Zap the Dead by Stepanoff

[raw]
made by Stepanoff for Ludum Dare 59 (JAM)

A mad scientist is trying to fill the autoclave with souls, but entering the crypt himself would be a fatal mistake.

So he controls a zombie using an electrical signal, guiding it through dangerous areas and collecting souls.

But he’s not alone in the graveyard. Skeletons really love hugs… and they might disrupt the experiment.

zapthedead_7.gif

Image Sequence<em>006</em>0000.png

Made with Unity, CorelDRAW, Photoshop, Audition.

Ratings

Overall 358th 3.656⭐ 34🧑‍⚖️
Fun 248th 3.652⭐ 35🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 210th 3.742⭐ 35🧑‍⚖️
Theme 249th 4.03⭐ 35🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 406th 3.788⭐ 35🧑‍⚖️
Audio 465th 3.141⭐ 34🧑‍⚖️
Humor 110th 3.839⭐ 33🧑‍⚖️
Mood 468th 3.567⭐ 32🧑‍⚖️
Given 29🗳️ 43🗨️

Feedback

Jo Bettaque
Apr 21st · 02:41 UTC
Great Entry! This reminds me a lot of one of my past entries but with interesting mechanics and a good theme connection. I like it!
yodak
Apr 21st · 10:40 UTC
Really cool art style and effects like the split screen and lighning are very nice!
Ammo0206
Apr 21st · 10:41 UTC
Cool! The skeletons are so funny, haha!
LDJam user 425464
Apr 21st · 10:46 UTC
Cool mechanics! Sadly ctrl + down is a shortcut for closing a browser tab but I managed to get quite far even with this arbitary extra challenge.
kremlebot
Apr 21st · 18:35 UTC
Идея норм, но немного недоработано. Чет слишком сложно управлять и два экрана прям жестко взрывают мозг.
Lehmy
Apr 21st · 21:48 UTC
Great game, also had the issue with ta and down, but managed by disabeling it for the game ^^
Nice entry and cool idea :)
tatawanda
Apr 21st · 22:10 UTC
![Capture.PNG](///raw/a68/52/z/72268.png)

It was a great night for zombie party
Eugenik
Apr 21st · 22:38 UTC
I love the concept of the mad scientist trying to collect souls in the crypt. It creates a fun, frantic atmosphere right from the start. Great job bringing this little chaos to life in the graveyard.
LDJam user 423872
Apr 22nd · 00:16 UTC
Interesting mechanics, but not very simple.
Eden_Zorro
Apr 22nd · 05:24 UTC
Interesting game, good use of the theme and very nice graphics.
"Skeletons really love hugs," at first I thought they wanted to kill me, but no, they really love a hug!
Hug a skeleton today!
Axodo
Apr 22nd · 09:51 UTC
Very nice game, I really like the concept, and the level design is interesting. I really enjoyed it. Only drawback is that I would have liked a proper ending after you collect every soul. Good job!
Ternarycat
Apr 22nd · 11:16 UTC
i think it might be better to understand control if zombies will go even when player doesn't have any space. P.s. found dead end condtition :^) ![Снимок экрана 2026-04-22 в 17.14.25.png](///raw/82c/d1/z/72423.png)
VenomousMouse
Apr 23rd · 09:48 UTC
I like the style and the puzzle! Great job!
LDJam user 424198
Apr 23rd · 18:08 UTC
Old flash games vibe, I love it
WeGlove
Apr 23rd · 18:54 UTC
Cool concept pretty innovative!
McBaker
Apr 23rd · 19:05 UTC
Pretty fun game with nice graphics.

@ternarycat - I thought about that too, but since the skeletons only block theplayer, they would become meaningless, I guess with that change you would have to make them kill the player.

As @axodo said, a proper ending would be nice. I was confused and started to look for more things to do (like reaching an island at the end by making a bridge of zombie corpses, didn't work tho :D )
🎤 Stepanoff
Apr 23rd · 19:17 UTC
@mcbaker, thanks for such a helpful comment!

Let me explain:

- For many people, the very fact of split-screen controls is already difficult. If I had made deadly skeletons, it would have been simply impossible!

- I'm incredibly happy that you, my friend, dedicated your time to trying to build a bridge of zombie heads to the island. That's a great idea, by the way! Sorry, but I simply didn't have enough time to make a special ending for this game. But know that I spent sleepless nights creating this game specifically for your comment. You're the best!
LDJam user 372231
Apr 23rd · 20:18 UTC
the idea is fun, but the puzzle is way to difficult. the skeletons spawn so early, I basically don't have enough time
Bumble
Apr 23rd · 20:36 UTC
I was confused about the lack of an ending but apart from that I really like the way you implemented the split screen mechanic and how I had to manage multiple hazards at the same time!
Sharky3188
Apr 24th · 14:09 UTC
Great entry. I really like your take on the theme, a bit of an action puzzle game. Took me a little while to understand the concept, but once I did, it became quiet fun trying to rush through to the later sections with the optimal route.
half-animal-half-beast
Apr 24th · 16:03 UTC
super cool game and graphics, it really reminds me of cartoons from my childhood! i loved it!

i’d maybe add a sound cue when something blocks your path. it’s a really important part of the gameplay, but it took me a while to understand it, at first i thought it was a bug or unresponsive controls. a sound would make it clearer that it’s intentional.

otherwise, everything is great!
LDJam user 372231
Apr 24th · 16:31 UTC
@stepanoff UPDATE HERE! On my second playthrough I realized I completely missed the disconnect mechanic at first. I thought the idea was to carefully build the right number of tiles on the left so the undead would reach the correct spot on the right.

Using Ctrl made the game much more fun and dynamic 😄