Not sure if this is a bug, There seems to be some sort of problem at using anything else that is not a sword (carpet, bombs) on the windows version. These buttons are just doing anything.

I started with saying the bugs, because I must insist on the following: The graphics are absolutely gorgeous. A mixture of well detailed character with psychedelic effect. It's very well done. I sense nostalgia from this game.

The game runs very smoothly also which makes it fun to play!

Good job!!

wow this game looks and feels absolutely amazing.

This game is so good that I can;t even remember the theme after playing it.

I'm really digging this art style. I would buy a full version of this game for sure. I ended up stuck after getting the sword, but I really enjoyed what I did play. Great job!

Thanks for the feedback; I've clarified the instructions somewhat and I'll try a Windows playtest tomorrow. The items seem to be working normally, though I found a different gamebreaking error (the carpet produced an inescapable entombment) which is now fixed.

I've added a Web HTML5 version.

A game to my heart's desire! It took me a while to get used to it, which reminded me of playing Metroid for the first time. A little feedback on how many hitpoints I have got left would've been nice. On my first try I got stuck in the sword area, it took me a while to figure out you could stand on the flat flying enemies before getting the freeze gun. You have no idea how many times I died just trying to jump out of there!

I really liked how you could combine all the power-ups as the game progressed – making the carpet carry my bombs and flying around throwing swords everywhere was a lot of fun. I got stuck between the ceiling and the carpet once but that's what the perish button is for, I guess. I might have missed the end screen because I was spamming the X button so much on the final boss battle, but really, amazing game, I love it so much...! The sound effects are really good and the art style is just mindblowing. I don't think music is really necessary, but I'm really looking forward to the cutscenes!

Man, I'm completely in love with the art style. What the hell is your process for that, is it all done by hand? 3d models -> render - > filter? photos?

Anyway, really stylish. I didn't love the physics/collision of the game to be honest. Anyway I'm definitely impressed and inspired by the graphics. I look forward to the updated version of the game.

I want to ask your permission to take your graphics hand in marriage, if I may. I know, I don't look like much. I mean, I don't have a job or a car, but man, I am going to night school. I am going to make something of myself. And I promise I will take such good care of your graphics. I mean they are so... indescribable. (Ahem) I absolutely echo every sentiment everyone has probably already expressed. This was a joy to play. Just to look at all the freaky, fever dream bonanza that is this game, I would not care if I was walking in a straight line getting flipped off by flying monkeys, I would still enjoy every second of it, just based on how it looks. It was also just a bit confusing and frustrating to navigate and saw no connection to the theme.

This kind of surrealism is better appreciated while on sleep deprivation.


This might be the post-gamejam hangover speaking, but I was seriously tripping when playing this game. And I mean it in a good sense. This was a mind-expanding experience, with gorgeous and fluid graphics, where I could barely tell what was that, yet I felt that I could comprehend everything.

It's a simple Metroidvania experience at its finest. The theme is not really apparent to me, but regardless, in my book, a game this good can take any liberties it wants.

In behalf of my team, congratulations on making this game! It's one well worth remembering! :whale:

@instantnoedel Ah, I'm very glad someone finished the game! Sorry about the anti-climax ending; I was working until the deadline and didn't even have time to add a color-cycling effect at the end. So yeah, it just cuts directly to the title. orz

@ahintoflime It's mostly clay... uhh candidly I'm trying not to talk specifically about the technique until I've made some lucre from all the time spent working this stuff out. Sorry!

@dcolgan My graphics are very flattered.

Regarding the physics,
My platformer physics have much room for improvement... though this game is likely doomed to sloppy collisions because the character sprites are not designed for precise movement. At least the wall sticking can be fixed. Wall sticking is my nemesis.

@moski Thanks.
As for the theme... as the player collects more items, additional groups of enemies are added to the level. I admit it's not the most riveting interpretation.
After an unfortunate string of "minimal" themes for Ludum Dare (Minimalism, 10 seconds, You Only Get One) I kind of just started ignoring them, even though LD40's was better than usual.
P.S. I know all about post gamejam hangover.

The art is trippy, surreal, innovative, and gorgeous. Excellent work on that and the atmosphere. The platforming/controls have a little bit of room for improvement but what you accomplished is incredibly impressive. Great work!

I'm impressed by the artwork! Did you make it during the jam? Very well done :-) (Also if you keep hugging a wall, you won't fall. Idk if that's a feature or not)

This game is badass! Favorite thing I've played so far. Driving the carpet around is maddening, but the frustration is probably fine. Graphics, sound, style, etc are great.

The two main problems I had were:
1) when jumping, I sometimes get stuck, mostly on the stairs.
2) when I beat it and got to the end, I was spamming the "x" key and "jump", and I skipped right past the "you win" screen.

@king-kujito The art was made during the jam; this is my 4th platformer for LD in this approximate style so I was able to be pretty efficient this time.
(Also. Wall sticking always gets me. Actually, it's because of that acceleration technique I was promoting on your entry page! I use a boxcast to check if the player is against the wall so I can disable movement in that direction, but this time there's a gap between the character's wall-detection and ground-detection. It just needs to be tweaked a bit but I didn't find the right configuration in time.)

@eric-lathrop Alas there is no ending screen. I only had ~20 minutes left and decided to do the title screen instead. Thanks for completing the game! I didn't know if anyone would play through.

@mase Ah yeah I totally understand :-/ Good luck with the fix :-)

Nice visual! I really love the concept.

I'm confused and my eyes ache. Gave up shortly after getting the sword, but the gameplay was alright and graphics gorgeous. Nice psychodelic trip. Would like to play more, just tired right now. XD
Very nice work.

**Acid trip on H.R.Giger with DOS colors**


I have no idea what most things are on screen. It feels like an alien Egyptian dark world with flying creatures that should be in the dark depths of the ocean. Very weird. I most feel weird. Cool idea. I just would like some reminders of the keys in game since they are only available on the text outside the screen.

This is really awesome looking, congrats on the look. The platforming physics, as stated, need work, and the game was a bit unforgiving for me after getting the carpet and trying to get around the spikes without falling off (but was that a challenge route? I couldn't tell). Really cool entry other than that, outstanding work.

Well holy Molly this has so much content in it :D

I enjoyed the LSD trip, I enjoyed the sounds, I enjoyed the (slightly uncomfortable) controls and I enjoyed the mechanics... I can't believe you worked on this one all by yourself. Great job! :)

Wow, I love the wacky and creepy art style, reminds me of games like The Neverhood. Gameplay-wise the game is interesting and well done. Best Unity-made game I've seen so far on LD40. Congratulations!

aahhh beautiful! too bad i suck at this kind of game, but i persisted quite a while despite dying all the time. it was impossible for me to tell what would kill me (and how soon), so (as others have said) some feedback would be nice. anyway, want to see more of this pretty stuff!

I loved the graphics! Wow. The game played quite nicely too, but I never got beyond jump boots and sword. In particular I felt like I knew what to do if I could get back to the boots area from the sword area but I gave up finding the path. Very nice game.

Well you certainly nailed a cool-looking art style here. The yellow and purple are an excellent use of complementary contrast, and the designs are very solid. Creepy and trippy!

I would often get a little stuck on small bits of geometry though, or would slide off the edge of a platform when I was too close to it, which was frustrating at times. I only managed to get the boots and the sword, then I was lost, even with your instruction on the page. I think I was meant to go west at a certain point, but couldn't manage to jump over a spike.

The sound effects, while minimalistic, are pretty good. And yay for save points. :smile: Nice job!

Thanks for the feedback.
I added a video walkthrough so future players won't get stuck on that spike as much.

I like the graphical style because it creates a really cool vibe, but it also makes navigation somewhat confusing. I also think it contributes to some issues with the player hitting tiny bits of the level that are sticking out. I also couldn't tell how much health I had at a given point. Not sure if that was represented on the player in some way I missed or what, but it would have been nice to have a more obvious HP indicator. Overall fantastic work for the time given. Great job!

Got stuck real soon in the game.... Still I reaaaally love the graphics, and so much content in so little time... is impressive... GG man ! (except that no music is a letdown... :-/ )
Come and check out our game !! https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/40/the-darkest-light

Got stuck after getting the sword. However, it isn't important. Art style is just fantastic and unique! Thumbs up!

I loved the artwork! And it was fun to play, though I got a bit stuck a few times like a lot of people!

Getting some serious SEGA Genesis or MS-DOS game vibes from this. Really cool visual style and pretty fun gameplay.

Unfortunately, I don't think theme is very present in the game but, overall, it's impressive considering the jam limitations!

Nice work :)

Just like Somsnosa, I'm in love with the graphics again. For the most part, the game wasn't too bad, but it would have been nice if there was some sort of indication when getting a power-up what it does, and what button to press to activate it. I wasn't a fan of the B button being the bomb button: for a rather common action, it's placed far apart from the jump and attack. Carpet controls still letting the character walk off the carpet was a little weird, and I'm not too sure I was a fan of it. And the inability to switch from ball rolling to normal standing stance to be able to jump again was annoying.

I enjoyed it, though, for what it was. It's a calming experience.

Stunning, like nothing I've ever seen! Vaguely 60's fantasy art -inspired maybe? I really can't place it

Style-wise this absolutely stands out remarkably amongst every other LD40 entry I've seen so far, if theres any complaint its that while the style is unique, it's sometimes unclear "where the pointy ends are" and death can easily come somewhat suddenly, but just by playing you'll quickly learn.

As for what you said of basically ignoring the theme in an earlier comment, this is one of those cases where it is easily forgiven (especially now that the theme could easily be interpreted to be such a general game-design principle anyways..)

Nice work, and I look forward to seeing more of your work in the future :)