Jack, Ripper At Night

Made in solo in 48h for the GMTK Jam 2023. The design & code was entirely made during the jam, the art & sounds used are open-source assets.

• I wanted to explore the idea of "reversing roles" within the flow of the game itself, which led me to this board-game-inspired experience where you play two characters at once with conflicting goals, giving you a feeling of "playing against yourself"
• I've written a devlog while making it, it's published in my game design newsletter, check  it out for WIP videos & tons of info on my design choices

I'm going to continue development to improve the game, so all comments & feedbacks are more than welcome!

How to play

• Click & drag cards from your hands to those in the center: if the action verb is available, the effect  is triggered (most often gaining points, moving, flipping or discarding cards)
• Right-click to zoom if needed (sorry this is a last-minute addition!)
• Escape to go back to the menu (there is no save)

Rules

• The cards in your hands are "Actions"
• Each role has a different deck with some cards being rarer than others
• Actions cost time (the hourglass icon): you only have 8 each turn
  • There's a penalty for not using all your available time as the Inspector (see below), but none for the Ripper
• You don't keep cards in your hand for the next turn

• The middle cards are called "Encounters" (Items, people, locations)
  • You can only have 10 encounter cards on the board
  • No card can be moved beyond Scotland Yard or Whitechapel
    • If the action also does something other than moving, you can still execute it
  • Be mindful: some cards have effects that trigger at the end of each turn or when specific events happen

• To "win," you must Muder five innocent victims
• But you have two ways to lose:
  • When Suspicion reaches its max: be careful, it increases by +1 after each night (and through various actions)
  • When Duty drops to zero: warning, at the end of inspector's round, you lose duty equal to the amount of time left (your superiors don't like seeing you slack off, they're looking for a reason to fire you)
• Note: if you hit the max suspicion while performing the fifth murder, you get discovered and still lose of course

• The game can be completed in 10-15 minutes

  
  

  • It is slightly difficult, but even with the known issues listed below it's doable!

Known Bugs

• Sometimes you won't be able to move cards when they should if they're adjacent to Scotland Yard & Whitechapel
• Double-clicking on the 'End turn"  button may skip two turns
• Various visual bugs & animations not popping up

Strategy Tips

(skip this part if you prefer discovering it for yourself).

• As the Ripper, you have more "Explore" cards: use them to increase the options for the Inspector, you don't want to run the risk of drawing a hand he can't play
  • Picking up the paper is also a way to give more option to Inspector
• Evidence & letters have permanent penalties, think ahead of how you'll dispose of them before adding them to the Encounter Line
  • However, Items can also be helpful to have distance between your targets & the cards that give you a penalty for killing next to them
• Protecting a victim can be the right move to gain some duty, even if you can't murder it right after
• Constable cards will accumulate on the line, and your only way to dispose of them is costly, but sometimes you won't have a choice

Credits

• Card illustrations are from the authentic London Illustrated News
• Icon hourglass by karina from Noun Project (CCBY3.0)
• Open game art brush strokes
• Interface Sounds by Kenney
• Sound Effect by KM007_ from Pixabay
• Many Sound Effects from Pixabay
• Color palette https://lospec.com/palette-list/slso8
• "Victorian street lamp" (https://skfb.ly/o9UJS) by pgonarg
• Textures.com 3D SCANNED STREET COBBLESTONE - 1.5X1.5 METERS
• Font 'Im fell english' by Igino Marini http://www.iginomarini.com/
• Font 'saucy jack' from 1001fonts.com
• Font 'tell us pangaia' by junkohanhero.d1293 on Dafont