Balance of Judgment（Unbalance）

UNBALANCE

A Tale of Judgement and Choice

"No verdict is ever purely good or purely evil."

You wake after death — not into nothing, but into a courtroom.

An Angel will speak for your mercy. A Demon will write down your darkness. Four memories are opened one by one: a lie, indifference, stolen credit, a wound deliberately given. None of them are simply good or evil — and how you answer will decide where this trial leads.

How "Unbalance" Shapes the Game, and why it's hard.

1. Morality is never a single answer

In each round of judgement, the Angel and Demon offer two opposing readings of the same act. Good and evil are often just two names for the same behavior. Your opening statement shifts your alignment and determines who questions you: lean toward good and a Demon presses the case; lean toward evil and an Angel takes the stand.

After four rounds, the court no longer asks only what you did — it asks what your answers made of you. That leads to one of three final routes:

• Heaven Route — the scale leans toward mercy; the Demon Lord of Motive steps forward
• Hell Route — the scale leans toward darkness; the Archangel of Purity descends
• Balance Route — the scale refuses a single name; Angel and Demon rise together

Each ending delivers a different verdict — none of them a simple label of "good person" or "bad person."

2. Good and evil as tactics, not a moral score

Battles are built around — fragments of your soul's statement: calm, honest, proud, selfish, regretful. Cards are >span class="font-semibold" data-streamdown="strong">Good, Evil, or Neutral:

• Good cards counter Demons — mercy answers dark questioning
• Evil cards counter Angels — sharpness answers harsh scrutiny
• Play up to 3 cards per turn to form one answer; when you submit, the court reads them together as a single testimony

3. Core mechanic: Balance

This is where the title UNBALANCE becomes gameplay:

• Alternate Good and Evil cards within the same turn to build Balance
• At 3 Balance, you trigger a reward: extra draw, Focus, and damage to the questioner
• Pure mercy may protect you, but it can become denial
• Pure darkness may strike hard, but it can become surrender
• Mixed answers are harder to prosecute — and harder to absolve

That tension is the point: truth is rarely convenient.

4. Soul resources under pressure

• Resolve — your ability to keep answering; reach zero and you lose the trial
• Composure — shields Resolve from the next question
• Focus — spent to play Thought Cards; Balance rewards can restore it
• Authority — the questioner's weight; reduce it to zero to end that memory's interrogation

Music, portraits, and battlefield tone shift with faction and enemy — good and evil are felt in every card played and every tilt of the scale.

Flow

1. Prologue — wake in the afterlife courtroom
2. Four memory trials — recall → Angel/Demon commentary → opening statement → card battle → court ruling
3. Final judgement — route reveal based on accumulated alignment, then the final boss
4. Ending and credits

Playtime: roughly 30–60 minutes. Best for players who enjoy narrative, moral ambiguity, and lightweight card combat.

Controls

Input	Action
Left click	Advance dialogue; confirm menu; play cards (click or drag); view piles
W / ↑	Move up in main menu
S / ↓	Move down in main menu
Space / Enter	Advance dialogue; submit answer; end turn; confirm menu; skip ending / credits
1 / 2	Choose opening statement (good / evil framing)
Drag cards	Drag Thought Cards onto the field to play (click-to-select also works)
Esc	Pause; cancel card selection; close pile viewer; skip credits

Battle tips:

• Play up to 3 cards per turn, then Submit Answer or press Space to end your turn
• Good cards are stronger against Demons; Evil cards against Angels
• Alternate Good and Evil within a turn to build Balance; at 3, you gain draw + Focus
• Click Draw / Discard / Deck to inspect those piles

Credits

UNBALANCE — A 48-Hour Game Jam Project

TEAM

Name	Role
Benjamin Zhang	Lead Designer, Programmer, Producer
Zhuoheng Li	Technical Artist, Sound Designer
Lijun Ma	UI Artist
Jason Mai	Programmer, Interactive Designer
Tommy Hu	Programmer, Level Designer
Shirui Li	Narrative Designer
Ryan Materna	Lead Music Composer
Jenny Cheng	Creative Designer, Art Assistant

SPECIAL THANKS

• Our playtesters
• The Game Jam organizers
• Unity Technologies

BUILT WITH

Unity 6 · URP 2D · TextMeshPro

THEME

"No choice is purely good or purely evil."