Don't Go by ubershmekel
Play at https://dontgo.netlify.app/
"Don't Go" is a platformer, where you can't see anything. You have to explore and navigate using your sense of sound. You can hear the walls, the obstacles and monsters. Make sure you have a keyboard and headphones. In this game, the blind are on even footing with the seeing.
For spoilers and hints on how to beat the game, click the spoiler tags below
!> * You have to go right all the time, except when you have to go left a bit to jump over a ledge.
!> * You can hear crumbling rocks on the right audio channel when you're almost falling off a ledge to your right
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!> * When you hear your head bump above you, try to move slowly to the left until you don't hear the bump, then jump and move right at the same time to land on the ledge above you.
!> * The strong wind sounds always mean you should be careful, jump over, or stay away. You might need to get close to them to be able to jump over them. The rock crumbling sound is your safety net.
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!> * The snakes just snarl, I was thinking of maybe making them chase you and kill you, but ran out of time.
!> * If you beat the game, you'll learn how to turn on the visual mode to see the level design.
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!> * There are 4 sections: ledge, the gap (just one hole in the middle), snakes, platforms. The last section of platforms you need to climb to the top and jump. It's basically like the first section, but you need to jump 4 floors, and then just walk to the right in the end.
!> * Each section has a safety wall to its left, you can always walk left at the start of a section and hear the left wall sound, so you can re-orient yourself.
!> * Here's a map
Change log from the end of the 48 hours
Fixed a bug where the landing sound would happen after every time the narrator talks.
Added a build system to reduce from 10MB to 5MB.
Added a bird sound and a small walkway to the start area, so you can learn the controls.
Made the landing sound a piano with an octave depending on how high you are when you land.
| Youtube | https://github.com/ubershmekel/ld47 |
| Youtube | https://dontgo.netlify.app/ |
| Original URL | https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/47/dont-go |
Ratings
| Overall | 114th | 3.795⭐ | 46🧑⚖️ |
| Fun | 252th | 3.398⭐ | 46🧑⚖️ |
| Innovation | 6th | 4.523⭐ | 46🧑⚖️ |
| Theme | 558th | 2.744⭐ | 43🧑⚖️ |
| Audio | 4th | 4.409⭐ | 46🧑⚖️ |
| Humor | 83th | 3.547⭐ | 45🧑⚖️ |
| Mood | 35th | 4.012⭐ | 45🧑⚖️ |
| Given | 43🗳️ | 59🗨️ |
Actually - how far were you able to get?
@simone @rakowu the "stuck in a loop" theme connection is the spawn reset cycle, and the abusive "please stay" relationship with the narrator. There is an end to the game, if you manage to get to the top right, you'll find the final sound event you don't want to miss.
Also for folks that have already gotten frustrated - I've added a clue to the last spoiler - a map image: https://dontgo.netlify.app/assets/tilemaps/platformer.png
I think it would be good if you kept a version up with the 48h build - with bug fixes of course - but adding things like the piano feel like a bit of extra polish that are great but not strictly within the 48h limit. I've seen many people before have an extra link to a 'compo' version and an 'extended'/'improved' version.
Good work and thanks for making this!
I can say with confidence that this could be the most novel experience I have ever ** *seen* ** in a game.
It was hard, especially not knowing that I am even playing a 2D platformer (some crucial info I only got from your map!), or if am making discrete steps / moving analogous (which I still do not know, as I could not finish the "steps" at the end)
So, yes. This is an awesome idea and the voiced hints were actually pretty helpful and non-intrusive.
This is definitley a 5/5 for innovation! (and an awesome experienc, which you should extend if you have the time) :D
**And this was obviously the easy part, I think we can all agree on that:**

The sound being in the left or right ear to indicate direction is great. The voiceovers were really good too. Overall fantastic!
I think the wind sound was a bit loud compared to the ledge sound, so I had to really focus to hear when I was close enough to the first death pit to jump. Other than that the sounds were pretty clear, and it didn't feel like any part of the level was unfair.
Some thoughts after looking at the map after I played: The first ledge that you had to drop down was made clear by the narration, but the second ledge felt just like the death pit before it, and I didn't want to risk dropping down and restarting, so I jumped and probably almost landed on a snake instead. I realise now that the wind sound had to be present to mean there was a death pit, but I didn't understand that while I was playing.
Some of the spoken audio cues seemed quite a lot louder than other sounds, but otherwise I don't have any obvious improvement ideas - great job here :)
And then I realized :laughing:
Nice *visual* effect when falling into a pit!
Great entry!
I haven't *seen* a similar games in LudumDare several years.
This is honestly the most interesting game I've played this from jam so far!
Anyway good job. Very nice entry.
Understanding what each of the sounds meant was really fun, and overall very innovative game.
The theme connection felt very loose. I guess it's mostly just about how you start over when you die? Though that's kind of standard for most games.
Loved playing through this, thanks! :)
After I had had enough, I checked the map and I had a completely different idea of what was happening. I wish you had a cheat button built in that let me see stuff, so I could play around and see what sfx/voice lines happend and when :D
I think the biggest problem for me figuring out where I am was that I wasn't sure when I fell. Maybe it was clear and I assume I was on a platform when I wasn't. Can't be sure :D
Btw, if you make a game where the player/chacater is essentially blind, maybe don't ask the player to draw a map. :D
At least to me it sounds a bit weird. I might be able to draw, but I couldn't read it without seeing it.