LudumData

Abyss Prison by EpicGameFan

[raw]
made by EpicGameFan for Ludum Dare 57 (JAM)

DepthIntroDemo.gif

A new adventure for the 8-bit Nintendo Game Boy handheld!

An escape room style, point and click adventure game. Going before a tribunal with no due process, you are sentenced to remain within the THE DEPTH as punishment for your dissension against the Council of the Brotherhood. Using clues left behind by a Marvin Monreau and your wit, you must find a way to escape your prison and bring yourself back to freedom!

This is a game that has been programmed for the 8-bit Game Boy handheld console by Nintendo. It is being played inside an emulator that is embedded in HTML. Note: Playing on a mobile device is awesome because the emulator displays Game Boy controls and it generally seems to work very well!

itch.io

Click the link below to play on itch.io:

https://epicgamefan.itch.io/abyss-prison

How to Play:

Game Boy Controls

  • D-Pad - Move Cursor
  • A - Select
  • B - Change the cursor speed

On a Keyboard

  • WASD or Arrow Keys - Move Cursor
  • Z or J - Select
  • X or K - Change the cursor speed

Screenshots

DepthScene1Capture.png

DepthScene2Capture.png

DepthScene3Capture.png

Link https://epicgamefan.itch.io/abyss-prison
Link https://github.com/epicgamefan/ld57
Link https://epicgamefan.itch.io/abyss-prison
Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/57/abyss-prison

Ratings

Overall 38th 4.231⭐ 28🧑‍⚖️
Fun 73th 4.038⭐ 28🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 125th 3.865⭐ 28🧑‍⚖️
Theme 648th 3.269⭐ 28🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 94th 4.385⭐ 28🧑‍⚖️
Audio 85th 4.019⭐ 28🧑‍⚖️
Humor 174th 3.54⭐ 27🧑‍⚖️
Mood 71th 4.192⭐ 28🧑‍⚖️
Given 14🗳️ 22🗨️

Feedback

eggsscrambled
08. Apr 2025 · 03:47 UTC
The color Pallet shift is a cool easter egg :eyes:
stephenwhoskins
08. Apr 2025 · 04:26 UTC
@eggsscrambled Thanks! It's the default palette for the 8-bit Game Boy. This is literally an 8-bit Game Boy ROM that we made and that we have playing in a Game Boy emulator embedded in a web page. I really hope you liked it! =)
randomhuman
09. Apr 2025 · 20:44 UTC
Damn, had to bust out the pen and paper for this one :laughing: Really well done, a decent series of challenges.
stephenwhoskins
10. Apr 2025 · 00:59 UTC
@randomhuman Yay! Thank you for playing it! I greatly appreciate it! =)
moonlightbomber
15. Apr 2025 · 01:02 UTC
Glad to see another Game Boy game for LD.
Fireye
23. Apr 2025 · 02:14 UTC
Whoa that QR code was coooool
stephenwhoskins
23. Apr 2025 · 02:26 UTC
@fireye Hahaha. Thanks! I'm glad you liked that. =)
Matt Giuca
23. Apr 2025 · 02:58 UTC
Well done making an actual Gameboy game for a game jam! The art and music work really nicely. I clicked and saw a lot of codes but sadly did not have the patience to try and solve the complex puzzles, but I wanted to give a rating anyway because it looked like a lot of effort went into this.
stephenwhoskins
23. Apr 2025 · 03:01 UTC
@matt-giuca Many thanks!
GuitarBro
23. Apr 2025 · 04:12 UTC
Man, really like what's going on here, but it's midnight here and my brain is not functioning enough to complete the subtraction equations so I'm stuck there. :upside_down: I'll take a hint on those two if you'd like me to see the rest of it.

Obviously you're working within the constraints of the hardware, but you still managed to get some pretty nice graphics/music. I also like the premise, but it does feel like just a _bit_ of a stretch to connect it to the theme lol

Anyways, really good job from what I saw up to that point.
stephenwhoskins
23. Apr 2025 · 04:22 UTC
@guitarbro You can do it!!! I'll give you a hint. If you look at the safe with the odd shapes that match the chalkboard, they're numbered 1 through 15. You'll see a post-it note with equations. The chalkboard equations should all make sense once you know what the shapes mean.

We actually did come up with this concept for the depth. Sorry it seems like a stretch. =(
LDJam user 365791
23. Apr 2025 · 04:28 UTC
This is a really cool game! The music and graphics are top notch. Unfortunately I do not see anything to interact with beyond getting the first two keys and opening the first locked door. I got the two safes open, got to the 3-key safe, and then spent a good half hour looking for somewhere to use either the konami code or recipe information. Think it says a lot that I wanted to spend that much time poking around, though. Nice work.
GuitarBro
23. Apr 2025 · 04:34 UTC
@stephenwhoskins Ah thanks, I was _way_ overthinking it. Totally makes sense in hindsight (I thought it was like, custom binary logic or something). Easily made it to the end after that point (since I already got the last hint I needed), very nice puzzles!
stephenwhoskins
23. Apr 2025 · 05:27 UTC
@guitarbro Yay! Thanks for playing it to the end! Much appreciated. =D
stephenwhoskins
23. Apr 2025 · 05:30 UTC
@thunnus Many thanks for playing it that long! Do you remember where you got your two keys? I can give you a hint for finding the third one. =)
Shasaur
23. Apr 2025 · 06:28 UTC
Very nice music, art, and well-written story. The puzzles were definitely challenging in a great. It took me like an hour to come back to the left-most door lock and realise that the symbols are in order. It was a nice IQ test, very much made me introspect on how I think and how I missed the hidden puzzle structural details, nice :) I think I almost got to the end, but got stuck on decoding the map - felt like I could see several paths but wasn't sure where to start (or maybe I was doing it wrong).
almost
23. Apr 2025 · 06:49 UTC
@stephenwhoskins

I'm not thunnus, but I also found 2 keys and am then stuck.
I solved a puzzle about shape arithmetic on the far left to get a key. I found a key in the desk. I also found a QR code and opened the door to the place where I need three keys.

The QR code gave me a sequence of directions, but I don't know where to use it. I tried pressing those keys on my keyboard but nothing happened. I think that I also did not make use of the sequence of frozen and chilled foods.

As for feedback to the game, most of the puzzles feel solvable but tricky, which is good. I think that the arithmetic logic for rotation possibly causing another rotation is a bit unintuitive but I figured it out. I like that the gameboy aesthetic made was clear about which items are likely to be interactible. However, I feel that aiming a cursor with the arrow keys is a bit tedious when I could be using a mouse.
Prvaak
23. Apr 2025 · 07:26 UTC
Nice game with nice puzzles. I really enjoyed it!
JohneyD
23. Apr 2025 · 08:23 UTC
Oh, love those graphics! I love gameboy games!
xen3x
23. Apr 2025 · 08:30 UTC
wow! cool to see a Game Boy game as a submission. Had a lot of fun unlocking the door but don't have the patience for everything. very complex! i spent a good amount of time on it and pulled out a piece of paper haha
VerttiXPertti
23. Apr 2025 · 08:39 UTC
Ooh I loved this! The fridge puzzle was very clever because initially I didn't realize it was a puzzle at all. Also the QR code was cool. I was stuck for a while with the symbols cause to me it resembled an IQ test where you have to rotate them and or add them together to create other symbols in a logical way, but then it ended up just being normal math with disguised numbers. I tried to somehow apply the QR directions to it also but nothing just quite worked. I loved the graphics and the atmosphere. Great game, surprised by the low amount of ratings.
Helen
23. Apr 2025 · 10:50 UTC
What an awesome game! I love it. Graphics and sound totally fit the Gameboy style. I love the riddles and definitely had to take notes. Well done! (And yes, I managed to escape when I read your hint for the 15 numbers)
stephenwhoskins
23. Apr 2025 · 11:33 UTC
@almost Oh! You are only missing 1 key and it's in the fridge. Try looking for a book in a certain toilet room. It might tell you what you need to do. =)

Since this is an actual Game Boy game, using a mouse isn't an option unfortunately. It has incredible limitations for sure.
stephenwhoskins
23. Apr 2025 · 11:37 UTC
@shasaur Thanks for playing! After collecting three keys and getting past the locked door in the Desk room (using the notes/logs left behind by Moreau to determine which buttons to push), you'll come to an area with a lot of tunnels. That's where the map comes in handy.
Empyreans
23. Apr 2025 · 12:27 UTC
Extremely enjoyable point & click retro puzzle adventure!

I have managed to beat the game. Though at one point I almost gave up on the safe with a weird math, but then I saw one of your comments here and it clicked for me and it all made sense. Should have applied myself better :sweat_smile:

![brave_gMj6rNtaLC.png](///raw/e7e/c5/z/6c69c.png)

Absolutely amazing work. Easily the best game of this genre on the jam!

I hope you get more ratings, because you deserve it!

~Xp
Jim jagers
23. Apr 2025 · 12:44 UTC
Didnt expect to see a point and click adventure game this jame, this was a lot of fun!
MatthewDrake
23. Apr 2025 · 13:16 UTC
Really cool point and click game with some fun puzzles. Like others I unfortunately got stuck with knowing how to use the QR Code information after scanning it, but I enjoyed what I played. Amazing that you made it for the gameboy too, really solid game jam entry!
stephenwhoskins
23. Apr 2025 · 18:24 UTC
@empyreans Thank you so much for playing (and beating it)! It's much appreciated. We have a fondness for classics, like Shadowgate (we both played the NES version), and we both like escape rooms. So we decided to do a game where you're escaping the depths. =)
Alphish
23. Apr 2025 · 19:04 UTC
It's nice to have a game that isn't about digging or diving for a change. ^^

It was an enjoyable point-and-click platformer (even if pointing was keyboard-controlled). I solved all the puzzles, though the fridge one I sort of brute-forced. The runic arithmetic felt odd at first, with different symbols involved in the operation than the ones shown on the blackboard. But once I realised the symbols on the safe are arranged in a plainest way possible, it all clicked together!

I really liked the mood here - intriguing, not too relaxed but not oppressive either. The audiovisuals were pretty nice too, I just wish the itch.io page didn't have the promotional GIF constantly moving in my peripheral vision.

Well done, that was a fun adventure! ^^
LDJam user 365791
23. Apr 2025 · 20:05 UTC
@stephenwhoskins Got it, finished! The fridge seemed to be empty whenever I rooted around in it. Not sure if the prompts reset if it's done wrong, but once I saw that the fridge itself was a puzzle it made sense. This was one of the best things I've seen in a jam. I grew up with an original Game Boy and this fit right in. Thank you!
stephenwhoskins
24. Apr 2025 · 00:36 UTC
@thunnus Woah. Many many thanks for completing it! That's obviously a developer's biggest hope. By the way, the best Christmas of my life was the year I got a Game Boy. That is very strange to me because the Nintendo was unquestionably my favorite console. But my parents got me the Game Boy, a rechargeable battery thingy, and I had Super Mario Land and Tetris. I can't believe how excited that made me receiving that as a kid. O__O
stephenwhoskins
24. Apr 2025 · 00:40 UTC
@alphish Many many thanks! I really appreciate you taking the time to get through the entire game. It means a lot to us! =)
sebbernery
24. Apr 2025 · 18:44 UTC
That was very cool, the enigmas was interesting but to be honest, I had to ask someone about the safe one, especially the minus operations. She wrote me the explanation, I would never guess that !
Having made a 3D game for the gameboy during the jam is very awesome.

![ldjamgb2.jpg](///raw/ce1/z/6c720.jpg)
(last picture I take before the game reset at the end ^^)
Congratulations for this entry ! That's a very cool game.
stephenwhoskins
25. Apr 2025 · 02:40 UTC
@sebbernery Oh my god. You. Are. Awesome. Thank you so much for going all the way through the game! And you put it onto a handheld? That's gorgeous!

Thanks so much for posting this. You just made my day. =D
sinclairstrange
25. Apr 2025 · 05:05 UTC
Going to be heading back to this one later tonight because this is a great puzzler but I wanted to get my vote in before times up! This is amazing, I love these types of games and even more so that's it's on the GB, that's wild! One of my favourites of the jam, amazing stuff this!
stephenwhoskins
25. Apr 2025 · 23:39 UTC
Thank you @sinclairstrange ! You're awesome. We're really happy that you took the time to play through the game and we also love that you share the same affinity for the Game Boy that we do. =)