Background

This game was made for Global Game Jam 2024, where the theme was "make me laugh".

Story

Your standup comedy career has brought you to a new planet, where the inhabitants speak a language you have never heard. However, you are passionate about giving the gift of comedy to all sentient creatures, and so you must learn their tongue in order to deliver laughter to this unfamiliar part of the galaxy.

How to Play

When the game starts, there will be several aliens nearby. Approach them using the directional arrows, and they will speak to you when you get close enough. The aliens, being native speakers, will provide you with valid sentences. Use their examples to puzzle out how to speak the language. Each valid sentence you hear will be added to your notebook. When you are ready to try your standup routine, press and hold the X button (X on the keyboard) to switch to Showtime! Use your assumptions about the alien grammar to create valid sequences of characters. If your sequence is valid, the aliens will laugh! If it is invalid, they will respond with "...". Try to make them laugh as many times as possible to increase your score!

Controls

Exploration mode

Arrow keys - move around

O button (Z on the keyboard) - check your notebook

X button (X on the keyboard) - hold to start showtime!

Showtime mode

Left or right arrow keys - move cursor

Up or down arrow keys - choose a character

O button (Z on the keyboard) - check your notebook

X Button (X on the keyboard) - test your joke on the audience

Scoring

For each character in a valid sequence, you'll get 5 points. You can use the same sequence more than once, but the aliens will be less impressed the second time and you'll only get 1 point. Showtime mode lasts a maximum of 60 seconds, so try to make as many valid jokes as you can before time runs out.

Hints

- All of the aliens will be dancing, but some will be dancing faster than others. The faster dancers have longer hints to give you.

- Each hint you get from the aliens will decrease the amount of time you'll have for Showtime, so only chat with as many aliens as you think you need to figure out the grammar.

- Exploration mode has no time limit! So take your time, and make notes.

- You can use the exact hints the aliens use as jokes if you want to get some easy points :)