Just to be clear, this has a different story from Inscryption. It is not a smaller version of it. It is a small game made for an indie jam using the same base. It is not a replacement for Inscryption, nor is it a demake of it. Sacrifices Must Be Made just is.
Sacrifices Must Be Made has good atmosphere, and makes you unsure of exactly what’s going on. I don’t know if being able to turn around would have helped - and I’m glad the designer chose not to add such a feature, since it would have been distracting and overwrought.
A similar problem that I had with another card game on itch.io, is that once you have the mechanics down, and know how to read the board state, you realize that you are smashing your face into a brick wall until the random number generator relents. And of course, seeing a path to victory in more difficult circumstances requires being okay to decent at card games. Fortunately for me, as a child, I played Magic: The Gathering, Yu-Gi-Oh!!, and Duel Masters, and read strategy articles and forum posts.
Other players would not be so fortunate, and the game seems to acquiesce to that frustration in order to get the player to finish the story. Waiting for R.N.G. to be good is a weakness of most card games, but that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be mentioned here, and ignores that other card games alleviate it.
The knife isn’t really effective at helping the player unless he can read the board state accurately, which can be difficult to do, it seems, even in the fully-developed Inscryption. This is because although the weight scale gives off a creepy vibe, which is good for a horror game, it is difficult to tell how much progress a player would have based on weight, or how the game calculates progress. How do you know how much is needed to win? The assumption is that you simply need a certain amount ahead in sum. This of course goes back to most people not being good at card games and the need for the game to let them keep going at the story.
I had few issues on my first run, and quite a few issues on my second run, and I think that comes down to which cards I chose. I don’t know what the designer’s intentions were, if there was supposed to be a right and wrong choice, but it was noticeably easier to beat fight the dude across the table with certain card picks. Because of these card picks, the game was harder, and thus easier to get into a bad position, after which the dude across the table offers the player the knife, which is difficult to figure out when the best time to use it will be, because the player can’t figure out the board state, because the scale is obfuscates the progress towards victory, and the computer player can make any card they want, and it is hard to believe you can win, and I think wanting to give up is a powerful feeling that the game COULD have taken advantage of, but chose not to in order to get players across the finish line, which ultimately leads to a feeling of being stuck, which is a feeling itself could have been used to help the game. Even if you were good at card games, it can be a frustrating position to be in. You can see why the developer added the stalemate check to Inscryption.
Of course, Inscryption also suffers less from some of these weaknesses, because Inscryption has a deeper card pool, alleviating the pressure off of the constrained beast supply in being able to handle any threat the opponent sends you.
I’m choosing to view the abruptness of the ending as an artistic and poetic constraint as opposed to a result of a time restriction or a developer’s shrug. I do this because I believe the game is a little stronger by not telling you “either” “ending” is the “good” one or the “bad” one – as if developers of those games will even tell you which is which, and sometimes will only tell you that a set of them are “bad.” Dwelling on the decision would have been a mistake, and I am glad the game relents.
Inscryption seems to have taken in some of these lessons, and provides a deeper game, so I’ll look into purchasing it when I get a stronger computer.
Hey there! I played both. This game firstly a few months ago, then I played Inscryption a few weeks ago. I'm so happy for you and for this project! This is brilliant!
This game was awesome!!!! And it only succeeded in making me wanna play Inscrytion even more!!!! I just gotta get a better comp to run it first, so it might be a while.
But for now, here is my play through of this game, in case anyone is interested!!!
THANK GOD! I hated inscryption because that ending was just anti-fun. I bought the game thinking I could get good simple runs with endless replayability (act 1). The fact that the whole game (everything after act 1) was a linier "story-mode" rather than it being "run-based" killed it for me. Maybe this earlier build is what I was looking for. I just wish the whole game was just more of the gameplay loop we got in act one. I personally don't play games to feel hurt, I play them because I wanna feel satisfied in my fake accomplishments in a meaningless computer world. Don't get me wrong, I love and respected what it did. . . but that REALLY shouldn't have been "all" that it was if you are going to call it a rogue-like. The game desperately needed post-game content to support having "runs" rather than just "play-throughs".
That being said, I really hope inscryption gets DLC that adds an endless mode WITHOUT checkpoints that causes you to restart from the start after losing (maybe with randomized dungeons and you get to choose which act you wish to theme it off of for how the game plays), but for now, I'll settle for this, for however little extra it may be.
I played the Improved Game Jam, though I didn't notice any differences with the earlier version. I guess it must be more subtle changes like sound or colors?
Il gioco si presenta come un ottimo gioco di carte, dalle meccaniche semplici, ma molto divertenti. L'ambientazione è molto suggestiva, anche se pecca di varietà, solo il fatto che, il giocatore, non può girare la testa, rende dopo un po' la partita "claustrofobica" e purtroppo, ciò va a pesare notevolmente sulla componente horror del gioco. Nonostante ciò "Sacrifices Must Be Made", è un valente titolo, soprattutto per il fatto che è stato sviluppato in 48H e sicuramente ha tutto il mio rispetto, per l'ottima e credo unica, localizzazione in italiano su "itch.io".
I loved this game, so fun and unique and ominous! I actually became really invested in the cards, so at times I almost forgot I was playing against a forest demon and was like "damn, nice move friend! Oh wait..."
I found an interesting glitch; when you beat a level and get to the part where you choose another card, if you press shift+R before choosing a card it will not restart the last level, instead it will send you to the next level without either of the cards that you were supposed to choose. You can do that for both times you get to choose cards, so that means playing the game without beehive/warren or elk/adder, and also no cats for some reason. I don't expect you to fix this or anything, I just thought it was interesting, and it made it more challenging to beat the game.
I can't play this. I downloaded the game onto my MacBook, and when I tried to open it, it said that I don't have permission to open the application. I own the MacBook, I checked the permission settings on it already but it hasn't worked. I looked up the problem and it said either to contact an administrator of the Mac or the owner of the file/folder, which I assume is whoever made it. Is the game just incompatible with the OS version I have? (Big Sur, 11.3.1)
Nevermind! I got it to work using a guide from a different game that had the same problem. Something about going into the terminal and executing a certain file from the package contents
Well then. If I play cards with a man who wants my eyeball and hand, I might as well eat an eyeball and a hand. Anyway this was a really fun game and I really liked when I got to eat a child
What a great game and unique style! We really need to see more of this. I’m a big fan of the ambience and art direction. Gameplay has an addictive quality to it. I like thinking in my games. My only criticism is the lack of any real endings. I don’t need anything fancy, but it would’ve felt more complete. I understand the time crunches that come with game jams, and honestly, the game itself is so good it hardly matters. Very well done!
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man, the baby inscryption. i love daniels games, gotta keep working on them daniel!
*Inscryption Cub
My antivirus quarantined the post-jam Windows version. Is it just me?
It was just me. My antivirus hadn't been updated.
2022-01-14 PST.
Just to be clear, this has a different story from Inscryption. It is not a smaller version of it. It is a small game made for an indie jam using the same base. It is not a replacement for Inscryption, nor is it a demake of it. Sacrifices Must Be Made just is.
Sacrifices Must Be Made has good atmosphere, and makes you unsure of exactly what’s going on. I don’t know if being able to turn around would have helped - and I’m glad the designer chose not to add such a feature, since it would have been distracting and overwrought.
A similar problem that I had with another card game on itch.io, is that once you have the mechanics down, and know how to read the board state, you realize that you are smashing your face into a brick wall until the random number generator relents. And of course, seeing a path to victory in more difficult circumstances requires being okay to decent at card games. Fortunately for me, as a child, I played Magic: The Gathering, Yu-Gi-Oh!!, and Duel Masters, and read strategy articles and forum posts.
Other players would not be so fortunate, and the game seems to acquiesce to that frustration in order to get the player to finish the story. Waiting for R.N.G. to be good is a weakness of most card games, but that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be mentioned here, and ignores that other card games alleviate it.
The knife isn’t really effective at helping the player unless he can read the board state accurately, which can be difficult to do, it seems, even in the fully-developed Inscryption. This is because although the weight scale gives off a creepy vibe, which is good for a horror game, it is difficult to tell how much progress a player would have based on weight, or how the game calculates progress. How do you know how much is needed to win? The assumption is that you simply need a certain amount ahead in sum. This of course goes back to most people not being good at card games and the need for the game to let them keep going at the story.
I had few issues on my first run, and quite a few issues on my second run, and I think that comes down to which cards I chose. I don’t know what the designer’s intentions were, if there was supposed to be a right and wrong choice, but it was noticeably easier to beat fight the dude across the table with certain card picks. Because of these card picks, the game was harder, and thus easier to get into a bad position, after which the dude across the table offers the player the knife, which is difficult to figure out when the best time to use it will be, because the player can’t figure out the board state, because the scale is obfuscates the progress towards victory, and the computer player can make any card they want, and it is hard to believe you can win, and I think wanting to give up is a powerful feeling that the game COULD have taken advantage of, but chose not to in order to get players across the finish line, which ultimately leads to a feeling of being stuck, which is a feeling itself could have been used to help the game. Even if you were good at card games, it can be a frustrating position to be in. You can see why the developer added the stalemate check to Inscryption.
Of course, Inscryption also suffers less from some of these weaknesses, because Inscryption has a deeper card pool, alleviating the pressure off of the constrained beast supply in being able to handle any threat the opponent sends you.
I’m choosing to view the abruptness of the ending as an artistic and poetic constraint as opposed to a result of a time restriction or a developer’s shrug. I do this because I believe the game is a little stronger by not telling you “either” “ending” is the “good” one or the “bad” one – as if developers of those games will even tell you which is which, and sometimes will only tell you that a set of them are “bad.” Dwelling on the decision would have been a mistake, and I am glad the game relents.
Inscryption seems to have taken in some of these lessons, and provides a deeper game, so I’ll look into purchasing it when I get a stronger computer.
so we should download the 'post jam' version for the latest version, right?
The application “Sacrifices Must Be Made (OSX) 2” can’t be opened.
I'm not sure why as it isn't a Security or Permissions issue.
It is coded for Intel however it doesn't appear that Rosetta is pickup up to perform translation.
Daniel, please share with the Mac community a compatible version of Inscryption. I know many people who would purchase it if released in a heartbeat.
k
the ending is so dar
Olds will remember Sacrifices Must Be Made before Inscryption
I do
Can't run it on mac. Says I don't have permission to open it.
Very atmospheric. I would have preferred if Inscryption was entirely this, to be honest.
Try the new expansion Kaycee's Mod. It's the exact thing many of us have been asking for.
Hey, this was really fun
Hey there! I played both. This game firstly a few months ago, then I played Inscryption a few weeks ago. I'm so happy for you and for this project! This is brilliant!
This game was awesome!!!! And it only succeeded in making me wanna play Inscrytion even more!!!! I just gotta get a better comp to run it first, so it might be a while.
But for now, here is my play through of this game, in case anyone is interested!!!
The best game that I have ever played. It started with cards but far beyond that.
Cool idea, nice art, 6.5/10
THANK GOD!
I hated inscryption because that ending was just anti-fun. I bought the game thinking I could get good simple runs with endless replayability (act 1). The fact that the whole game (everything after act 1) was a linier "story-mode" rather than it being "run-based" killed it for me. Maybe this earlier build is what I was looking for. I just wish the whole game was just more of the gameplay loop we got in act one. I personally don't play games to feel hurt, I play them because I wanna feel satisfied in my fake accomplishments in a meaningless computer world. Don't get me wrong, I love and respected what it did. . . but that REALLY shouldn't have been "all" that it was if you are going to call it a rogue-like. The game desperately needed post-game content to support having "runs" rather than just "play-throughs".
That being said, I really hope inscryption gets DLC that adds an endless mode WITHOUT checkpoints that causes you to restart from the start after losing (maybe with randomized dungeons and you get to choose which act you wish to theme it off of for how the game plays), but for now, I'll settle for this, for however little extra it may be.
IS YOUR HEART PREPARED FOR KAYCEE’S MOD
I actually came here from Inscryption, glad I found out about this. It's great!
I absolutely loved this and now I'm have a great time with Inscryption, which is totally my game of the year. I'm a fan boy. Great work!
I played the Improved Game Jam, though I didn't notice any differences with the earlier version. I guess it must be more subtle changes like sound or colors?
It's really great that you're releasing a similar game that is more developped! I really enjoyed this one so I will be looking forward to it.
I like it. Very cool. If you implemented mouse wheel for moving forward and back, you might not even need the keyboard controls.
Il gioco si presenta come un ottimo gioco di carte, dalle meccaniche semplici, ma molto divertenti. L'ambientazione è molto suggestiva, anche se pecca di varietà, solo il fatto che, il giocatore, non può girare la testa, rende dopo un po' la partita "claustrofobica" e purtroppo, ciò va a pesare notevolmente sulla componente horror del gioco. Nonostante ciò "Sacrifices Must Be Made", è un valente titolo, soprattutto per il fatto che è stato sviluppato in 48H e sicuramente ha tutto il mio rispetto, per l'ottima e credo unica, localizzazione in italiano su "itch.io".
oooooh
loved it!
great concept and atmosphere
a shame that you cant see anything past the "lest eat" even if you choose to eat the child and not yourself, but everything bout the game was great!
Great atmosphere, cant wait for the full release!
THIS WAS GREAT! I adore the atmosphere and the cards! I cannot wait for Inscryption, the full release.
I'll play this again from time to time just for the card game. And I was really spooked when it closed.
I loved this game, so fun and unique and ominous! I actually became really invested in the cards, so at times I almost forgot I was playing against a forest demon and was like "damn, nice move friend! Oh wait..."
this game was good but I hope the game comes out soon.
I found an interesting glitch; when you beat a level and get to the part where you choose another card, if you press shift+R before choosing a card it will not restart the last level, instead it will send you to the next level without either of the cards that you were supposed to choose. You can do that for both times you get to choose cards, so that means playing the game without beehive/warren or elk/adder, and also no cats for some reason. I don't expect you to fix this or anything, I just thought it was interesting, and it made it more challenging to beat the game.
I can't play this. I downloaded the game onto my MacBook, and when I tried to open it, it said that I don't have permission to open the application. I own the MacBook, I checked the permission settings on it already but it hasn't worked. I looked up the problem and it said either to contact an administrator of the Mac or the owner of the file/folder, which I assume is whoever made it. Is the game just incompatible with the OS version I have? (Big Sur, 11.3.1)
Nevermind! I got it to work using a guide from a different game that had the same problem. Something about going into the terminal and executing a certain file from the package contents
are there any card games like this?? the card game itself is so fun
so wait, why am i playing a game of death cards with this guy just to go to a length i could go to anyways without being confronted with a knife?
Loved this! Super well done, very creepy atmosphere. Glad we never got to see the baddie...
Wishlisted the full version, incredible atmosphere
This was a fucking awesome experience.
Well then. If I play cards with a man who wants my eyeball and hand, I might as well eat an eyeball and a hand. Anyway this was a really fun game and I really liked when I got to eat a child
How to install this game on Ubuntu 20.04?
What a great game and unique style! We really need to see more of this. I’m a big fan of the ambience and art direction. Gameplay has an addictive quality to it. I like thinking in my games. My only criticism is the lack of any real endings. I don’t need anything fancy, but it would’ve felt more complete. I understand the time crunches that come with game jams, and honestly, the game itself is so good it hardly matters. Very well done!
I really need a full version!