Nothing is the Key by Dubgron

[raw]
made by Dubgron for Ludum Dare 45 (JAM)

Sokoban & Baba Is You-inspired logic game where Nothing isn't Everything. These 4 (+1 extra hard) levels will test your mental strength and puzzle-solving skills.

The game was made in our in-house game engine Aporia Blitz! It was the first time we used it and we are pleasantly surprised how it works!

Credits:
Programming & Audio – @dubgron / dubgron
Game Design & Graphics – @tebrik / tebrik

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Controls: - Arrows or WSAD - Movement - R - Reset - F1 - Save the game - F2 - Load the save

Ratings

Overall 714th 3.296⭐ 29🧑‍⚖️
Fun 653th 3.148⭐ 29🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 631th 3.093⭐ 29🧑‍⚖️
Theme 601th 3.259⭐ 29🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 881th 2.907⭐ 29🧑‍⚖️
Audio 606th 2.75⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Humor 574th 2.673⭐ 28🧑‍⚖️
Mood 797th 3.037⭐ 29🧑‍⚖️
Given 34🗳️ 4🗨️

Feedback

mrdrakert
07. Oct 2019 · 20:38 UTC
Pretty hard, but cool game.
TJMcDonald
07. Oct 2019 · 21:01 UTC
Really liked this, the puzzles are beyond my mortal keen but I really liked it, good homage to BaBa Is You.
pandan
07. Oct 2019 · 21:19 UTC
gotta love a classic block puzzler, reminds me of Chips Challenge meets Baba is you.
HUGE props for using your own engine.
NachtWitch
08. Oct 2019 · 18:33 UTC
Love the puzzles you came up with, both challenging and interesting, should be made i to a bigger game
BrotherBondProduction
08. Oct 2019 · 18:57 UTC
The puzzles were definitely a challenge but that made it all the more rewarding when I complete one. Bonus points for using your own engine to make this strategic little game. Cheers!
Nathaniel Jensen
08. Oct 2019 · 19:18 UTC
Great Work! Super hard though!
OWC
08. Oct 2019 · 20:00 UTC
It's little bit hard, but I like the idea! Well done!
tic
08. Oct 2019 · 20:10 UTC
I'm missing a DLL to play the game (OpenAL32.dll) Copying it in the directory doesn't seem to solve the problem ?
🎤 Dubgron
08. Oct 2019 · 20:21 UTC
@tic Have you tried to install it from the official source ([https://openal.org/downloads/](https://openal.org/downloads/))?
TaqoShaq
09. Oct 2019 · 01:51 UTC
Impressed that you guys used your own engine!

If you guys further work on this in the future, I would recommend focusing on the communication of the core systems in level 1. When the player spawns in initially, they see a key hole, but no key. Then they see they see two boxes labeled "pink" and "blue" but no indication of how those boxes will help them find a key that supposedly goes in the key hole. Took a while of fussing around (and many resets!) to understand how and why the colors were relevant to the key.

Having the first level completely dedicated to figuring that out would be super helpful, so the player can learn that mechanic without spending a lot of time manipulating the boxes during the trial-and-error stage.

Otherwise, nice work!
Stefanie Leitch
09. Oct 2019 · 01:54 UTC
I'll be honest, I couldn't even finish the first puzzle -- granted I'm terrible at puzzles but it would have been nice if there was something extremely simple to start out with to slowly guide you into the concept. Graphics were nice though, and I like the idea of it!
someone
09. Oct 2019 · 20:06 UTC
Nice socoban game. I had the key appear next to the wall where it was impossible to get out on the first level.
The game could do with a much simpler first level to explain the mechanics.
Savvy Community
10. Oct 2019 · 09:50 UTC
It seems really interesting but I didn't manage to pass the firt level ^^'
I get that difficulty is the point, but I think it could use a easier beginning :) with later a curve in difficulty
But overhall seems pretty cool :)
Gnappuraz
13. Oct 2019 · 15:39 UTC
Omg that is a really nice idea man! well done, I really enjoyed the concept of the game!
DS Nahogara
13. Oct 2019 · 23:37 UTC
It is a very interesting game! sadly i just played the first level as im so bad at puzzle games :smile:, it is a good game, great work! :heart:
Suchista
14. Oct 2019 · 21:54 UTC
Very original idea! There needs to be some kind of progress, like a few easy levels before current first one, because it'salready very hard, and the player must figure out what he has to do. But yeah, great take on the good old Sokoban.