Show HN: A short dystopian game I build last weekend
dreambookgame.comFYI, I try to release something random on the 1st and 15th of every month, this was my latest.
you can see my full list of projects on my twitter: https://twitter.com/lisperati/status/1543003744161484800
The game is maybe a 6.5/10 but the comments made it a solid 10/10 experience for me and put the first smile of the day on my face.
Don’t force me to create an account before seeing what the game is about.
It's a dystopia simulator, it's unrealistic to have usability expectations
It didn’t occur to me that account creation is part of the experience, but if it is you win!
Thanks, this gave me quite a laugh :) I almost fell in the same trap as some in here due to some sudden login anxiety. If only that could've been an alternate ending as well.
Login anxiety ... now there's a first world problem.
I found that when reviewing the alternate endings, I was presented with a button for the alternate ending I'd just picked plus one other, but never the ending I'd actually achieved. I was never able to 'go back' to that original ending.
I figured you already saw that ending and didn't need to see it again- Sorry!
A lot of people have complained about needing to create an account. I kind of agree, although the account creation doesn't require an email address so it's not a big deal. I would suggest, however, that you let people play simply by selecting a username. There's really no need for a password.
thread poster could include a fourth alternative... the "hesitant adopter," left behind when they missed the bus early on and every goodname they wanted was taken while they took the tour of the service. not even the badnamers want them. they're not the type to "go along to get along"
*SPOILERS*
Very funny minigame! Given the responses here, it would be nice to have a "browse as anonymous" button with another ending. Or perhaps an intro screen before the account creation to frame the account creation as part of the game.
But abcabc666 is a badnamer and his advice should likely be ignored.
Some people here are overthinking it for sure, love the execution!
—— Useful advice on security, don’t ever give a username you’d actually use in random websites, just make something up, and obviously use a password generator.
A great day to choose "UnwashedBellyButton" as my username
We should pair up one day! I work on small experiments every Monday, and mess with games occasionally (e.g. this All-hands meeting simulator: https://rafsters.itch.io/all-hands).
We should, send me an email (my HN username @gmail.com)
I'm one of only two known MikeWarot's in the world (I'm sure there are more, not yet known to me)
What an interesting point, though.... the line noise I entered first to avoid actually making an account proved that's a bad idea in this game. ;-)
--Mike-- did ok, though.
Thanks for posting! Gave me a good chuckle at the beginning of my day, and I miss tiny projects that don't need to aspire to be the next big thing.
Although, I'm not sure if the game or some of the comments here is more entertaining...
Good short fun
thanks pizzabearman :)
It really didn't like dildonic. What a shame. xD
Lol
I win!
More imoortantly though, I found a bug: My login does not work!
Try entering it in twice
Ah. Twice not enough, needed trice.
Ooops, off by one error in my code, sorry :)
I used bitwarden to generate a username for me and got the good ending on the first try, phew!
impressive!
Good ending with wtf.
But it says 24% are better... It would be interesting to know how the ranking works.
Here's the core code, if you really want to know:
I think the percentile code doesn't attempt to accurately handle identical scores and will give sloppy results in that case, so even if 24% have the same score it will report 24%
Nice! I had a couple tries and then got the good ending with "zebra"
Did you make the graphics yourself? What do you use?
Procreate on the ipad
I managed to get the good ending with test11111
Can I test it without an account?
Not really. It sort of needs an account for it to work. If you create one you will see what I mean.
Great game.
Suggestion: create a temporary user account for new users which allows them to start the game immediately without creating an account. The 'anonymous' account can then be upgraded to a 'real' account if the user wants to.
Then there would be no game.
it's a dystopian simulator
You're going to think I'm a horrible person who's telling you your baby is ugly. But that's not what I'm trying to do. I'm sure your game is great. Some day I will push past my login-fatigue and log in to start playing.
My constructive criticism... and I'm not trying to be a jerk about this, what little I saw of the game looks pretty cool... but... would you consider not having to sign up for an account before playing. Even if an account is required for the game mechanics, maybe randomly generate a user id and let the user start playing. Then if they like it they can change their username and add a password.
Again. Not trying to be a jerk here. I appreciate the hard work you've put into this thing.
Thanks, no need to be polite, I agree the initial experience sucks, it's kind of required by this particular project. Here is my last weekend project, as you can see it totally is in line with your UI advice: ezbitmap.com
oh yes. that is quite cool.
FYI, I'd love to hear your initial take on the UI for another fun project I'm releasing in the near future (maybe August). It has a bit of a complicated workflow and I'm struggling hard to simplify it and make it comprehendible. If you send me an email at [my HN username]@gmail.com I will send you an early link and your can tear into me how crappy the user experience is if you want :-)
This is a really funny considering the nature of the game.
That would defeat the whole purpose of the game.
Maybe link to an about page. Dropping me straight to a login/create account is off putting. I'm sure it's a fun and interesting game but I want to know something about the content before forking over bits of PII.
Oh wow, this comment is absolutely perfect for this post.
Just so you know, you are technically losing the game right now :)
The game is rigged, but you cannot lose if you do not play.
I mean it could be PII, but it doesn't have to be. Just randomly generate a username/password. If your name is john smith there's no reason why you need to use "jsmith" as your username for every site.
Yes but it requires effort to create an account and remember a password, etc. and there's no incentive to do that without an about page or some other information about the game.
I just made up something. I wasn't intending to come back, but I could always create another one if it was worth it.
Yeah maybe just try JS or even J?
Good points, but I can't respond to your points without creating spoilers
The form is literally the game. All these comments are even better and more meta than the game itself.
They did say it was dystopian…
My hint is stop once you’ve entered anything more PII than your IP address in their server logs.
All these suggestions about removing account requirements prove that Hacker News is the perfect audience for this game.
You might like my previous weekend project instead: ezbitmap.com
That one was a much larger effort.