The Haunted Depths by ljg

[raw]
made by ljg for Ludum Dare 57 (COMPO)

In this game you are doing you find yourself stuck in a cave, without fully understanding how you got there. Luckily for you there is a beneficent being in the cave that might be able to help you out. Figure out where you are, what the beneficent being is, what the magic word is, and how you must say it. Then take attempt to escape!!New Piskel (13).png

Ratings

Overall 284th 2.71⭐ 33🧑‍⚖️
Fun 270th 2.683⭐ 32🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 267th 2.633⭐ 32🧑‍⚖️
Theme 225th 3.167⭐ 32🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 276th 2.633⭐ 32🧑‍⚖️
Humor 63th 3.397⭐ 31🧑‍⚖️
Mood 243th 2.931⭐ 31🧑‍⚖️
Given 40🗳️ 39🗨️

Feedback

LDJam user 396269
07. Apr 2025 · 04:01 UTC
nice game! the simple pixel art looks great!
LDJam user 285197
07. Apr 2025 · 04:05 UTC
The idea of the game is unique, however it can feel a bit bland. I think the game could really benefit to more "juice" like cool effects when I hit the buttons and such. It is also kind of irritating having to go through the little coffee monologue and intro each time I start over.
Kukatoo
08. Apr 2025 · 20:30 UTC
I enjoyed the humor as well as the reference to Mammoth Cave. Some varying visuals on screen or even a simple background audio track would have really elevated the whole experience.
whateverdat
08. Apr 2025 · 20:34 UTC
The interface is really clean, I thought it was made with ren'py at first! Simple addition of audio can go a long way if you decide to add it later, it was a good experience regardless!
Game-mon
08. Apr 2025 · 20:43 UTC
Nice! i must admit i did brute force through some of the answers haha. Some audio would be nice, and maybe some animation or anything to make the game a bit more "lively" and not just being text. But a very solid start!
Nuelijarma
08. Apr 2025 · 20:44 UTC
A cool little puzzle, thanks :)
P1x3lc0w
08. Apr 2025 · 20:56 UTC
Always nice to see a more narrative game in a jam! Overall figuring out how to escape felt a bit easy, i feel like the clues could have been a bit more subtle (maybe with some sort of dialogue log so you can think about the clues a bit). Good work and thanks for the game!
🎤 ljg
09. Apr 2025 · 19:36 UTC
I was trying to make a quick one-day jam and decided to opt out of audio in favor of other things, but some music would definitely have been my next step.
BUDSTER16
09. Apr 2025 · 21:13 UTC
I think some variation in the visuals would benefit the game a lot, it's a fun concept but definitely needs a little more to bring it to life.
buckmeister
10. Apr 2025 · 20:23 UTC
This was pretty fun. Took me awhile to go through all branches in the dialog. With some sounds and maybe animated background/variation, it would be even better! Good job!
jeremyfa
10. Apr 2025 · 20:34 UTC
Nice writing! I do have some feedback: I think the game could maybe be better if, instead of the die-and-retry logic that makes you go through text again and again after making a mistake, you would instead unlock the right choices only when you went through the proper related dialogues that gave you the clues. In other words, I'd rather think about the story as a labyrinth that is less punishing to the player (but doesn't have to be any less engaging) than as a die-and-retry game, which can be frustrating, at least for me. Of course that's just my feeling and maybe you'd not want to do that anyway which is ok. Regardless, the mood and story seem to have good potential, good job!
Yvanor
11. Apr 2025 · 10:05 UTC
Funny little game !

The writing is clever, giving enough hints while needing a bit of thoughts to be able to answer right.

Like the others, I would have loved to have more visuals to immerse myself more in this universe.
But great work anyway !
Miku
12. Apr 2025 · 05:19 UTC
I like the simplicity of this game, and the writing was pretty fun - definitely a game for the readers out there as you wouldn't know the incantation otherwise! I think the "spirit of the depths" revealing themself as the thief was my favorite part.
Harmadillo
12. Apr 2025 · 19:05 UTC
Fun game. I liked the writing and humour. Some alternate endings/failures would add some replayability.
Agraffs
12. Apr 2025 · 20:31 UTC
Pretty fun. Like the idea of narrative game. Would love to see the game with a bit more graphics if it"s continued post jam. A cool entry.
LDJam user 5243
13. Apr 2025 · 20:47 UTC
Fun game, but I would've liked some more interactivity with the scene maybe?
grid96
16. Apr 2025 · 17:59 UTC
Interesting entry! Just wish there would have been a bit more visually and auditive.
henk
17. Apr 2025 · 19:55 UTC
That's quite the download time for a couple images and some
text; I think Godot might be a bit overkill here :P
LDJam user 301295
18. Apr 2025 · 16:32 UTC
Simple, short, to the point game. I did fail the first time as I wasn't paying attention enough.
As others mentioned, some music or other forms of interaction would have gone a long way, but perhaps you ran out of time. I feel especially Audio could have gone a long way here.
Still a nice job though :)
Jonathan Vogt
21. Apr 2025 · 02:53 UTC
This is a cute game! The writing is whimsical, and the background art was well made. I think for the sake of ambience, it could definitely benefit from some light cave noises, but besides that, I'm not sure I have any other suggestions. Good job!
BinaryPrinciple
24. Apr 2025 · 02:07 UTC
I was not expecting a narrative game in LD.

The humor was very nice, the dialog tree just the right size, and the dialog system is juicy. I think you can expand this into multiple stories, here is an example. I remember a tv episode of an old show where devils reunited for a drink and talk about how humans reacted to their downfall and laugh about it, since we humans look clueless and impulsive and find out way to late there was no turning back.
I think integrating different character per run would make it engaging and adding a jazzy soundtrack with small sounds for the different dialog reactions.

It was a fun entry.