LudumData

Planchette by Accelerate0814

[raw]
made by Accelerate0814 for Ludum Dare 59 (JAM)

⚠️ WARNING: This game contains flashing lights, loud noises, and jumpscares. Player discretion is advised.

游戏支持中英文切换，在设置里切换！！！

A horror puzzle game about phone signals and traditional rituals.

STORY BACKGROUND You play as a university student majoring in Folklore, working on a senior thesis about the "Puppet Village." The Puppet Village is a remote, ancient settlement that has been entirely erased from modern maps. Legend has it that the villagers here mastered an extremely eerie form of puppetry—they would use the hair, ashes, and clothing of their deceased relatives to craft life-size puppets, keeping them at home and treating them as if they were living people.

The hidden terrifying truth: This village was completely destroyed by a bizarre fire back in 1982, and all the villagers were burned alive. However, their resentment did not dissipate; instead, it attached itself to those life-size puppets. Now, the place is a literal "puppet graveyard."

Who sent the protagonist to the Puppet Village, and did he really come back in the end?

CONTROLS

[A] / [D] - Move Left / Right

[X] - Open / Put away the phone

[Mouse Left Click] - Used during specific QTE events

CREDITS

Accelerate0814 - Programming & Game Design

YALI_Lily519 - Art & Graphics

https://youtu.be/3nCMp0s4wQo?si=rrjp3wJC7yq-Nxjs

Link https://accelerate0814.itch.io/planchette
Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/59/planchette

Ratings

Overall 552th 3.408⭐ 40🧑‍⚖️
Fun 663th 2.974⭐ 40🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 678th 2.921⭐ 40🧑‍⚖️
Theme 593th 3.368⭐ 40🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 448th 3.711⭐ 40🧑‍⚖️
Mood 238th 3.947⭐ 40🧑‍⚖️
Given 104🗳️ 87🗨️

Feedback

pfeyffer
Apr 20th · 20:26 UTC
Awesome graphics and a spooky story. I had some difficulties navigating the phone, mapping the navigation to wasd or cursor keys might have helped. I wish there was more to explore in the village itself. I'll be looking for an extended version ;-) Keep up the good work.
🎤 Accelerate0814
Apr 21st · 05:55 UTC
@pfeyffer Thank you so much for the kind words! I'm thrilled that you enjoyed the graphics and the spooky atmosphere. That's a great point about the phone navigation—I'll definitely look into adding WASD and arrow key support in a future update to make it more accessible. Due to the jam's time limit, I had to keep the village exploration a bit brief, but I’m definitely planning to expand it in an extended version! Thanks for playing and for the encouragement!
Ekopeko
Apr 21st · 10:29 UTC
Up until now this is my favorite game of this jam, incredible work in this short time frame.
CaptainSpoof
Apr 21st · 10:38 UTC
i played snake couple of times and then got jumped scared 10/10
Tykki19
Apr 21st · 20:10 UTC
I was sold on the old phone already! Nice small details and great atmosphere building!
Danibeve
Apr 22nd · 09:54 UTC
Nice story and great art. Such a cool and fun game to play! Thank you!
Eden_Zorro
Apr 22nd · 10:36 UTC
A good game, the art is very good, especially in the side-scrolling section. The phone mechanic was a positive point, and the chosen phone model reminds me of times gone by. The only downside was the moment when you have to mash the LMB. I tried 3 times, but my mouse can't handle that much effort! Now I feel like I missed the true ending of the game... But overall, great game!
🎤 Accelerate0814
Apr 22nd · 10:58 UTC
@eden-zorro Thank you so much for the kind words! We're really glad you enjoyed the art and the nostalgic phone mechanic.

And we are so sorry for your mouse! 😅 Please don't worry about missing the true ending though. That button-mashing section is actually designed to be an unwinnable situation (a scripted loss) — the protagonist simply cannot escape the village no matter how hard you click. It's meant to make you feel that sense of despair!

Thank you again for playing and leaving such great feedback!
gil4
Apr 22nd · 11:38 UTC
Ah, so the mouse button smashing sequence wasn't winnable, good to know. Great job, very atmospheric!
LDJam user 260720
Apr 22nd · 12:12 UTC
I loved the art and atmosphere, but I couldn't manage to do the spam QTE even tho I tried 3 times :')
FadingDreamStories
Apr 22nd · 12:49 UTC
Really nice style, creepy from the get-go. Even the menu. The retro phone was a nice touch, but so glad to be finally out of that village...
cax
Apr 22nd · 12:50 UTC
The atmosphere of being in some unknown place not knowing whats happening is nice! Could probably be more explanation on controls while ritual, didnt quite understand what I should press and when...
Awwwz
Apr 22nd · 12:56 UTC
好恐怖的封面完全不敢看这个脸全程半屏玩的，，，，bgm有感觉，jumpscare太恐怖了！！！但是手机里能玩贪吃蛇诶！喜欢ritual这种鼠标不听使唤慢慢移动到不想要的位置的感觉。。。。中邪感！
The cover is terrifying, I couldn't bear to look at that face. I played the whole game on half the screen... The background music was great, and the jump scares were so scary!!! But you can play Snake on your phone! I love the feeling of the mouse slowly moving to unwanted positions on its own in Ritual... It's like being possessed!
GreatPasta
Apr 22nd · 13:00 UTC
white text on the background of a white phone or circle is hard to read. need a backing

the control on the phone is inconvenient. You can either make it completely touch-based or completely push-button.

it is better to display on the screen that X is to remove the phone

I didn't get to the riddle, I was killed by the ghost from the message. and I didn't even have time to read it. I tried to play it a second time, but the text won't skip

Overall, it's not bad
Tay Elenberg
Apr 22nd · 15:22 UTC
its so good! i like vibes, art is very good and fitting. Good job!
🎤 Accelerate0814
Apr 22nd · 16:34 UTC
@greatpasta Thanks for the feedback! I've updated the game based on your suggestions:

Improved UI readability (added backing to text).

Refined controls and added clearer prompts (e.g., 'Press X').

Fixed pacing and bugs (ghost timing and text-skipping).

It's much better now thanks to your help!
FireFish
Apr 22nd · 17:14 UTC
我会猜你们是中文开发者哈哈哈哈哈，很有氛围的游戏，灵媒作为一种signal是一个好有趣的点子！我很喜欢你们的点子，并且会好奇整个故事，做的好！
I'm guessing you guys are Chinese developers hahahaha! It's a very atmospheric game. Using a spirit medium as a 'signal' is such a fun and interesting concept! I really love your idea and it makes me super curious about the full story. Great job!
GreatPasta
Apr 22nd · 17:31 UTC
now the controls may break at some point. I can't catch the breakdown scenario, but I managed to take a screenshot. I logged in and out of messages.![1.png](///raw/b58/76/z/72513.png)
LDJam user 387548
Apr 22nd · 21:37 UTC
Very cool art, I liked it as an artist, well done, and the narrative interactions are on the level, dark atmosphere is my favorite one
el_chivo_vivo
Apr 23rd · 03:32 UTC
suuuuper eerie vibe! i like the phone interface and the side scrolling environment.
orangeoceans
Apr 23rd · 04:05 UTC
It's unclear when the game has ended. I got to the jumpscare after the village, and replayed a bunch of times to try to avoid the jumpscare by closing the phone early, but it seemed like I couldn't do so. Is there any content after the jumpscare?
Xiao Duye
Apr 23rd · 04:16 UTC
Excellent atmosphere and beautiful art. It really scared me! The presentation is very strong. Maybe consider dropping the AI voice acting, as it feels a bit immersion-breaking, but overall it’s great. I also hope the board could have more interactions. Overall Great Job!
🎤 Accelerate0814
Apr 23rd · 04:51 UTC
@greatpasta My apologies for the weird UI glitch! I just fixed this issue. Thank you for letting me know and for playing!
🎤 Accelerate0814
Apr 23rd · 04:55 UTC
@greatpasta You played it twice! Thank you so much for the support, I love you GreatPasta.
🎤 Accelerate0814
Apr 23rd · 04:58 UTC
@orangeoceans Thank you for playing and for the feedback! Currently, there is no way to avoid the jumpscare—being turned into a puppet is the only ending right now. Your comment made me realize the ending was a bit confusing, so I just added an 'END' text screen after the jumpscare to make it clearer.
YurisCat
Apr 23rd · 05:50 UTC
I'm too much of a scaredy-cat to handle jumpscares, so I didn't keep playing. (Especially when I accidentally press X and the phone scrolls down—even the darkness on screen makes me feel like something's about to pop out!) The extensive voice acting for the text really adds a lot to the immersion. Great game! But I'd rather watch a streamer play it lol
woona
Apr 23rd · 08:13 UTC
Loved the art! The game has a very spooky vibe! Would be cool if there were more different endings.
OttoBroccoli
Apr 23rd · 13:48 UTC
Excellent work, very atmospheric! It took me a while to get used to the controls because the artwork is so beautiful it made me want to click everything with the mouse :)
Muraena
Apr 23rd · 18:24 UTC
Loved the detail of wet drops on the menu screen! Great atmosphere, interesting ideas, the jump scare is a nasty trick though😭
Luka420
Apr 23rd · 18:29 UTC
I loved the art and how cryptic the gameplay was — really punctuated the overall spoky vibe!
Podrez
Apr 24th · 06:56 UTC
Yeah, the controls have some quirks. But there’s a nice atmosphere, and I’d say it has an old school feel. I remember playing similar games back in the Flash days. Nice, thanks
🎤 Accelerate0814
Apr 24th · 07:24 UTC
@podrez Could you clarify what kind of control issues you encountered? For instance, is it that the mobile buttons require multiple taps before they actually respond?
Podrez
Apr 24th · 09:04 UTC
@accelerate0814 No, it is just not very convenient. For example, when you use a phone, you need two hands to move with arrows and space, and on top of that you also need a third hand to click somewhere with the mouse at the same time. It’s not critical, just inconvenient and a bit annoying
🎤 Accelerate0814
Apr 24th · 11:15 UTC
@podrez Thanks for the feedback!I agree that switching between the keyboard and mouse is inconvenient. I’ve decided to map the send function to the Enter key so you can complete the action without leaving the keyboard.
VenomousMouse
Apr 26th · 11:33 UTC
Very cool atmosphere and nice story. Great job!
bigfatgua
Apr 27th · 04:05 UTC
操作有点神秘，我在发送消息时候卡了一会才领悟原来是要用鼠标点。人物移动的时候要用AD，但是在手机上却是方向键。操作手机的时候是模拟手机键盘的方向键，但是发送消息和查看消息却是用鼠标点击和滚轮。感觉不需要这么多按键。人物移动和鼠标操作都放在WASD和方向键上。发送消息就用现在的确认键，滚动就用上下方向键好了，感觉沉浸感会增加。 不过人物移动的时候把腿裁掉了是来不及做动画嘛？笑
总的来说很喜欢，我喜欢这个笔仙的设计。如果可以在第二次玩手机的手出现玩家的手变成木偶手就好了。也许变成木偶的手会导致一些按键没法按？感觉有很多拓展的方向！
加油！期待更多作品！
追加一条，支持中文好评！
🎤 Accelerate0814
Apr 27th · 05:30 UTC
@bigfatgua 谢谢你的反馈！我会在后续的版本把手机键盘的映射绑到wasd上然后发送消息改为确认。人物移动只搞半身确实是动画来不及做了哈哈哈哈！
Tanjou
May 07th · 12:07 UTC
Pretty spooky. I like usable phones in games xD
RAFFE
May 07th · 18:37 UTC
Pretty fun horror game, I'd love to have seen more endings for this! Nice entry still, good job!
zhangzhimu
May 08th · 08:45 UTC
Firstly, I was immediately attracted by this cover. I thought it would be very interesting to solve the mystery in this way based on folk studies. The horror atmosphere was also excellently created. I like this narrative.
LDJam user 221561
May 09th · 12:38 UTC
hmm switching between two hands on the keyboard and the mouse so often put me off this sorry. Feels like I need to be an octopus to play this properly. When I close the phone and see some of the art behind it looks quite nice though.