Yeah, it's honestly hard to read even when it's full screen -- we'll try to update the font on the package labels in the next update. The screen scaling issue is a little more complicated with the pixel perfect camera, but we'll get to it eventually!
Adding this comment to say that I think I encountered a bug. I made sure that everything was in order for a package, I applied the correct stamp to it, and yet when I tried to place it in the cargo it wouldn't stay in place, it kept coming back on the side. It either happens immediately, or if I place the package first and then try to change it's position, then I can only place it back to where it was before. And either randomly, by trying too much times or by clickling too fast, the package will just vanish. I think it's for either of the 3 reasons I listed because it only happens right after I encountered the issue of not being able to place it in cargo
Just started playing it because I was looking for some layed back organizing game to keep my mind busy, a game who doesn't require me to be overly focused, but who could help me pass the time in a relaxing way. And this is honestly the one ! I'm playing the endless mode for now, but I'm planning on trying the story mode in the next days, once my attention span and my energy level are a bit better. It's a bit tricky to understand everything at first but I think I'm getting it ! I will happily follow any future update on this gem of a game ! (also, anytime I search for a game to keep my mind busy while I'm tired, I always have YouTube playing in the background. I find it funny that I was rewatching Markiplier's let's play of Papers Please as I found your game X) )
I just have two questions, I want to be sure that I'm getting it right. How does the gilded postage works exactly ? Do I just slap it on a package and it will avoid me to calculate the price of the shipment, or is there something more to it ?
Also, am I on a timer ? While playing the endless mode, I didn't had the impression I was, but I want to make sure. And will I have a timer in story mode ?
Thanks, glad you enjoy playing! The story mode atm is basically just a difficulty ramp, but we're very excited to incorporate actual story threads/questlines into the game (currently planning on releasing those in v1.6).
You're absolutely correct on the gilded postage, it's a free ticket for any package, nothing else to it. There's no timers in either endless or story mode, and we don't plan on adding them -- chill Papers Please is definitely the vibe :)
And thank you for your answer, I really like the absence of timer, for me it's an important key for a chill game, it's easier to appreciate the coziness of it
i think there is a lag somewhere-- my customers don't bring any posts that need shipment and just come to stare into my soul for no reason. everything besides the main dynamic works well
Oh no, unintentional horror game. So you're not getting any packages/letters from the customers at all? Is it possible they're layered under the existing map/book on the desk? Sounds like a bug either way, we can't replicate it on our end so any more info you can give would be great!
tried both web and installed versions of 7-day mode, the "next" button doesn't work and when i press "d" on my keyboard - yes people just keep coming to look at the new postman, no packages at all. but i just tried the new mode on web version - the infinite one, and "next" button works, making packages fall on my desk, so that's great ::)
thank you for getting back to me! this is being ran via the itchio app, and my resolution is 2560 x 1080. I also looked for an option to run it on my smaller monitor which is a standard 1920 x 1080 but was not able to spot that either
It seems like the itch app chooses the old Jam version (we've fixed a few scaling issues since). Could you confirm that you're running the newest build (v1.4)? We'd love to see a screenshot if you're still experiencing the same issue. We really appreciate the bug report!
Can someone explain how the pricing works? I've looked at the help and thought i was following it but apparently not. I have dyscalculia so that's probably part of the problem- Really loving the game even if I keep messing up the fees though lol
That's our bad, the pricing chart really isn't designed well and we'll be updating it in the next build (hopefully) :) The "up to weight (g)" column should be more clear with the ranges: the "10 g" cell should read 0 -10 g, "20 g" should read 10.1 - 20 g, etc. So for example, a package weighing 25 g going to Tator Isles would fall in the row marked "100 g" since it's over 20 g and fits in the "up to 100 g" range, and it'd need $0.50 postage to ship.
Hope that clears things up and thanks for the feedback!
Also, not your fault, but on mac laptops you can't right click while holding down the left mouse button xD A key to rotate packages as well would be nice.
Please let me know if you do make a full post-jam update!!! Would love to play!
A really well made game! Obviously it takes quite a hefty inspiration from Papers please, which isn't really a bad thing.
However the game is a bit overwhelming. In Papers Please, the first few days are VERY lax. literally press yes or no level of ease. Here, being thrown into the middle of everything with pages to read and figuring out things is a bit much. However now that I get the game, it seems like a weird thing to mention. Like, the game isn't that complex and shouldn't be overwhelming at first, but if the player doesn't know anything about the game, it is. For example, the freight screen took me a bit to find, even though it is literally written "press TAB" in the little book and the top .. thing having a little arrow (+ the description), it still took me a while.
The text on some of the packages is also really small. Not too bad but not only the tiny pixels strike against the bigger pixels, it is a bit of an eyestrain on a smaller screen.
But playing around a bit with the game was fun. The removal of the time limit which was in Papers please definitely lends itself more of an "Unpacking" kinda just lay back and relax vibe rather than a "My grandma will fucking die if I dont hurry up" deal. Which isn't bad, but it does render difficulty kinda obsolete, as you can take as long as you like with each package. Or maybe theres a time limit that I missed after Day 1, I do not know.
Thats about it. My only real problem was the learning curve. The first few days could be like first its only letters (weight being the same) and you need to focus on the map and the distances, then all the packages go the same city / village / thing but all packages are different weight, and even then, you have like 2 stamps because all packages above 150g are just denied immediately or something. The game already borrows a lot from Papers please, down to the aesthetic as well, so borrowing the pacing of Papers please wouldn't go badly imo.
Other than that, I personally really like the concept and the game as well!
Thanks for the feedback! You bring up a lot of good points, especially the difficulty scaling/introducing concepts one-by-one. The tiny-text is a by-product of us being stupid and deciding it was a fantastic idea to make our own font. Looking back, I wouldn't recommend. We're hoping to address a bunch of these issues, add some additional mechanics that got chopped, and post a more cleaned-up version outside of the LD submission.
There's no in-game time limit, but rather the constraint was intended to come from having limited shipping space and having to figure out which packages to reject. Definitely needs a better scaling system though, rather than solely relying on rng.
It was super fun to put together, probably because we absolutely love Papers Please. Glory to Arstotzka!
Glad you enjoyed playing, and thanks again for the post
I would love to play this, but when I get to the desk with journal/stamps/weight etc. I can't continue... what am I doing wrong? Next does not work, neither [space] :/
That's odd, we can't seem to replicate the issue. Not sure what you specifically mean by not working -- does it not cycle a new customer/spawn a new package on your end?
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the writing is too small too read when i zoom out because the game is too big for my screen and its really frustrating
Yeah, it's honestly hard to read even when it's full screen -- we'll try to update the font on the package labels in the next update. The screen scaling issue is a little more complicated with the pixel perfect camera, but we'll get to it eventually!
thank you very much
Adding this comment to say that I think I encountered a bug. I made sure that everything was in order for a package, I applied the correct stamp to it, and yet when I tried to place it in the cargo it wouldn't stay in place, it kept coming back on the side. It either happens immediately, or if I place the package first and then try to change it's position, then I can only place it back to where it was before. And either randomly, by trying too much times or by clickling too fast, the package will just vanish. I think it's for either of the 3 reasons I listed because it only happens right after I encountered the issue of not being able to place it in cargo
Thanks for the bug report, yeah the cargo menu gets a little funky sometimes :( we'll check it out!
Great, thank you so much !
Just started playing it because I was looking for some layed back organizing game to keep my mind busy, a game who doesn't require me to be overly focused, but who could help me pass the time in a relaxing way. And this is honestly the one ! I'm playing the endless mode for now, but I'm planning on trying the story mode in the next days, once my attention span and my energy level are a bit better. It's a bit tricky to understand everything at first but I think I'm getting it ! I will happily follow any future update on this gem of a game ! (also, anytime I search for a game to keep my mind busy while I'm tired, I always have YouTube playing in the background. I find it funny that I was rewatching Markiplier's let's play of Papers Please as I found your game X) )
I just have two questions, I want to be sure that I'm getting it right. How does the gilded postage works exactly ? Do I just slap it on a package and it will avoid me to calculate the price of the shipment, or is there something more to it ?
Also, am I on a timer ? While playing the endless mode, I didn't had the impression I was, but I want to make sure. And will I have a timer in story mode ?
Thanks, glad you enjoy playing! The story mode atm is basically just a difficulty ramp, but we're very excited to incorporate actual story threads/questlines into the game (currently planning on releasing those in v1.6).
You're absolutely correct on the gilded postage, it's a free ticket for any package, nothing else to it. There's no timers in either endless or story mode, and we don't plan on adding them -- chill Papers Please is definitely the vibe :)
Can't wait to see the full story then !
And thank you for your answer, I really like the absence of timer, for me it's an important key for a chill game, it's easier to appreciate the coziness of it
Nice, wish there were more challenged honestly haha
Definitely agree, you can expect to see some of those in the next update!
Very fun game! I like sorting so this was pleasant and soothing. Nice atmosphere. Good job :)
i think there is a lag somewhere-- my customers don't bring any posts that need shipment and just come to stare into my soul for no reason. everything besides the main dynamic works well
Oh no, unintentional horror game. So you're not getting any packages/letters from the customers at all? Is it possible they're layered under the existing map/book on the desk? Sounds like a bug either way, we can't replicate it on our end so any more info you can give would be great!
tried both web and installed versions of 7-day mode, the "next" button doesn't work and when i press "d" on my keyboard - yes people just keep coming to look at the new postman, no packages at all. but i just tried the new mode on web version - the infinite one, and "next" button works, making packages fall on my desk, so that's great ::)
Really fun game. Papers, please is way too stressful for me, so I love this. Can't wait for the endless mode :>
This game is awesome! I just wish I could keep playing infinitely after paying the loan :)
Glad you enjoy it! We'll add an endless mode in the next update
absolutely love this game!! its like a chill papers, please but also has its own set of stressors that keep every playthrough interesting
Hello, tried playing this on widescreen and it cuts off the bottom of the game =\ no option to window that i can see. any suggestions?
Is this for the web build or download? and what's your resolution?
thank you for getting back to me! this is being ran via the itchio app, and my resolution is 2560 x 1080. I also looked for an option to run it on my smaller monitor which is a standard 1920 x 1080 but was not able to spot that either
It seems like the itch app chooses the old Jam version (we've fixed a few scaling issues since). Could you confirm that you're running the newest build (v1.4)? We'd love to see a screenshot if you're still experiencing the same issue. We really appreciate the bug report!
Can someone explain how the pricing works? I've looked at the help and thought i was following it but apparently not. I have dyscalculia so that's probably part of the problem-
Really loving the game even if I keep messing up the fees though lol
That's our bad, the pricing chart really isn't designed well and we'll be updating it in the next build (hopefully) :) The "up to weight (g)" column should be more clear with the ranges: the "10 g" cell should read 0 -10 g, "20 g" should read 10.1 - 20 g, etc. So for example, a package weighing 25 g going to Tator Isles would fall in the row marked "100 g" since it's over 20 g and fits in the "up to 100 g" range, and it'd need $0.50 postage to ship.
Hope that clears things up and thanks for the feedback!
Came back for the update, still a great game to plan. Loving the shout-out in the notebook :-D
Nice! Was hoping you'd catch it :D
Came back for the post-jam update... AWESOME! Such a fun, cozy little game :) Glad I could finally beat it after the bug fixes!!
Also, not your fault, but on mac laptops you can't right click while holding down the left mouse button xD A key to rotate packages as well would be nice.
Please let me know if you do make a full post-jam update!!! Would love to play!
Good point, we'll add alt-keys in the post-jam update, thanks for the feedback!
A really well made game! Obviously it takes quite a hefty inspiration from Papers please, which isn't really a bad thing.
However the game is a bit overwhelming. In Papers Please, the first few days are VERY lax. literally press yes or no level of ease. Here, being thrown into the middle of everything with pages to read and figuring out things is a bit much. However now that I get the game, it seems like a weird thing to mention. Like, the game isn't that complex and shouldn't be overwhelming at first, but if the player doesn't know anything about the game, it is. For example, the freight screen took me a bit to find, even though it is literally written "press TAB" in the little book and the top .. thing having a little arrow (+ the description), it still took me a while.
The text on some of the packages is also really small. Not too bad but not only the tiny pixels strike against the bigger pixels, it is a bit of an eyestrain on a smaller screen.
But playing around a bit with the game was fun. The removal of the time limit which was in Papers please definitely lends itself more of an "Unpacking" kinda just lay back and relax vibe rather than a "My grandma will fucking die if I dont hurry up" deal. Which isn't bad, but it does render difficulty kinda obsolete, as you can take as long as you like with each package. Or maybe theres a time limit that I missed after Day 1, I do not know.
Thats about it. My only real problem was the learning curve. The first few days could be like first its only letters (weight being the same) and you need to focus on the map and the distances, then all the packages go the same city / village / thing but all packages are different weight, and even then, you have like 2 stamps because all packages above 150g are just denied immediately or something. The game already borrows a lot from Papers please, down to the aesthetic as well, so borrowing the pacing of Papers please wouldn't go badly imo.
Other than that, I personally really like the concept and the game as well!
Thanks for the feedback! You bring up a lot of good points, especially the difficulty scaling/introducing concepts one-by-one. The tiny-text is a by-product of us being stupid and deciding it was a fantastic idea to make our own font. Looking back, I wouldn't recommend. We're hoping to address a bunch of these issues, add some additional mechanics that got chopped, and post a more cleaned-up version outside of the LD submission.
There's no in-game time limit, but rather the constraint was intended to come from having limited shipping space and having to figure out which packages to reject. Definitely needs a better scaling system though, rather than solely relying on rng.
It was super fun to put together, probably because we absolutely love Papers Please. Glory to Arstotzka!
Glad you enjoyed playing, and thanks again for the post
I would love to play this, but when I get to the desk with journal/stamps/weight etc. I can't continue... what am I doing wrong? Next does not work, neither [space] :/
@Jin9310 Try clicking the "next" button to get a new customer. When the "end day" sign pops up, click that as well to continue.
I understand, but clicking "next" button is not working...
That's odd, we can't seem to replicate the issue. Not sure what you specifically mean by not working -- does it not cycle a new customer/spawn a new package on your end?
I see... it is not working in Chrome browser... just triedd Safari and works there without issue ;)
Weird, glad you got it working!