If Only by Le Slo

[raw]
made by Le Slo for Ludum Dare 55 (JAM)

Light candles, summon ghosts and help them forget and trascend.

A puzzle game prototype about last wishes, regrets and desires. Controls:

WASD  / Arrow Keys : Move
Z / Backspace : Undo
R: Restart (you can undo restarts as well, but is sometimes buggy)
J: Skip level

Screenshot 02.png

Ratings

Overall 414th 3.718⭐ 41🧑‍⚖️
Fun 450th 3.59⭐ 41🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 394th 3.564⭐ 41🧑‍⚖️
Theme 1011th 3.051⭐ 41🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 531th 3.795⭐ 41🧑‍⚖️
Audio 331th 3.632⭐ 40🧑‍⚖️
Humor 986th 2.258⭐ 35🧑‍⚖️
Mood 442th 3.718⭐ 41🧑‍⚖️
Given 25🗳️ 29🗨️

Feedback

GDMage
16. Apr 2024 · 18:57 UTC
I haven’t figured out how to take a candle if it’s against the wall. :(
Leiv Erik
16. Apr 2024 · 19:01 UTC
That was fun! good puzzles, some of them took me some time to complete!

Impressive to build a puzzle game in a game-jam!

good job!
Dmitry Mozgin
16. Apr 2024 · 19:03 UTC
Clever puzzles! I've completed 5 levels so far. It is amazing how you managed project the summoning theme on Sokoban-style puzzles. I think adding of undo button would be very appropriate. Well done!
P.S. You can also add a note how to play in the description. It would be very helpful, but it is not so difficult to figure it out by oneself.
Dagunov
16. Apr 2024 · 19:06 UTC
Really missing some controls, cant move candles to self (as take from wall), some buttons, i think, are for debugging - jumping to the next level, undoing step, displaying some id's (or positions).

Please tag me if you write some controls!
UniOwl
16. Apr 2024 · 19:10 UTC
Cool fresh view on old Sokoban game! Very neat graphics! Although learning curve is a bit steep
Lélek Hunor Kadosa
16. Apr 2024 · 19:14 UTC
At first I thought it is a Sokoba reskin, but with each level it became more and more complex. I'm impressed, well done. I stuck at the level where is 2 ghost and 3 candels.
Pe7e
16. Apr 2024 · 19:16 UTC
Over all a nice, well put together puzzle game. Some of the puzzles were quite clever.
Well done.
LDJam user 383763
16. Apr 2024 · 19:19 UTC
Wow I loved the theme and the music. And it was quite challenging. I didn't pass through level 4 because I already closed and reopen the tab multiple times :D. Some button like retry is really missing. Overall I like how you design levels, you have to think very carefully what the correct moves are.
🎤 Le Slo
16. Apr 2024 · 19:19 UTC
@dmitry-mozgin @gdmage @dagunov
Hi! Thank you for playing! Sorry I couldn't make the ludum dare or itch page more complete until so late. I just added controls in both description.

Just saying that undo a move and restart are intended in the design. The skip level button was at first a mistake, but since there is no saving, it is pretty handy for those who want to come back.
🎤 Le Slo
16. Apr 2024 · 19:21 UTC
@wildcodeplay Oh sorry about that! I just updated the description so it features all the controls, didn't have time during the jam to add them in-game. There are very handy undo, restart and skip level buttons!
galactical
16. Apr 2024 · 21:51 UTC
Wow, this was very good. These mechanics are very intricate, and I have the feeling they could enable far more puzzles than what was seen here. These mechanics are very much in your style, reminding me a lot of Alephant. The combination of the physical properties of a candle, as well as the behavior of a "ghost" block work beautifully together, and create something uniquely fitting for the theme, but so rich and thoughtful I would have expected them to have been refined over a much longer time than one weekend. My only complaint, other than minor visual glitches and wanting more levels, is that I was confused by the way I needed to fuse wax together in the first level it appeared in. I think the game needed a simpler level to demonstrate candle wax melting together before that more demanding level, in which I didn't even know what my end goal was. Regardless, fantastic work!
Algis Khasanov
17. Apr 2024 · 07:01 UTC
Really amazing mechanics! Graphics is nice! That reminds me good old puzzles from 90s.
tapehead
17. Apr 2024 · 17:32 UTC
I love your take on Sokoban. It got very challenging at the end but I enjoyed it. Well done!
TypicalKin
17. Apr 2024 · 22:22 UTC
This sokoban game got so many layers of mechanics with candles it made my brain go big. The last level is really evil and took me and a friend in a voice chat a good while to figure out the setup for it. Wow that's tricky but rewarding. Really amazing take on the theme!
Parker8283
18. Apr 2024 · 00:28 UTC
I love puzzle games, so I very much enjoyed this! It took me a long time to get all the mechanics of the game, so unless that is an intentional "puzzle" for the player to solve, it might have be nice to give some sort of instructions or tutorial of at least the basics so the user isn't so lost. It took me even longer to find a core mechanic of the game, though maybe you don't want to give that away. I got stuck on one of the levels, and while I could skip it, I'm stubborn and want to actually beat it :sweat_smile:. So maybe I'll come back to it! Thanks for participating!
scottjmulligan
18. Apr 2024 · 01:39 UTC
I really like the ambiance of this game. I had a hard time with the second puzzle. It would be nice if there was a hint system.
torcado
18. Apr 2024 · 06:32 UTC
oh man this is great! really interesting set of mechanics, I could see this expanded on a lot. the set of puzzles you made for the jam feel perfect, good difficulty progression and explores the mechanics pretty thoroughly. That last level was crazy, took me longer than all the others combined!
music, sounds, and art are all lovely :) aside from minor visual polish things, I have no complaints! great stuff as usual
KrummSakura
18. Apr 2024 · 17:57 UTC
I am not particularly good at puzzle games but art, music and mood of the game kept me playing till the end. Brilliant.
randomhuman
19. Apr 2024 · 11:18 UTC
This is tough, I like it!
TPace
19. Apr 2024 · 16:07 UTC
It was hard for me to understand it at first but when I got the rules the puzzles were all very engaging! Good job overall
maymay
20. Apr 2024 · 06:01 UTC
Cool game! It took me a little bit to figure out what exactly I was supposed to do. I think more specific instructions would help a lot, at least to explain that the candle needs to be on the summoning circle, and that the ghosts need to go on the arrow tile. Once I figured that out though the puzzle design is really neat! Good job :)
LDJam user 372231
20. Apr 2024 · 17:04 UTC
Cool game, very well done. But I can't figure out second level
wdebowicz
21. Apr 2024 · 12:23 UTC
I like the mood, I found it a bit too hard, so it would benefit from some optional hints.
Aviv Levy
21. Apr 2024 · 17:10 UTC
Beautiful game. Very challenging! I gave up here:
![Screenshot_21-4-2024_2094_le-slo.itch.io.jpeg](///raw/9e9/65/z/64a13.jpg)
but I enjoyed it a lot. The music was sad and charming at the same time :)
Geckoo1337
22. Apr 2024 · 13:26 UTC
Interesting gameplay - it's more than a simple Sokoban (which I love), but it has the same simple (but complex) mechanic. I really appreciated the mood - and how you managed the theme in this project. The main aesthetic is clever and smooth. The controls work well as expected. Thank you for this contribution. I wish you the best ++
ValentinWB
22. Apr 2024 · 19:39 UTC
These are some really tricky puzzles right there my brain is overheating ! I like the twist you brought to the box moving puzzle genre, coupled with some nice soft graphics ! Well done !
kawa-yoiko
23. Apr 2024 · 10:47 UTC
It took me a short while to figure out how the ghost is summoned, but once I understood that, I was immersed in the gameplay and fascinated by it. I still haven't solved puzzles 7 and 9, but I'm already astonished by the depth of the puzzles in a short sequence of 9 levels. I feel this has ample potential to evolve into a richer, deeper puzzle-solving experience, but it's just as complete if kept this short and concise.

The presentation is also quite polished, combined with a nice atmosphere. An impressively beautiful piece of work, would I say.
Blazejmg917
23. Apr 2024 · 20:08 UTC
This was a pretty fun game! I think the presentation is really good, and the puzzles are well designed, but I wish it were a little more clear within the game itself how you are supposed to summon the ghosts. I got stuck on the first level for a while just trying to figure it out. But all in all, great job!
Frank Gevaerts
24. Apr 2024 · 21:05 UTC
This is an excellent game! It feels a bit like sokoban, but with some clever twists and theme adaptations. I didn't manage to solve all levels (I'm also not good at harder sokoban levels. this isn't your fault :) ) Having nine levels finished in a game jam is pretty good too!

The graphics and sound work very well together and give a very suitable atmosphere, which is hard for a puzzle game.

Well done!