Beneath the Surface by bowatatoy

[raw]
made by bowatatoy for LD29 (COMPO)

Ratings

Coolness 80% 2
Overall 3.13 614
Audio 3.31 228
Fun 2.29 1112
Graphics 3.33 440
Humor 1.93 914
Innovation 3.15 487
Mood 4.22 18
Theme 3.87 103

Feedback

dkkarate
27. Apr 2014 · 17:33 UTC
Immature and offensive
Calahagus
27. Apr 2014 · 18:56 UTC
@dkkarate Immature? Really? I frankly don't understand how.

Nice game, surprisingly dark. I love the play on the theme, and the shifting perspectives. Well done!
kiririn51
28. Apr 2014 · 10:24 UTC
Holy fuck, was this game depressing. I admit the rape thing was portrayed kind of weird but I think the dialogue was made like that due to the short gameplay time, it basically made a tl;dr of what is traditionally long and heavy dialogue, think of this as VERY minimalistic story telling.
madhoe
28. Apr 2014 · 10:30 UTC
I actually loved how this went. The choice was tough.
Druid
28. Apr 2014 · 10:42 UTC
Sir, you made a excelent game!
oatsbarley
28. Apr 2014 · 11:06 UTC
While the story was a bit two dimensional, the cuts to static were used really well, and the overall mood of it is spot on. Interesting!
DarkMeatGames
28. Apr 2014 · 15:28 UTC
Sheeeeiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

At first, I was annoyed with the hammering on the inside of the coffin, but I stuck with it. Really well done, even though the 'joke' at the end when you choose one of the options (I won't spoil it) took me out of it.

A+ for theme mood and audio!
cr2crstudios
28. Apr 2014 · 15:30 UTC
Huh. :)
Kragnir
28. Apr 2014 · 15:32 UTC
The first cut to static was pretty well times after that it got a bit annoying. I expected a bit more of the story.
theholychicken
28. Apr 2014 · 19:33 UTC
Well shit...
An enjoyable game in the uncomfortable kind of way :D
Great work!
devince
29. Apr 2014 · 09:57 UTC
Great storytelling
mclewis
29. Apr 2014 · 09:57 UTC
How is he bullet-proof?
sink_t
29. Apr 2014 · 10:13 UTC
A very dark and atmospheric experience, magnified by the switching of perspectives. Sadly, it's barely a game. There's literally only one choice (as far as I have seen), which makes it more like (non)-interactive fiction than a video game.

The MS Paint graphics, with no straight lines at all, give a decent effect with such irregular shapes as humans, but look
terrible when applied to furniture.

On a side note, I have noticed that female developers (the author signs herself (?) as "donkeywoman") often include rape in their plot, as has been also the case with "Rebuild" (by sarahnorthway at Armor Games).
Kwrky
29. Apr 2014 · 15:22 UTC
holy shit, well done
kristof
29. Apr 2014 · 15:36 UTC
I like _how_ you told the story by switching between the scenes and by forcing the player to do a simple action. I don't like the story itself though. No one had a motivation for their actions. And then a random bullet proof wall appears... Also rape should not be part of any game... Just my opinion.
Mythalore
30. Apr 2014 · 11:50 UTC
Errrr, da fuq? I personally found the story quite inappropriate and badly handled (I have a sister who is a wheelchair user) but it did take a lot of guts to do something like this. So I guess, well done for trying.
ninjascript
30. Apr 2014 · 14:39 UTC
Very atmospheric.
tchem
01. May 2014 · 03:15 UTC
great atmospheric game,,,, the immersion and artwork are cool... great work
SevenKingdomsSurvivors
01. May 2014 · 03:16 UTC
Incredibly creepy and very linear. I loved the graphic style and the music. The story was really short, but packed a lot into it. Had to play through it twice to see both endings.
paps
01. May 2014 · 13:06 UTC
well dark story here, very sad also. Nice idea of re living your life while being buried. Too bad it ended to early, I expected him to get out in the end (I guess I saw to much movies...)
tomvert
01. May 2014 · 13:06 UTC
Nice interactive fiction, very dark mood, the short dialog are a good idea since people don't have the time to spend a lot of time on each game.
Switchbreak
03. May 2014 · 13:44 UTC
I think the writing and the story are unfortunately pretty bad. The villain is cartoonish and the woman is more of a vehicle for horrible (and kind of offensively badly handled) dramatic things that drive the plot than a person. It's a shame because the presentation and the pacing are excellent, it is incredibly moody and dark, but undermined by the writing and characters.

I think you should keep making games like this one - I love the focus on story over action, but work on the writing.
Delca
10. May 2014 · 21:35 UTC
The way you get to decide what the whole 'man in the green box' really is is great. Also, this was a bit unsettling, but definitely a great experience.
I only wish it lasted longer. Great job!
gre
12. May 2014 · 16:20 UTC
Creepy. Good mood, nice and conceptual take on the theme.
Moosefly
16. May 2014 · 01:00 UTC
The coffin made a nice drumset. Would've liked some more gameplay though, at the moment it's pretty much a walking(/limping) simulator with a thin plot.

Took a look at your journal too, congratulations on your first Ludum Dare entry! Judging by the comments you've received so far you succeeded on the shock value part :P.

Anssi@MooseflyGames