Thanks! Glad you like it. I have a pretty good idea of how it would look, since I have that portrait card game I'm working on, but I'd be interested in seeing your mockup. No promises, but I'd love to see what you came up with. That's gratifying to hear! Thanks for saying so.
Just reading the AARs from you and others is really fun. I love that there is a sense of progression to it, almost in a roguelike kind of way in that as you learn more of the mechanics you are able to make it further.
Attached is a crappy drawing. I figured if you just brought everything closer together, flipped the decks to make them skinnier, and removed the text in the middle , It would look pretty good, and you could tap a card and it would bring it to the front, a double tap would activate it. Or maybe the cards can still be visible without any extra tapping.
Yes! I actually took a lot of inspiration from roguelikes for the game structure: An "Ascension" mechanic Capability progression that ties into interlocked dynamics Simple-to-grasp game loop, but challenging long-form gameplay Permadeath I'm kind of a roguelike aficionado - I've even written several. Probably the best one I've written is Lone Spelunker - it's a free HTML5 roguelike where you explore underground caverns using ropes, pitons, scuba gear, etc. It generates real-world cave formations and wildlife procedurally into the environment, and even links you to the Wikipedia articles on those features so you can learn more about them when you encounter them in the caves.
Thanks for sharing that. Yes, that's almost exactly what I was envisioning as a potential portrait display. I've already got some nice, smooth-feeling code for that kind of hand display at the bottom that I could cannibalize from that other project I have in the works. You slide left and right to bring a card into the middle, and you slide upwards to play it. It feels really great in the hand. It *is* slower to play than just the tap-tap-tap of Pharaoh, but perhaps not so much that it would be a problem.
New Build Available - Release 9 Edit: There is a known bug in Build 9 regarding some card improvements. A new build (build 10) has been pushed out to TestFlight to address it. I just pushed out a new build of Pharaoh - it should now be available for testing to play testers. Here is a summary of the new features: * Brand new hinting system. * Added tips to the "Game Over" scene. * Made scene transitions a little snappier. * Added recipes to the Almanac entries. * Can now use any type of card with the word "Chamber" in the title - not just a generic chamber - when the Pyramid Plans call for using "a chamber". * Fixed typo on Mason card. * Tapping a card with no action now does not send it to the discard pile. This helps prevent situations where combiner cards are accidentally tapped in the wrong order, ruining the opportunity. It does mean more gridlock on a draw potentially, which can mess with temple strategies, but it will be quite rare, and this is well worth the trade-off in terms of rage-inducing frustration for the player. * Made the spinner behave a little more sanely, and it now gives scrolls whenever you don't spin an ankh. * You can now long-touch on a deck to see a histogram of its cards. * Implemented shake-to-undo to roll back to the last draw. * Swapped "reign" and "coin" on Nile card to match card description. * Added "Den of Thieves" card. * Added a glimmer highlight when there are card combinations available. * Altars now cost what it says they cost. The vast majority of the above changes are directly related to feedback given by my awesome play testers here on TouchArcade (and on Reddit). There has been some fantastic, thoughtful commentary and suggestions, and I've found something of value in just about every play tester's comments. Thank you to all play testers who have taken the time to give the game an honest play through and type up their thoughts! I'm looking forward to hearing what you think about the above new features. (This release does not include all the features I have on my to-do list, so if you were looking forward to a change I said I'd be implementing, it just didn't make it into this build.)
barkingdog- Thanks for your effort on this game! It's something I didn't know I was waiting for. Hope it is a great success so I can see more games like it. The ideas discussed a few posts ago about prophecy cards and a shortening lifespan sound incredible. Barely had any time to play this weekend but did load up the new build. Kicked the tires a bit, tested undo, and the histogram, read the updated card descriptions in the almanac. Not sure I ever would have figured out vizier. Thanks for all that info, it really helps! Not being able to click mummies to remove from hand is troublesome. Goes hand in hand with your earlier statement about the game becoming more difficult as you prepare to move on. New Bug: I had artisan and 3 coins cards in hand, both glimmering, but clicking on artisan did not give me the option to combine, I tried a few times, then clicked on the coin but that spent it as usual. Edit: artisan seems to be broken, also doesn't combine with 2 coin card or jewel. I did successfully combine a mason and sandstone, so that's working.
A bit daunting to get started (you might consider an optional on-screen legend for getting started) but certainly a cool and different idea! The recent translation of Shiren 5 into English has had me thinking about digging the Vita out of mothballs...
That is high praise indeed! Thank you - glad you're enjoying the game! Yeah, I was pretty jazzed about the idea, too. I like the idea of these large mythological events culminating the game as you get deeper in. These sound like straight-up bugs. I made some changes to the way I do card combinations to allow the highlights when you have one available, and it's entirely possible I botched one of those. I'll see if I can get a build out quickly that addresses those. Thanks for posting that! Edit: Yup, I've identified that issue. I've uploaded a new build that fixes it.
New Build Available - Release 10 This build fixes a bug in build 9 that prevented some card improvements.
Wow! You got to the pyramid! Well done. That's by far the hardest construction in the game. Now all you need is to stuff your pyramid with as many mummies and treasures as possible before you go in. You've gotten to the point where you have all the skills and strategy you need to win the game. And thanks for noticing the year! That's about the right time when you should be completing your pyramid, so you were right on track.
vector- if you keep at it I'm sure you'll be able to make it that high. After a certain point it becomes much easier to stop yourself from losing. I tried using the pyramid again at year 63, and failed. Currently have 2 embalmers and 2 artisans working, and I think I may be prepared around year 70. I think this part of the game could use more spice. Would love to see those prophecy cards or something else like them added. The mummies, etc., are definitely starting to clog my deck, and the temple is often blocked from being used due to their presence. I'm starting to think about making a bunch of maidens and using the temple as a place to store mummies and such instead of using it to help combo cards. Maybe in a new game. Queen mummy- as far as I can tell she will never follow me into the afterlife. Is this intended? Not sure why her card has an ability on it.
Yes, I agree that the prophecy cards will add spice and pressure to the late game. I'm working on it! Hopefully, those will make it into the next release. Originally, they would just go to the discard if you tapped on them, but then I made it so that cards with no immediate function don't go to the discard when you tapped them. This was mainly to prevent things like stone blocks from being accidentally dismissed, but it had the side effect of clogging up your hands making the temple hard to use. I thought that might help put some interesting pressure on the player, but I'm hearing that it's just frustrating, so in the next build, I'm going to make it so that mummies and treasures DO go to the discard when you tap them, and see how it feels for everyone. That sounds like a bug. I'm pretty sure I've had the Queen Mummy in the afterlife before, but maybe I introduced a bug somewhere. I'll look into it - this should be fixed in the next release, and if not, let me know. Thanks again for your thoughtfulness and taking the time to let me know what you find! It's really helpful. Edit: I looked into the Queen Mummy not following into the afterlife. I couldn't see any reason why she wouldn't follow you when the other cards do - I handle them all the same way. I did a test, and she came through just fine, so I'm not sure what the issue might be. Are you certain she didn't follow you in? Would you happen to remember where she was when you entered the pyramid (i.e., draw pile, discard pile, temple, or in hand)?
After seeing your reply I think I made a mistake- after making the queen's chamber I didn't get another queen and assumed I couldn't... but I think I used one of the cards that was required to bring the queen into play so I wasn;t actually eligible to get another queen. ... now I have a bunch of cards to add to my deck to see if I can get another queen (I assume I can). Edit: I just added those cards back in and got my queen back. yay! ... for some reason I thought I could only have one queen.
Okay, I feel much better now, because I was at a loss as to what would cause that card to not make it into the afterlife! Yes. You can only have one queen at a time, and you can only have one queen to take with you into the afterlife, but you can have multiple "queen's chambers". (Thematically, you're fleshing out the pageantry and size of the queen's quarters in your necropolis.)
Played until year 73 a few days ago, tried the pyramid and failed again. Decided I need much more preparation, maybe to year 80, and decided to wait for the next build. Barkingdog- I 100% agree with your decision to allow mummies and treasures to be discarded.
New Build Available - Release 12 * Added hints about keeping coins when taking a mulligan with the scarab. * Changed Nile to have effect take place immediately instead of the awkward intermediate step. * Changed the year counter from counting up from 0 to counting down from 80. * Added prophecy cards that damage your years. * You can now die of old age. * Mummies and treasures now go to the discard deck when tapped. * Fixed bug in shake-to-undo that wouldn't update coin count displays
