Treasure Hook by Monado

[raw]
made by Monado for Ludum Dare 58 (JAM)

(As pointed out by a comment, the LD web version of the game gets cut off. Its recommended to play the itch.io version in fullscreen, linked below) (There is a known bug where the maze will generate and block off a section by generating on top of it. There was not enough time in the jam to get this patched out. Doesn't always happen though.)


Controls:

A/D: Move Horizontally

Q/E: Aim diagonally

W: Aim up

Space: Jump, enter swing mode (being pulled)

Left Click: Punch/Cancel Pull

Right Click: Launch Hook

Right Click (hold): Charge Hook


It's rumored that at the end of the labyrinth is a giant diamond... Who knows what that thing is worth. Many have tried to find it, and many have failed, but none of them have tried using a... Grappling Hook?

They say no two people have the same experience inside of the maze...

This is a 2D platformer about exploring and collecting treasure!

It's rumored that at the end of the labyrinth is a giant diamond... Who knows what that thing is worth. Many have tried to find it, and many have failed, but none of them have tried using a... Grappling Hook?

They say no two people have the same experience inside of the maze...

This is a 2D platformer about exploring and collecting treasure!


image<em>2025-10-06</em>165625852.png Explore the maze!

image<em>2025-10-06</em>165634446.png Discover both treasures and monsters!

image<em>2025-10-06</em>165640774.png Swing around with a laser grappling hook!

image<em>2025-10-06</em>165647500.png Watch out for traps!

image<em>2025-10-06</em>165657246.png

image<em>2025-10-06</em>165703077.png image<em>2025-10-06</em>165711507.png image<em>2025-10-06</em>165727291.png By stopping the grappling hook from pulling you all of the way, you can swing!

Ratings

Given 17🗳️ 11🗨️

Feedback

Trusty
Oct 07th · 15:47 UTC
Had fun with this one. The swinging mechanics are nice. Thanks for the game
LDJam user 236256
Oct 07th · 15:47 UTC
FYI The version on the jam page is cut off on the sides, the itch page one gives the full screen though.
kristinamay
Oct 07th · 15:49 UTC
![Screenshot 2025-10-07 at 11.49.15 AM.png](///raw/2d1/f1/z/6ea94.png)

In the second screen I managed to immediately grapple myself into the wall and get stuck there forever :laughing:
Millie
Oct 07th · 15:51 UTC
This game is great! I really enjoyed playing it :)
PaDo
Oct 07th · 15:52 UTC
The game looks nice and stylish, but I didn't quite figure out how the grappling hook worked, so I got stuck on the green trampoline area.

I would be glad if you play our game.
🎤 Monado
Oct 07th · 15:52 UTC
@kristinamay somehow in all of my testing I never managed to replicate that 😆

@trusty @millie Thank you!
Ian - Marius Postica
Oct 07th · 15:56 UTC
A simple little and elegant game )
vydra
Oct 07th · 15:57 UTC
My HP bar flyaway from left border of screen. But may be it is okey. Nice mood in game but aiming with qwe is hard. (skill issue)
🎤 Monado
Oct 07th · 16:16 UTC
@vydra Curious what you mean by the HP bar flying away. The aiming can be tough to learn for sure
kazetheroth
Oct 07th · 17:50 UTC
I absolutely love the vibe of the game! The 2D sprites look great, and the gameplay feels very intuitive. Bonus points for the map — it really gives off a nice Metroidvania-style touch!

It’s a shame I’m terrible at platformers, otherwise I would’ve gone much further. 😄
🎤 Monado
Oct 07th · 18:01 UTC
@kazetheroth Thank you! I will admit it can be a bit difficult at times but I'm happy to hear you gave it a shot!
vydra
Oct 07th · 18:15 UTC
@monado this is how i see game: ![Screenshot_20251008_001449.png](///raw/492/e4/z/6eb84.png)
🎤 Monado
Oct 07th · 18:22 UTC
@vydra I recommend playing the itch.io version and going fullscreen, the UI didnt scale correctly when shrunk on a browser
vydra
Oct 07th · 18:25 UTC
Okey. Thanks for the tip.
raysplaceinspace
Oct 08th · 00:52 UTC
I love the graphics, the main character is well drawn and animated and that really sells the game. Having three sets of controls makes it difficult to control though. If jumping is spacebar, then I normally want to press that with my right hand, but my right hand was on the mouse. I think you could do left hand controlling the character, right hand controlling the grapple. So W would jump. Maybe left click would still punch but right click would launch the grapple at whatever your mouse cursor is pointing at. Great idea though!
🎤 Monado
Oct 08th · 04:35 UTC
@raysplaceinspace I had thought about having the aiming with the mouse, but wanted a sort of challenging mechanic that is reminiscent of having to use buttons to control aiming like in some SNES games, but translated into that to something that mimics the layout of a modern PC game (hence having you use the left hand for WASD, QE and space, while the right hand is on the mouse). Thank you for playing!
Surfa
Oct 08th · 21:12 UTC
Really liked the game. Music was great, main character sprites was really nice along with the enemies. Although didn't realize the green mushrooms were enemies at first so took some damage. Difficulty was good, not too hard which is nice in a jam game.

Also was surprised at the amount of content it just kept going. Always love a grapple hook as well. Although found a little later that you can sort of spam it to make some of the platforming a bit too easy. Great job especially for a solo game. :thumbsup:
🎤 Monado
Oct 08th · 21:51 UTC
@surfa thank you! Funny thing is the mushrooms are bugged in most rooms where they spawn where they get stuck in the ground and don't move, when really they're programmed to jump around back and forth

![shrooms.gif](///raw/3dd/22/z/6f043.gif)

sometimes they'll spawn as normal though
naru
Oct 08th · 23:08 UTC
Good game design and very well polished player movement!
GullynGames
Oct 09th · 02:22 UTC
Good job on the game! It's really cool how you were able to implement the procedurally generated map. Your graphics and audio are also really nice. Like some of the people above, I think the controls for the grappling hook could've been made easier - maybe by making the mouse both aim and shoot, rather than having to use the keyboard for moving and aiming and the mouse to shoot. Sometimes I would get stuck in a hole and have to spend a minute or two getting out because I kept falling back down. At the same time, though, it felt like the grappling hook wasn't as important to the game as the name suggests; I could get through most of the map by just jumping.

I think the map could also have been smaller - I feel like I would often go through several "rooms" without encountering an enemy or any new features. For games with a short development time, like Ludum Dare, I've found in the past it's difficult to make procedurally generated games that have a lot of depth to them, and it's usually better to focus on crafting a smaller, but manually designed map (this also allows you to playtest and ramp up the difficulty curve as the player goes along, with more control than a randomly generated map).

Overall, great job, it's a really cute game you made! I really like the animations you made, especially for the player. I know how difficult it is to make animations (I'm personally terrible at making them!) but you made them feel really smooth.
Eugenik
Oct 09th · 02:52 UTC
Nice music and idea!.
🎤 Monado
Oct 09th · 03:20 UTC
@eugenik @naru thank you!

@gullyngames Thank you! I think it might have just been some bad luck when it came to the seed you got, that is partially on me though. I didn't realize how big some of the layouts could get when I was testing, and came to realize I accidentally made it so the map could branch off in many more ways than I would have liked. Most of the seeds I've played have been pretty decent in length (in my opinion of course), but post-jam testing I've realized just how big they can get and didn't see that when testing. Im guessing you got one of the unlucky large maps

That being said, thank you for the kind words!
MikhailNe
Oct 09th · 06:24 UTC
A nice little game. I really liked the coin drop and character landing effects.
However, I still didn't understand what the coins were for or where to get the key. I also had a glitch with the rope swing, which caused me to get stuck in a swinging position.
🎤 Monado
Oct 09th · 06:31 UTC
@mikhailne thank you for playing! The coins are more or less to get a higher score, there isn't really a point to them other than the satisfaction of getting them. I didn't see any bugs with the rope swing which is unfortunate since you seemed to experience an issue with it, did you try cancelling the swing or jumping out of it at all?
MikhailNe
Oct 09th · 07:02 UTC
@monado Yes, I could even use the hook while swinging, and the rope was invisible. But I just restarted the game. Unfortunately, I don't know how it happened. It was in the bottom-left room, maybe after the attack animation and jump immediately after, or because I spammed the jump and hook, or maybe because I hooked while falling.
🎤 Monado
Oct 09th · 07:11 UTC
@mikhailne interesting, I'll have to investigate that if I do a post-jam build. Thank you for bringing that to my attention!
Kupnu4
Oct 09th · 13:36 UTC
Really liked the visuals, and the whole hook mechanic - feels fun. Characters are nicely done too. Controls and aiming is a bit tricky though. Definately needs practicing. Overall it’s a cool experience! Thank you!
🎤 Monado
Oct 09th · 18:53 UTC
@kupnu4 thank you! I'm happy to hear you enjoyed it!
Solvenoff
Oct 09th · 20:23 UTC
The heroine’s thighs are awesome, and the art style is great too. Tried playing with one hand, but unfortunately, you need at least two hands here. Speaking seriously, I’d switch the controls from QWE to the mouse because it’s really hard to move around the level using the ropegun, which is the main mechanic here.
Trevor Mäe
Oct 09th · 20:35 UTC
Very awesome game! Using the mouse to aim the grappling hook would give a lot more control over movement though. Otherwise very nice!
🎤 Monado
Oct 09th · 20:49 UTC
@solvenoff LOL... thank you!

@trevor-mae Thank you too!

It seems like making the grappling hook aimed with the keyboard might not have been the way to go seeing all of the feedback so far; if I end up making a post-jam build I'll definitely be changing that to work with the mouse instead. Seems like its one of those mechanics you get so used to using while developing, you forget how difficult it'll be to use for most players
Custodi
Oct 10th · 22:28 UTC
Pleasant graphics with interesting implementation of the grappling hook. Hook's controls take some time to get used to it. If you stand too close to a wall, it will cling to it.
CodeRaurus
Oct 11th · 07:52 UTC
Aahh, I missed the swinging feature completely. That could've helped me in a few spots.

Pleasant music and nice graphics, I see you put good effort in the animations and effects.
Gameplay felt janky in places but overall okay. I kind of wanted to hurt the enemies with the hook instead of risking my own health going in melee. As for the bouncy slime blocks, I expected to be able to time myself and get a boost.

Didn't complete the game but found myself to level 2.
Well done!
🎤 Monado
Oct 21st · 15:22 UTC
@custodi @coderaurus Thank you!!