Loose Connection

Well… This game is confusing

The idea to check the phone, then the list, then the switch board is not intuitive (especially with the text-like thing on the switch board), and also not fun, especially with the constant ringing. It doesn't looks like a game, it looks like work.
Also, the fullscreen should be an option and not mandatory.

I do agree that the game is a little confusing. That ringning at the beginning gave me a jump scare, and then I entered a cycle of continuously losing because it said I didn't assign the last call. I think the main thing was pressing the big red button didn't feel natural, especially after at least one other game in this jam simply has the connection being formed when the two nodes are attached, so having the extra step of pressing the red button felt a little out of place. Also, the game seemed to start again after the game over, but the game over text didn't disappear so I had to quit and play again to get rid of it.

However, the actual connecting the nodes, and having to read the paper to figure out which nodes were which, was interesting, I think if you can make it a little more user friendly it'd be alright. Plus the models and lighting gave a nice effect :)

@mr_chocolatesalmon Thanks for your feedback, i think i definitely overscoped and the mechanics arent remotely intuitive. I really couldve done with a tutorial and changes in how the game works more similar to the other phone operator games from the jam.

Okay, I agree a bit with counterintuitive controls about the red button, and the fact that the phone ringing becomes irritating at some point, but I think that those things help complete the theme in the game.

It looks to me like a feature in Stanley Parable, which would meet Papers Please, making a game out of an absurd and pointless routine task. The list that you need to read in order to play is exactly like the manual you need to read at the start of every level in Papers Please, and that's not a bad thing, it adds to the "routine" part of the game! I think that if you would add a little bit of humor in the mix (like probably the operator telling you you're doing it all wrong, overhearing some intimate conversations, table spontaneously catching on fire or simply the light going off, things like that), it would be a solid little game in the mood of Stanley Parable!

The sounds are well done and the game is also very pretty!
Good job overall!

That's a big project done alone for a jam ! Congrats :)

Hello, fellow operator! Some thoughts, in no particular order:

• My favorite thing about this game is the environment design. It really nails the stark military atmosphere, and I always like when you can interact with non-essential items like a coffee mug.
• I got the hang of it very quickly (maybe because my game is similar), but at first, I was a bit thrown off by the fact that the connection only works if the first port mentioned is plugged into the top row and the second port is plugged into the bottom row (as opposed to the reverse: first port in the bottom, second port in the top).
• The game gets pretty easy once you've memorized which ports belong to which departments.
• The game could really use a reticle in the center of the screen. Several times, when I was trying to look at the port list, I had to wiggle my mouse around to find the right spot where I could actually click on it.
• I was amused whenever I was ordered to connect a port to itself.

I also found a few bugs:

• When the phone-ring sound effect is played, the game doesn't seem to check if the sound is already playing. As such, the sound plays over itself more and more times until all the ringing coalesces into a harsh buzzing noise like is sometimes heard when a program freezes. I had to mute my computer to save my ears.
• When you restart the game, the switchboard is not reset to its starting state- the plugs are where you left them on the last playthrough.
• At one point, when I reached what is now my high score, the phone stopped ringing entirely, and I couldn't get any more orders. This happened immediately after I got the same order twice, but I don't know if that has anything to do with it or if it was just a coincidence.

The mood in this game is intense! I really like the dark atmosphere, and the lone ringing telephone. It made the game feel very scary to me, and the disorientation from not quite knowing if I was doing the right thing added to the spookiness. Not sure if this is what you were going for, but it felt like this to me. :) Great atmosphere.

The phone was a bit grating, and I wish the controls were a bit tigher, but overall I really like this!