Another face-rocking prototype is ready for your consideration, my submission to the ChangeTheGameJam 2014. Click the image up there to play.
This prototype takes things in a completely different direction. While the previous two focused on the growth of society and borrowed mechanics from Cookie Clicker, this one borrows mechanics from Pac-Man and is all about the politics.
I heard somewhere that congressmen spend 70% of their time fund-raising for their next election, and naturally base their law-making on what will help them raise funds. I tried to create a game that put you in that same position.
While running around trying to gobble-up voters, you can also use your campaign funds to help attract them in. Some voters will donate money to your campaign once you gobble them, and how much they give depends on how wealthy they are. So of course i makes sense to hunt down the largest donors.
Occasionally a new law will spawn in the center of the arena. If you claim the law, the voters will either like you more or less, depending on how they feel about it.
But what does this mean for Hats and Jems?
Honestly I’m not sure. This new prototype isn’t quite compatible with the previous, as the mechanics are so different. And though it takes mechanics from one of the most well-known games ever, it’s probably less accessible to the target audience.
Due to the nature of mobile, games you can play passively are much more successful, whether this be a clicker, a match-3, or a casino game (which combined account for over half of the top-100 grossing games on iOS).
Also a more passive game allows the player to think more, reacting less, and maybe that’s to our advantage.
Anyway, I could draw my own conclusion of course, but what do YOU think?
Great review!