Escape The Phantom Seascape! by Tao Yuanyue | LudumData

Escape The Phantom Seascape! by Tao Yuanyue

made by Tao Yuanyue for Ludum Dare 54 (JAM)

Escape the drudgery of your humdrum life and set sail on a one-of-a-kind adventure aboard the legendary “The Phantom Seascape”!🌊🌊🌊

Dive deep into the cursed lore, navigate through treacherous trials, and unravel the enigma of Captain Thorn’s ulterior past. The maritime lore of “The Phantom Seascape” is not for the faint of heart but for the bravest explorer with a burning passion for the arcane.

Guide your destiny with wisdom and luck, find the keys to unlock the truth, and witness the phantom treasures rise from the abyss. Feel the chilling sea breeze, hear the mournful cries of the lost souls, and face the eerie echoes of the damned as you inch closer to the unearthly truth.

Take heed, one wrong step and you may join the spectral crew aboard the accursed “The Phantom Seascape”, forever entangled in its ghostly lore. Try to escape from “The Phantom Seascape” as soon as possible！ You can call customer service if necessary.

Download, explore, and may fortune favor the brave!

Team:

Art: Bojun Gu, Yuanyue Tao, Xintong Chen✨

Code: Nan Kang✨

Game design and project management: Yuanjin Fang, Yuanyue Tao✨

Technical art: Han Chen✨

Narrative: Yuanyue Tao✨

background music：Yuanjin Fang✨

Credit:

Unity

Controls:

Click to collect stuff and click on the item to use it for decryption. Press the arrows to switch rooms up, down, left, and right. The item bar can be moved down.

If the embedded version on the page is too zoomed in, please adjust the two bars at the bottom and right side of the screen to the lower right corner. You'll find a blue fullscreen button there.

Link	https://nancy0513.itch.io/the-phantom-seascape-expedition
Original URL	https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/54/join-the-phantom-seascape-expedition

Ratings

Overall	250^th	3.885⭐	54🧑‍⚖️
Fun	403^th	3.635⭐	54🧑‍⚖️
Innovation	463^th	3.48⭐	52🧑‍⚖️
Theme	702^th	3.441⭐	53🧑‍⚖️
Graphics	202^th	4.212⭐	54🧑‍⚖️
Audio	68^th	4.115⭐	54🧑‍⚖️
Mood	63^th	4.221⭐	54🧑‍⚖️
Given		61🗳️	31🗨️

Feedback

LDJam user 300020

02. Oct 2023 · 22:01 UTC

🌟🌟🌟Thanks for your guys‘s feedback, It helps a lot! 💗
If you have questions about the puzzle, I'll answer them in the comments section!
We are currently working on the college midterm exam, We will fix the problem of some items that need more hints as soon as possible!
If you don't mind spoilers⚠️, you can watch the YouTube video of game flow⬇️. https://youtu.be/wfurD7gsRq8?si=IsBKYlYnWjDHk-PI

03. Oct 2023 · 06:48 UTC

cool

03. Oct 2023 · 07:56 UTC

for me the embedded version on the ldjam page seems to be a bit too much zoomed in, i only see a raining title screen and cannot do anything?

03. Oct 2023 · 08:02 UTC

Moody and atmospheric, although the inventory selection went away at some point and wouldn't come back.

03. Oct 2023 · 08:05 UTC

Interesting art direction. Couldn't solve a lot of the puzzles and stopped when I got submerged.

03. Oct 2023 · 08:15 UTC

Tricky point & click game, was'nt able to solve many puzzles but i Liked the athmosphere and the mood of the game.

03. Oct 2023 · 09:04 UTC

Holy hell, legitimately terrifying game. Great puzzles. I got to the "Who am I really?" part, which I think is the end? Jesus christ I'm gonna have nightmares.

Amazing game and I hope you do well!

04. Oct 2023 · 03:59 UTC

Wonderful game! The design and the art style are amazing. I like the homage to rusty lake too. Unfortunately I'm so bad at puzzle games, so I wasn't able to unveil the full story. Hope to see a tutorial because I'm so curious what happened.

LDJam user 372231

04. Oct 2023 · 23:20 UTC

I like atmosphere, even though it's quite unhealthy. But it was too hard for me to find all hint and solve every puzzle. But count me out, I'm bad at puzzles

LDJam user 268934

10. Oct 2023 · 17:24 UTC

Oh I love escaperooms:)The intro screen started so cool with lightning and rain I watched it a little before going further. Nice work on the hiding spots and puzzles.

LDJam user 372602

10. Oct 2023 · 17:30 UTC

I didn't know that diavolo was doing a game

10. Oct 2023 · 18:42 UTC

I'm not very good at this kind of game, but I really liked this one. The atmosphere was really cool and most of the puzzles were satisfying to solve, though I wasn't sure what I did for a few of them (especially when the chef room went black and white, no idea how I triggered that)

10. Oct 2023 · 19:56 UTC

Hey congratz of finishin the project!
I didn't finish the game, probably didn't find all the clues but i was really enjoying it!
Liked the mood and the puzzles, maybe you could write quick solution how to beat it coz im still intrigued : D
Good work! See ya on the next jam!

LDJam user 300020

10. Oct 2023 · 20:36 UTC

@yellowrain lmao，I can't believe you recognized my user avatar.

LDJam user 300020

10. Oct 2023 · 20:41 UTC

@buzzybee Thank you for play and review. Turning off the lights in the chef room is automatically triggered. Because the flood broke the light bulb. Kind of Jump scare lol.

LDJam user 300020

10. Oct 2023 · 20:44 UTC

@sparklingsushi Thanks for enjoy it, we're still in the process of optimizing it and we're considering whether to make the game easier to pass. After more people play the game, We will be posting solutions for the game soon!

11. Oct 2023 · 16:07 UTC

So good, love it. Great art great story great music. Things worth mentioning for polish: maybe add some text or description for each item when they are picked up so we know what it is. Other than that is just perfect!

12. Oct 2023 · 01:58 UTC

Great art, great music, great puzzle design! This game is absolutely awesome! I gave it a shot three or four times and always ended up drowning until the very last attempt, lol. Anyway, I had the opportunity to delve into the biographies of some victims. I must say, they were incredibly immersive. The game is packed with surprises, and the true ending is downright fantastic.

LDJam user 206001

17. Oct 2023 · 04:34 UTC

I'm becoming a fan of puzzles. I was managing to solve it after a lot of effort, but upstairs I can't really find the phrase, I looked everywhere. I'm not very good at this, I must have stayed here for about 40 minutes and nothing. The graphics are very good, apparently original. Good sounds. Very good entry. It's a shame that the page doesn't even have cover art, trailer or anything. It's difficult to understand why such good games don't have a well-designed page and why you haven't evaluated other games, because otherwise your game won't even appear. Many people would like to solve this riddle, but they just haven't seen the game

LDJam user 300020

17. Oct 2023 · 04:44 UTC

Thank you for your guy's suggestion, It helps a lot! We've just taken a break from our busy midterm to play other games.

17. Oct 2023 · 04:51 UTC

The puzzle design in the game is top-notch, it really keeps me hooked. The atmosphere in the game is absolutely amazing, it sets the right tone and adds to the overall experience,nice job:)

17. Oct 2023 · 04:56 UTC

@lincolnsalles Thank you for playing our game! I assume you're referring to the phrase in the dark room? It's located on the second floor. If you turn off the lights by clicking the lamp, it will appear. It might also disappear behind the water. Considering that completing this puzzle with the water-filled level might be too challenging, I made a few modifications. Now you can solve this puzzle even with the water filled in that level. Additionally, I will be posting a solution video soon. Feel free to check it out if you're interested!

HagamosVideojuegos

17. Oct 2023 · 08:43 UTC

Cool point and click adventure!

Interesting use of theme, this type of games usually do not have the added difficulty of the time it takes you to solve it, it gives it an interesting added tension.

Well done! Take a candy! :candy:

17. Oct 2023 · 09:08 UTC

I love the atmosphere of this game and the point and click style. It was so stressful! 😄 A few more animations would have been great.

17. Oct 2023 · 16:25 UTC

Took me a while and a few attempts but I managed to get to the clock bit! And then I got stuck there and died. Really great entry though! The atmosphere was perfect with those graphics and sound design and the interactions with everything. Wish I could have explored it more.

17. Oct 2023 · 17:51 UTC

This game should have a high rating. It has an exciting gameplay, a scary atmosphere, a sense of approaching death. The music and visual style are very good. The water level does not rise very quickly and you can have time to perform the necessary actions. Great job!

17. Oct 2023 · 18:36 UTC

I really like the artwork and I think you managed to create a really good atmosphere in combination with the sound and the story. The idea of water slowly coming up as you solve the puzzles creates a sense of urgency without it feeling stressed. Felt a bit like an escape room, which is a compliment from my part. Well done!

17. Oct 2023 · 18:41 UTC

A really atmospheric point and click game. I like how you've integrated the theme with the rising water. It was cool to see it change the scene. It was also hilarious to see the baby crying loudly underwater.

Some suggestions:
You have to click the base of the bulb/to trigger it. Before I figured that out, it was confusing how I made the room go black. Most people(including me)would find it more intuitive to click on the bulb itself.

An interactable highlight button would also be helpful. The game can turn into pixel hunting at times and it's hard to see stuff in submerged areas.

The art and music are great and really set the mood. Overall, a great entry.

LDJam user 300020

17. Oct 2023 · 18:49 UTC

@fahim-faysal Thank you for your valuable advice. We will make changes according to your suggestions.

17. Oct 2023 · 19:45 UTC

It's a screaming game, I liked it.)

17. Oct 2023 · 19:47 UTC

Hidden Object Puzzle Adventure (HOPA) in a hand-drawn style, creepy scenes with nightmarish vibes! That sells it even to someone like me who's not much for the genre.

I did found some mechanics to be unintuitive. Crossword puzzle for one, I assembled some random stuff just to see what happens and couldn't return it back to what it was to try again so effectively got stuck there.

I think also UI/UX needs more love, icons look rough around the edges with white outline.

All in all, I hope you update it and make it even better! Good luck to you :heart:

LDJam user 300020

17. Oct 2023 · 20:49 UTC

@empyreans Thank you for your valuable advice. We will make changes according to your suggestions. You can turn off the lights and the letters will reset. I think we should highlight the bulbs.

LDJam user 11093

17. Oct 2023 · 21:44 UTC

I'm not very good with this type of game, but the visual and atmosphere are very good. I like the water rising.

18. Oct 2023 · 01:47 UTC

Wow, great mood.. i had a bit of trouble figuring out what to do next, got stuck after seeing the octopus book. I think maybe a bit more clues would have been nice, and maybe a bit more indication of what was clickable for us slow folks. Overall great work! So much in such a short time!

18. Oct 2023 · 05:39 UTC

The atmosphere in this game is simply amazing. The team did a wonderful job with the art and the mood. The water level rising adds tension to the escape room in a more organic way than a basic timer. It took me 3 tries to make it to the captain's cabin, I just couldn't figure out how to get to the ending after that.

I agree with the suggestions to add some highlighting to the interactive objects (but not too much), and to add a way to read descriptions of the items we pick up (as some of those items aren't clear at first). Thanks for the game, I enjoyed it a lot!

18. Oct 2023 · 07:32 UTC

I have finished the full thing!

the thing that struck me the most is the visuals and atmosphere, this game looks absolutely incredible! i love the stylistic choices, both the oil painting look for the normal environments and the rough crayon stuff for the dark segments. very good horror and surreal imagery. I imagine a ton of work went into it and I am amazed this was finished in 72 hours!

the ending was a nice little reward, I tried to follow along with the little story told and I thought it was pretty neat!

I think the puzzles were pretty cool and the one with the eye got me thinking a bit which I think is cool. I didn't have too much much trouble finding the objects needed, tho I think some sort of hint system would be nice.

I also have a hard time seeing how it ties into the there, beyond maybe the idea that the water's rising and you have to move up the ship cuz there's less and less space, but I think it's pretty vague

I really enjoyed the game overall, especially the visuals, they were an absolute treat!

LDJam user 375578

18. Oct 2023 · 07:42 UTC

This is the first time I’ve seen a game of this type, but I’ll say that it’s quite good

18. Oct 2023 · 11:36 UTC

Hey guys is there a summary on how to solve this? (i'm a point & click lover and yours is quite amazing) I'm frustrated I cannot reach the end. Managed to find 2/3 keys, and can't solve the eyes puzzle.
Good music & atmosphere also!
edit : I tried already 4 times

18. Oct 2023 · 16:28 UTC

@sdelay We didn’t have enough time to add hint system but I made a short walkthrough video. Anyone who is interested can watch here: https://youtu.be/wfurD7gsRq8?si=1XcmRGCpAtLd07Ei

LDJam user 300020

18. Oct 2023 · 16:43 UTC

@sdelay The answer for the crossword puzzle is The Secret One, you can spot the hints by the upcase. For the TV eyeball, the answer is in the cages in the first level of the room, you need a stuff to open the cage. And then you will find a head there， take a look at the eyeball of head. You can find the game flow video in top of the comment.

LDJam user 300020

18. Oct 2023 · 16:52 UTC

@tetracold Thanks for playing! you seem to be the second one to pass the game! Congrats! The eye puzzle is the hardest of all the puzzles in there, as the two clues are very far apart, and we're considering making some adjustments in the future. For the theme, the water rising is a representation of the ship leaking and you had to climb to the upper floors to prevent drowning, kind of like an escape room! Thank you for your great suggestions.

LDJam user 300020

18. Oct 2023 · 17:05 UTC

@abcdef65g Thank you so much for the advice, to pass the Captain's Room, you need to poison the Captain's wine, the wine and ingredients will be found in the lower room. You can find the game flow video in top of the comment. We'll be adding glow effects and descriptions to some items in the future, there may not be enough time at the moment, we're working on the college midterm exam.

LDJam user 300020

18. Oct 2023 · 17:34 UTC

@nadia-pixel @poboy @penguindustin @brick2face @stefan-b @erebuspardus @buzzybee @sparklingsushi @gossian Thank you for your valuable feedback. We've fixed some issues and posted the entire game play-through video at the top of the comments section for you to watch if you're interested.

Christian Witt Martin

18. Oct 2023 · 18:16 UTC

Like many others have said, this game has such cool art direction. Some of the hints were a bit obtuse for me, so I needed a bit of help at a couple points, but it was a cool experience nonetheless. Something you all incorporated that I love is when I already know the solutions to a puzzle and I can speedrun it, bypassing sections that would otherwise be needed to gain the information. I hate when a game makes me wait artificially and you all avoided that (except the one section near the end with the cook, but that's nitpicking I think). Great work, and I'm so impressed at all you accomplished in such a short time frame.

18. Oct 2023 · 18:32 UTC

Well done game. The art style is probably subject to personal preference, but it does work well for the game. The puzzles were challenging, but not too hard. Are there multiple endings? The end screen suggests that, but I don't know what I could have done differently to get another ending.
I'm not sure the game really fits the jams theme though. I mean, technically, the space you can move around in is limited, and so is inventory, but both are not as much to fit the theme as just a matter of general game design. The water isn't actually limiting you either except for time, but maybe I just dont get it :sweat_smile:
I encountered minor bugs where I could pick up an unlimited supply of customer service posters an an additional form after I used the first one. The first one could actually render the game unsolvable if you fill your inventory with them and thus cannot pick up / select other items.

LDJam user 300020

18. Oct 2023 · 18:40 UTC

@laserpanzerwal Thanks so much for helping us find the bug, we'll fix the poster as soon as possible! The other end is you died. If you drown, then you will get a tombstone. Through the description of death on the tombstone you can gradually learn about the plot. The water actually restricts your movement and if you stay in the water long enough to find clues, you will die. For the theme, the water rising is a representation of the ship leaking and you had to climb to the upper floors to prevent drowning, kind of like an escape room! If you're smart enough, you can solve all the puzzles before the water drowns you. But according to our research, most players have drowned in water once. Thank you for your great feedback！

18. Oct 2023 · 19:49 UTC

Hi everyone. I fixed some minor issues and added some hints in the new version.Thank you so much for your feedbacks and suggestions!

18. Oct 2023 · 21:13 UTC

I didn't actually play it to the end, but i downloaded the game to my computer so i can show it to my friends, so they can play it too. I am gonna play it till i get through the whole game! It is just hard enough, thank you! Awesome art and music too.

18. Oct 2023 · 21:39 UTC

Cool aesthetics, both art and sound! Nice moody setup, "lovecraftian" I'd say which I enjoy. Neat shaders!
Only wish there were tooltips on the items as sometimes it was hard to say what this or that thing is. Some of the puzzles are pretty cryptic, but that's ok for the jam game. I enjoyed your game :) Good job!

18. Oct 2023 · 22:47 UTC

I love P'n'C, and particularly escape rooms, so I'm clearly in the target players for this game! I don't know if it's a tribute to Rusty Lake or a coincidence, but I like this similarity too. Arts, music and ambiant sounds are neat and give all the mood one could expect in this kind of game. I got to the end (twice), and about that, I wonder if there is a "false ending" or if the mention of the "true ending" is just a joke? Is this if we finish the game skiping the clues and use directly what we got in previous runs?
Anyways, good job and very well done!

19. Oct 2023 · 04:04 UTC

I really like escape rooms and this was fun to play solving the many different puzzles! The art looks really cool and the music adds to the whole game atmosphere! Good Job! :smiley:

19. Oct 2023 · 08:37 UTC

@lereveur I'm glad you noticed that. Many of our team members are loyal fans of Rusty Lake and we've drawn inspiration from its narrative style. Regarding the game's ending, we indeed designed two types of outcomes. Ironically, no one can truly escape from this ship in either ending. Instead of labeling the ending as either 'good' or 'bad', I'd describe it as the 'true' ending, where you at least discover the ship's secret.

19. Oct 2023 · 08:45 UTC

@lereveur You may ignore some clues, for example, you can unlock 4 clocks puzzle on the first floor without solving the photo puzzle(have 4 clocks puzzle clue on it) if you already known the answer.

19. Oct 2023 · 12:06 UTC

I really like the game you made (have to say I enjoy point and click adventures), the visuals are fantastic, the atmosphere is great, I loved how some rooms changed (with the dog when I clicked on the lamp and with the chef when time started running out), and the water rising added to the feeling of urgency. Unfortunately, I didn't get too far on my first try, and had to pixelhunt a bit after going thru all the rooms to find some more items, and a few items looked a bit puzzling to me, but overall I think the difficulty of the game is just right.

Highlighted in red, an item - I have no idea what it is:
![puzzlingItem.jpg](///raw/c93/65/z/60716.jpg)

I filled in the portrait (before it was just black) but my MC is not impressed?
![portrait.jpg](///raw/c93/65/z/60717.jpg)

Found a number to dial and got this, thanks customer service, you helped so much XD (not sure if it's just for lore or I should get some info from this? As I already did the clock near the chef by luck and didn't even register what time I put there ^^'')
![thanks guys.jpg](///raw/c93/65/z/60718.jpg)

Finally, that's my ending:
![ending.jpg](///raw/c93/65/z/6071a.jpg)

19. Oct 2023 · 12:29 UTC

really great game!!

19. Oct 2023 · 14:41 UTC

@kanity Thanks for playing! The item highlighted in the picture is a lipstick. Actually, to fully unlock the image of the woman, you need to provide the portrait with three items. This unlocking process is signified by the increasing brightness of the picture (I realize it might not be very apparent). This is definitely an aspect we can refine. I'm thinking we might need to make the clock puzzle in the restaurant a bit more challenging, perhaps set it to 10:20? This way, players might have a harder time guessing it lol. Also, thank you for sharing your game ending. We've crafted 10 different endings besides the true one. If players don't uncover the true ending before the ship goes under, they'll be presented with one of these endings at random. You can piece these endings together to unravel the story of the Phantom Seascape. :)

19. Oct 2023 · 14:47 UTC

@nan-kang oh wow, 10 different endings! that's cool, I will definitely replay the game again to try for diff ones when I have time ^^ and yeah I didn't realize at all about portrait needing several items =\ Maybe a slight change in dialogue when you click on the portrait would help? As for the time on the clock, I think I just clicked randomly and got lucky, but yeah having it at 10:00 sharp increases chances of getting lucky that way. Though that was a nice feeling, getting the time right by chance xD

19. Oct 2023 · 15:01 UTC

I love this game's art, it"s fantastic, It's really fun

19. Oct 2023 · 16:05 UTC

A fantastic atmosphere, I love immersing myself in this environment while solving puzzles. Welcome to play our game!

19. Oct 2023 · 16:51 UTC

Loved the omnious and insane atmosphere!

It felt like an anti-adventure game. We are given puzzles, but it's hard to understand the logic of the puzzles (if there are any). It's unclear how to use the inventory items, either. But all these ambiguity works perfectly for such a game.

19. Oct 2023 · 18:19 UTC

@tao-yuanyue I see. Unfortunately that means I actually missed a huge chunk of the plot by not dying. Maybe that can be optimized somehow, allowing players who solve puzzles quickly to still understand the story?

Vasco Rodrigues

19. Oct 2023 · 22:41 UTC

Great atmosphere and art! I really liked it!

Unfortunately I wasn't smart enough to complete any of the puzzles in the room with the telephone :(

Still, great game!

LDJam user 300020

20. Oct 2023 · 20:04 UTC

@kanity Thank you so much for the feedback! The red one is lipstick， for the woman in the mirror， you still need two more puzzles, and lipstick is one of them. When you enter the wrong password, customer service will give you the wrong message. If you have difficulty in solving the problem, the Youtube video in the top comment will help you!

LDJam user 300020

20. Oct 2023 · 20:06 UTC

@vasco-rodrigues Thank you for enjoying our game! If you have difficulty in solving the problem, the Youtube video in the top comment will help you!

LDJam user 300020

20. Oct 2023 · 20:12 UTC

@septimor Thank you for enjoying our game and let us know if your friend passes it! We haven't had time to make the puzzles a bit easier to understand in a short jam, so please give us any suggestions if you have trouble solving the puzzle!