kind of ruin the game. Maybe I'll make different difficulties after the jam, thank you for suggesting this.