Inspiration
Honestly I just wanted to make something that made me laugh. I was thinking about courtroom games like Ace Attorney and asked what if the judge was a pumpkin. and what if the whole case was about a pumpkin. and what if every single character was produce. it got out of hand fast and I’m not sorry
What it does
Pumpkin Court puts YOU on trial for first-degree pumpkin neglect 🎃⚖️ you left Sir Reginald Gourdsworth III, a three-time Best in Show champion, unwatered for nine days, and now he’s lying on a fainting couch posting sad selfies about it.
You have to get through questioning from a judge with a candle in his head and Prosecutor Patty Pan without contradicting yourself. if you say you forgot and then later say you were in Ohio, the judge WILL notice and he will roast you for it. you can present evidence (a boarding pass with egg salad on it, a chewed irrigation tube, a suspicious receipt for acorns) and cross-examine a squirrel witness named Nutsworth who is extremely nervous and loves markers. No spoilers, but there’s a twist, and Sir Reginald might not be as innocent as he looks 👀
How I built it
I built it as a web app with React so it runs straight in your browser, no download needed. honestly most of my time went into writing: every answer you pick has its own reaction from the judge, and I kept trying to make each one funnier than the last. the game tracks what you’ve already said so it can catch you lying.
Challenges I ran into
Keeping track of every story you could tell so the contradictions actually work. there are a LOT of ways to lie about a pumpkin making the evidence react differently depending on what you claimed earlier stopping myself from adding more squirrel content. I failed Accomplishments that I’m proud of the judge’s insults. Getting a full mystery with an actual twist into a game about a dehydrated gourd people I showed it to were genuinely laughing out loud, which was the whole goal.
What I learned
Writing branching dialogue is way harder than it looks. every choice means writing like four more responses. I also learned that the line between “game dev” and “standup comedy” is thinner than I thought.
What’s next for Pumpkin Court
More cases! I’m thinking a Thanksgiving turkey custody battle, a snowman who melted under mysterious circumstances, and Gerald the ficus finally getting the justice he deserves. also sound effects for the gavel because right now I’m just doing it with my mouth
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