Fathom Pond by Mathstr0fficial
Explore the area surrounding Fathom Pond, and make sure not to lose your glasses!

This is a classic text adventure, with all the conventions that come with the genre. It will likely take a significant amount of time to complete, especially if this is your first text adventure. The game page contains 2 extras: A small pdf explaining the most common default commands (though there will be custom commands not listed there), and a command-by-command walkthrough of the full game for if you’re really truly stuck. If you ever think doing something might be useful, try it! It just might work.
(Made in Inform 7)
Fixed on 4/7: Door in the final room did not correctly impede progress while locked.
| Link | https://shielddoespixels.itch.io/fathom-pond |
| Link | https://shielddoespixels.itch.io/fathom-pond |
| Original URL | https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/57/fathom-pond |
Ratings
| Overall | 216th | 3.214⭐ | 23🧑⚖️ |
| Fun | 209th | 3.048⭐ | 23🧑⚖️ |
| Innovation | 205th | 3.024⭐ | 23🧑⚖️ |
| Theme | 100th | 3.762⭐ | 23🧑⚖️ |
| Humor | 98th | 3.075⭐ | 22🧑⚖️ |
| Mood | 112th | 3.571⭐ | 23🧑⚖️ |
| Given | 11🗳️ | 14🗨️ |
Since I’m not very familiar with the genre, I probably don’t think of all the possible verbs available. I wish a list of common ones was provided! I did try using the “help” command, but it didn’t return anything :smile:
Looking forward to continuing — I’ll update this comment as I progress!
First of all, the writing is delightful. I love the way you describe the scenes, and details fill this game with so much charm. The biggest issue I had with the puzzles was simply a lack of information. With a game like this, where half the time I try to do something like "Use hook on ring" I see "Use is not a verb I'm familiar with" and get discouraged. How could I possibly know what my options are? When I typed "rotate statue" my expectations are "rotate is not a verb I'm familiar with", yet it was the solution. I'll admit, it's a genre I don't have much experience with, but text based adventures seem to be riddled with "verbs" that you just need to somehow know you are able to do. I asked you on discord about placing something on the altar, for "place is not a verb..." only to learn I had to use the word "put". The issue is that there's so many situations like that. You just need to know that you have to use the word "put", or that "rotate" is an option. It feels all the more confusing when "use" isn't something I can do. You don't "use key on door" you "open door with key". I think that's an issue of the engine more-so than your own design.
I can only imagine watching this will be painful, but here's an hour and a half of me stubbing my toe in every room and getting frustrated at my own lack of information, due to the aforementioned "you don't phrase it like this, you phrase it like that" knowledge that I couldn't have had going into this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4SvqeiDtVQ
Nice work
Anyways, you can probably tell by the fact that I'm avoiding addressing the game that I don't have much to say - I don't really trust myself to critique a text adventure I guess? I suppose I would say that I think the font size could be a little larger, and perhaps that some of the choices on where to go and what to do seem a bit arbitrary at times. Other than that though, I had a really good time! The writing is succinct, but sets the mood very well, and the commands are simple to use to navigate the world with. Well done, congrats!
Like rbbhn, I don't think I'm in a position to critique this, although what I can say is, the writing is superb and the amount of content is staggering for a compo entry.