I had a fantastic time evading taxes. Same problem as everyone else but I just switched to the a/b button mode. Love that there's a demon option for us genderless folk
This is such a fun little game - The vibe is pretty much perfect for me, especially how absurd some of the dialog is, and feels like the exact kinda thing the Playdate was made for.
Unfortunately, I was having the same issue as some others regarding the shredder not hiding when re-docking the crank, which kinda ruined the game a bit. Wanting to try and work out if it was just the game or if I had a slightly dodgy Playdate, I did a bit of digging with the input test (settings>system), and turns out, I think it's an issue with the case - the console is noticeably less responsive to the crank being docked/undocked with it on. So if you're having this issue, may be worth testing this out - I now only fail due to my shitty reaction speeds!
Ah yes, people have mentioned that to me before. The magnets in the back of the case seem to interfere with the sensor for reading whether or not the crank is docked. I'll have a look to see if I can incorporate it somewhere in a help section in the game.
hello osuika! i'm a huge fan of this game and i'm really interested in the dialogue mechanic you used where there's different blocks of text that are written in a way that they can all vaguely flow together.
i'm looking into writing a mechanic like this for a class project and i was wondering if you knew the technical term for the system or writing style so i can do more research? it's hard to google, just describing it hasn't been much help, and no one in my school has heard of it haha.
no worries if you prefer to keep your methods to yourself, but i thought it wouldn't hurt to ask!
Hey there! Sorry for late reply- to be honest I'm not sure what the technical term is. I've just been calling it randomly generated dialog, but I've heard others say it's procedurally generally (not sure if that's true or what constitutes as procedural lol).
Basically I just have a list of possible options and I pick one with equal probability. If you download the game and extract the files on your local machine you can actually see how it looks inside story.json.
Let me know if you find the proper term for it, I'd love to know myself too!
thanks so much! i don't have nearly enough knowledge to tell if the system that you have technically counts, but looking up procedurally generated dialogue has yielded similar systems!
Really fun little game. While being limited in scope, the visuals, sound design and dialogues are charming, funny, and just on point. The level of creative absurdity and nonsensicalness of the conversation you are nervously listening in while shredding evidence is wonderful.
Some feedback (to whom it may concern): - Like some already mentioned, the thrill of fiddling around until you finally manage to put the crank away just in time before the lawyer enters is a huge part of the experience playing on real hardware. Just pressing a button, as the latest update allows, makes it way too easy. I think requiring the player to press A or B for at least one second for the shredder to be packed away would maybe help to replicate that feeling of being very exposed while shredding.
- Also mentioned by some already: Saving your own high scores would be great to get a little more time and motivation out of it. (When my friends borrow my playdate they often return to this game, so having each other's high scores to beat would make this feel more complete.)
- Small bug: When I shred fast and then pack the shredder away quickly often the sound of paper shredding goes on, sometimes for one or two seconds, even after the lawyer enters, which is kinda funny but breaks the immersion a bit. Possibly cancelling the shredding sound when the crank is put away would fix this?
- I totally agree that this idea is executed so brilliantly, that an expansion or part two would be very welcome. For its current endless mode with randomly mixed dialogues, some more sentences for variety would be great. But I would also totally buy a full-fetched multilevel story mode version of this. I can imagine lawyers returning every level with new suspicions, interviewing your boss and snooping around, while you try to shred a minimum amount of documents before times up - with extra points for every additional document shredded.
Either way, thanks for this fun, creative little treat!
Hey! Thank you so much for the feedback. Some good stuff in here- I'll tackle it one by one.
- Holding down A/B for a second is a great idea. I think I'll need to add some sort of visual indication to the player (I'm thinking maybe a progress bar at the top that drops over the duration) otherwise they might think the game is lagging/broken. Also, should probably also add a help section in the menu at this point because the controls are getting a bit more complex.
- On the high scores, I was actually waiting for Panic to release the online functionality to the sdk before implementing this, but I've sort of lost hope for it at this point (it sounds like there may be a hardware reason as to why they don't want to release it to all). Anyway, all that is to say that yes- I will add the local high score table in the next update :)
- I've spent an embarrassingly long time trying to fix the paper shredder sound bug- my best guess is that this is an issue in the playdate sdk (there are a few known ones already)
- I would love to add more dialog but unfortunately I'm not all that much of a writer! The current dialog is about the extent of my abilities. The story mode that you mentioned here sounds awesome- but I would need to hire someone to help out here (to anyone reading this- hmu).
I'm going to try and get the high score table and a/b holdown into the next update. Appreciate all the help & the detailed descriptions <3 Lmk if you have any other suggestions/comments
Thank you for your insightful and considerate reply!
Just came back to tell you how hyped I am for Tax Evader 2, the teaser was easily my highlight. I would recommend to post an update here with the video for all who might have missed it.
Also don't be humble about your writing and creativity, in those regards all your games are top notch. Looking forward to see that combined with a little bit more debth, or leveles or challenges or story in Tax Evader 2 (who knows)!
Thanks- that's a good point, I will share it here too. Your ideas around and for a story mode were exactly what inspired me to make a second game- so thank you for all the feedback (and all the kind words :)! There's also some technical challenges (such as the updated A/B mode) that I plan to tackle in 2. If you have any other ideas please let me know
What a great little game :) Thanks for sharing it!
I think I've hit a bug or two in v1.2:
- the dock/undock mode doesn't seem to work (it just stays in the original state)
- in a/b mode the paper shredder does appear/disappear, but the lawyer still always catches me either way (and the paper shredder sounds continue in the background)
Ah, thanks for the heads up! I've fixed the bugs (hopefully) and pushed a new version (v1.2.1) with these fixes included. Please let me know if you still have issues :)
Hey sorry about late reply- I missed your message somehow. To be honest, I'm not sure why its not working on device as its working on my sim. Perhaps I made a mistake with the release again, I will have a look
Hey. Love the game. Any chance of an alternate control method to undocking the crank? Maybe using the d-pad or buttons? I fear I'll end up breaking it otherwise. ;)
This is a go to game for fun! I get crazy frantic trying to put the crank away before that door opens! ha ha this is fun, and I'm glad I paid for this one! ok now the big question, tax evader 2! ha ha!
One of the highlights of my first few days with the Playdate, simple idea executed so well, very fun and very funny - manically taking the crank out and putting it away again as a gameplay element works wonderfully, good stuff! :)
Created an account to say that this is the best thing I've seen on Playdate. Legit hilarious and great use of the crank. Can't believe you haven't tested this on the actual hardware - the mechanics are spot on. Great work!
Thank you! Great to know everything is working well on device (I had to test the crank through the simulator by making big circular motions on my trackpad.. afterwards it would feel like I had developed carpal tunnel)
Just wanted to mirror some of the responses in here and say what a genuinely fun little game this is! I got my Playdate today and it works fantastically on the actual hardware (absolutely agree with another comment saying it felt like a horror game trying to predict when the lawyer’s gonna burst in,) it’s really quite funny and tense. In the best possible way, it feels like it’d fit in perfectly as an extended minigame in Warioware.
Really hope you continue making stuff for Playdate!
(also what did you use to make the art? Looks super crisp on the Playdate screen!)
Thank you! I actually watched some compilations of warioware minigames before I started working on the game to try and find an idea. Something definitely seeped into my subconscious! 😁
I used pixaki (ipad app) to create the art. I can't wait to get my own PD so that I can see that sharp display in flesh.
So simple and so good! Only feedback would be the image size in the launcher (it's noticeably less wide than the rest of the games' on the launcher). Love the artwork!
Thanks srafey :) I have updated the launcher image to fix the size, the fix will be coming in the next update (in a few days). Appreciate the kind words <3
Excellent! (only tried in the simulator, and I feel it's a bit too easy there).
Some of the player's responses don't seem to fit what the Lawyer is saying. Several times the response was "Nothing much" when the lawyer just said things like "hi".
A few typos:
"bafore" -> "before "accidentially" -> "accidentally" "I was going to say I dont care" -> "don't" "lunch and i'm craving" -> "I'm" "Don't implecate yourself" -> "implicate"
Fun, funny, awesome, game to play when you have a couple minutes at a time to spare! The most difficult part is keeping the Playdate stable enough to read the dialog (to figure out when the lawyer is going to barge in) while spinning that crank! Definitely recommended!
Really enjoyed this! Feels great playing it on the actual hardware. Very tense and almost horror like when you're waiting for the lawyer to barge in. I thought the writing was really well done and funny!
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I had a fantastic time evading taxes. Same problem as everyone else but I just switched to the a/b button mode. Love that there's a demon option for us genderless folk
Great use of the crank in a game mechanic, one of my favorite experiences on playdate so far.
TL:DR - TRY TAKING THE CASE OFF(?)
This is such a fun little game - The vibe is pretty much perfect for me, especially how absurd some of the dialog is, and feels like the exact kinda thing the Playdate was made for.
Unfortunately, I was having the same issue as some others regarding the shredder not hiding when re-docking the crank, which kinda ruined the game a bit. Wanting to try and work out if it was just the game or if I had a slightly dodgy Playdate, I did a bit of digging with the input test (settings>system), and turns out, I think it's an issue with the case - the console is noticeably less responsive to the crank being docked/undocked with it on. So if you're having this issue, may be worth testing this out - I now only fail due to my shitty reaction speeds!
Ah yes, people have mentioned that to me before. The magnets in the back of the case seem to interfere with the sensor for reading whether or not the crank is docked. I'll have a look to see if I can incorporate it somewhere in a help section in the game.
hello osuika! i'm a huge fan of this game and i'm really interested in the dialogue mechanic you used where there's different blocks of text that are written in a way that they can all vaguely flow together.
i'm looking into writing a mechanic like this for a class project and i was wondering if you knew the technical term for the system or writing style so i can do more research? it's hard to google, just describing it hasn't been much help, and no one in my school has heard of it haha.
no worries if you prefer to keep your methods to yourself, but i thought it wouldn't hurt to ask!
Hey there! Sorry for late reply- to be honest I'm not sure what the technical term is. I've just been calling it randomly generated dialog, but I've heard others say it's procedurally generally (not sure if that's true or what constitutes as procedural lol).
Basically I just have a list of possible options and I pick one with equal probability. If you download the game and extract the files on your local machine you can actually see how it looks inside story.json.
Let me know if you find the proper term for it, I'd love to know myself too!
thanks so much! i don't have nearly enough knowledge to tell if the system that you have technically counts, but looking up procedurally generated dialogue has yielded similar systems!
Really fun little game. While being limited in scope, the visuals, sound design and dialogues are charming, funny, and just on point. The level of creative absurdity and nonsensicalness of the conversation you are nervously listening in while shredding evidence is wonderful.
Some feedback (to whom it may concern):
- Like some already mentioned, the thrill of fiddling around until you finally manage to put the crank away just in time before the lawyer enters is a huge part of the experience playing on real hardware. Just pressing a button, as the latest update allows, makes it way too easy. I think requiring the player to press A or B for at least one second for the shredder to be packed away would maybe help to replicate that feeling of being very exposed while shredding.
- Also mentioned by some already: Saving your own high scores would be great to get a little more time and motivation out of it. (When my friends borrow my playdate they often return to this game, so having each other's high scores to beat would make this feel more complete.)
- Small bug: When I shred fast and then pack the shredder away quickly often the sound of paper shredding goes on, sometimes for one or two seconds, even after the lawyer enters, which is kinda funny but breaks the immersion a bit. Possibly cancelling the shredding sound when the crank is put away would fix this?
- I totally agree that this idea is executed so brilliantly, that an expansion or part two would be very welcome. For its current endless mode with randomly mixed dialogues, some more sentences for variety would be great. But I would also totally buy a full-fetched multilevel story mode version of this. I can imagine lawyers returning every level with new suspicions, interviewing your boss and snooping around, while you try to shred a minimum amount of documents before times up - with extra points for every additional document shredded.
Either way, thanks for this fun, creative little treat!
Hey! Thank you so much for the feedback. Some good stuff in here- I'll tackle it one by one.
- Holding down A/B for a second is a great idea. I think I'll need to add some sort of visual indication to the player (I'm thinking maybe a progress bar at the top that drops over the duration) otherwise they might think the game is lagging/broken. Also, should probably also add a help section in the menu at this point because the controls are getting a bit more complex.
- On the high scores, I was actually waiting for Panic to release the online functionality to the sdk before implementing this, but I've sort of lost hope for it at this point (it sounds like there may be a hardware reason as to why they don't want to release it to all). Anyway, all that is to say that yes- I will add the local high score table in the next update :)
- I've spent an embarrassingly long time trying to fix the paper shredder sound bug- my best guess is that this is an issue in the playdate sdk (there are a few known ones already)
- I would love to add more dialog but unfortunately I'm not all that much of a writer! The current dialog is about the extent of my abilities. The story mode that you mentioned here sounds awesome- but I would need to hire someone to help out here (to anyone reading this- hmu).
I'm going to try and get the high score table and a/b holdown into the next update. Appreciate all the help & the detailed descriptions <3 Lmk if you have any other suggestions/comments
Thank you for your insightful and considerate reply!
Just came back to tell you how hyped I am for Tax Evader 2, the teaser was easily my highlight. I would recommend to post an update here with the video for all who might have missed it.
Also don't be humble about your writing and creativity, in those regards all your games are top notch. Looking forward to see that combined with a little bit more debth, or leveles or challenges or story in Tax Evader 2 (who knows)!
Thanks- that's a good point, I will share it here too. Your ideas around and for a story mode were exactly what inspired me to make a second game- so thank you for all the feedback (and all the kind words :)! There's also some technical challenges (such as the updated A/B mode) that I plan to tackle in 2. If you have any other ideas please let me know
What a great little game :) Thanks for sharing it!
I think I've hit a bug or two in v1.2:
- the dock/undock mode doesn't seem to work (it just stays in the original state)
- in a/b mode the paper shredder does appear/disappear, but the lawyer still always catches me either way (and the paper shredder sounds continue in the background)
Ah, thanks for the heads up! I've fixed the bugs (hopefully) and pushed a new version (v1.2.1) with these fixes included. Please let me know if you still have issues :)
I have the exact same issue with the lawyer always catching me even on 1.2.1
Hey sorry about late reply- I missed your message somehow. To be honest, I'm not sure why its not working on device as its working on my sim. Perhaps I made a mistake with the release again, I will have a look
Thanks!
Did you have the chance to look at this?
Love the game design and the crank interaction! Good work 😊
Thanks! <3
Hey. Love the game. Any chance of an alternate control method to undocking the crank? Maybe using the d-pad or buttons? I fear I'll end up breaking it otherwise. ;)
Great idea- someone also mentioned this to me before but I forgot. I'll work on getting it added to the next update :)
Thanks!
This is a go to game for fun! I get crazy frantic trying to put the crank away before that door opens! ha ha this is fun, and I'm glad I paid for this one! ok now the big question, tax evader 2! ha ha!
Thanks for the fun!
Thank you for the kind words and donation :) I'm really glad you enjoyed the game
"tax evader 2" 👀👀👀
This is a simple idea executed brilliantly. Incredibly fun and funny. A must-have for any new Playdate owner!
One of my favorite games on the playdate! Would love to see a highscore feature in a update!
keep up the good work, its so much fun :)
One of the highlights of my first few days with the Playdate, simple idea executed so well, very fun and very funny - manically taking the crank out and putting it away again as a gameplay element works wonderfully, good stuff! :)
one of the best games on play date
Created an account to say that this is the best thing I've seen on Playdate. Legit hilarious and great use of the crank. Can't believe you haven't tested this on the actual hardware - the mechanics are spot on. Great work!
Thank you! Great to know everything is working well on device (I had to test the crank through the simulator by making big circular motions on my trackpad.. afterwards it would feel like I had developed carpal tunnel)
Love this so far, and it's a great "hand to a friend to show them the crank" game as well
Just wanted to mirror some of the responses in here and say what a genuinely fun little game this is! I got my Playdate today and it works fantastically on the actual hardware (absolutely agree with another comment saying it felt like a horror game trying to predict when the lawyer’s gonna burst in,) it’s really quite funny and tense. In the best possible way, it feels like it’d fit in perfectly as an extended minigame in Warioware.
Really hope you continue making stuff for Playdate!
(also what did you use to make the art? Looks super crisp on the Playdate screen!)
Thank you! I actually watched some compilations of warioware minigames before I started working on the game to try and find an idea. Something definitely seeped into my subconscious! 😁
I used pixaki (ipad app) to create the art. I can't wait to get my own PD so that I can see that sharp display in flesh.
So simple and so good! Only feedback would be the image size in the launcher (it's noticeably less wide than the rest of the games' on the launcher). Love the artwork!
Thanks srafey :) I have updated the launcher image to fix the size, the fix will be coming in the next update (in a few days). Appreciate the kind words <3
My record is 41. The frantic rush to line the handle into the slot is really immersive lol
Excellent! (only tried in the simulator, and I feel it's a bit too easy there).
Some of the player's responses don't seem to fit what the Lawyer is saying. Several times the response was "Nothing much" when the lawyer just said things like "hi".
A few typos:
"bafore" -> "before
"accidentially" -> "accidentally"
"I was going to say I dont care" -> "don't"
"lunch and i'm craving" -> "I'm"
"Don't implecate yourself" -> "implicate"
Thank you! Yes the dialog is randomly generated, I am still trying to tune it to make it more coherant 😅
I think it can be done by separating "what are you doing? / what's going on" questions, and greetings.
Ah, great idea!
Looking at the script, I've marked up some missing punctuation here, if you're interested:
https://gist.github.com/salty-horse/bfc85ef0c6c3020d22078996d0030f77
Thanks man, much appreciated :) I would open source the game but since it's my first time using lua the code is pretty atrocious. Thanks for the gist!
Got another one from the trailer :)
"lets get this over with" -> "let's"
In this video (@1:35), the text "from last year" overflows the box
Fun, funny, awesome, game to play when you have a couple minutes at a time to spare! The most difficult part is keeping the Playdate stable enough to read the dialog (to figure out when the lawyer is going to barge in) while spinning that crank! Definitely recommended!
Haha so surreal watching someone else play my game. Thanks for the vid!
Also, I need to tweak some of the options, thats why some of the random text makes no sense :D
Creativity level is fantastic!
Thank you! <3
lmao this is too funny
aha thanks (to be honest I was just too lazy to write stuff myself so I added the randomness as an afterthought)
I hope you get motivated to write more fun games.It could pay off as you already have the skills.
Definitely! This was actually just a small game I created to learn playdate sdk/lua, so I plan to make more after this :) Appreciate the kind words