LudumData

Ritual by Unicorn Studios

[raw]
made by Unicorn Studios for Ludum Dare 45 (JAM)

A short game about summoning a demon.

The game, programming, art, audio, and music was created by me during the jam period.

The only aspect of my game not created by me was the font used.

Prologue

You find yourself in the middle of a strange, mysterious forest. With nothing to your name, all you know is that you must summon a demon.

Explore the barren landscape in search of the ritual scroll and the objects required to summon a demon. Stay warm to survive the barren landscape long enough to summon a demon. Collect items, cut down trees, and interact with the environment to find tools and objects to aid in your survival.

Controls Movement: W A S D Swing Axe: Left Mouse Button Build Fire: Right Mouse Button (NOTE. requires items to build) Interact: E Magnetize Items: E (NOTE. requires items to be within certain range) Open/Close Inventory: Tab

Key Gameplay Aspects: Stay near campfires to stay warm. Open chests to collect items. Cut down trees to collect sticks. Build campfires. Explore the landscape. Check item descriptions to find clues.

Check the https://unicorn-studios.itch.io/ritual page for a more detailed description.

Screenshot 4.png Screenshot 6.png Screenshot 3.png Screenshot 5.png

Youtube https://unicorn-studios.itch.io/ritual
Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/45/ritual

Ratings

Overall 161th 3.9⭐ 32🧑‍⚖️
Fun 489th 3.362⭐ 31🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 726th 2.966⭐ 31🧑‍⚖️
Theme 388th 3.55⭐ 32🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 107th 4.267⭐ 32🧑‍⚖️
Audio 8th 4.35⭐ 32🧑‍⚖️
Humor 711th 2.391⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Mood 3th 4.5⭐ 32🧑‍⚖️
Given 18🗳️ 25🗨️

Feedback

Emma B
08. Oct 2019 · 10:09 UTC
Love the musics and the graphic, a shame that deer don't run away from my axe. Poor things. I would have liked to talk to the demon. Great job anyway !
NachtWitch
09. Oct 2019 · 00:34 UTC
Really fun game, can't wait for part 2
supercannon
09. Oct 2019 · 00:43 UTC
I love the atmosphere the music and simple graphics inspired. I did notice that if you open the tab menu, your warmth doesn't deplete, but you can still move. Cool game!
kuviman
09. Oct 2019 · 00:54 UTC
Nice game. I see the level is looped around. Maybe a seemless transition would be cool.
NATHAN WASH
09. Oct 2019 · 02:30 UTC
Cool game with a nice aesthetic. The art and music mesh very well together and gives the whole game a suspenseful mood.

I got stuck after lighting the candles around the pentagram, I tried dropping some deer meat around the ritual circle but couldn't get anything to happen when pressing Q to offer my gifts.

Very cool and impressive everything came from 1 dev!
TaqoShaq
09. Oct 2019 · 03:00 UTC
Wow, this was really nice! That minimalistic pixel art is stunning! MY only piece of criticism is that the "give gifts" prompt probably shouldn't come up until you have everything? Maybe have some sort of feedback that although you're on the right track at that point, you still need to find something.

Otherwise, I can't think of any other criticism!
MattWagar
09. Oct 2019 · 21:27 UTC
Super moody. Love what you did with the snow on the trees. The warmth mechanic was clever too, made moving around a bit more stressful. I like that you made item descriptions important. Demon ritual games are awesome and we need more of them!
SirRed
10. Oct 2019 · 02:34 UTC
The art was great. The game itself was harder than I thought it would be since the fire kept going out so fast. Definitely a moody game.
Taylor Reynolds
10. Oct 2019 · 03:14 UTC
Amazing mood and game art. Love the super minimal style and color palette.
karlipoppins
10. Oct 2019 · 03:49 UTC
Love the art style and gameplay. Music was perfectly spooky and I loved the fact that there was a proper scenario and ending. Great job!
AdamCYounis
10. Oct 2019 · 03:53 UTC
I really liked the mood in this game, and how well the graphics complimented that. The game was a little bit directionless for a good portion, and I had to learn by failure a couple of times. With a little more control over the risk / reward factors, i think the jacket might not have needed to be so powerful, but in this state, I'm glad it was. Cool imagery and music. Congrats on a completed game!
Le Don
10. Oct 2019 · 10:29 UTC
Love the art and the music. The beginning is quite hard, as the fire goes out quickly and the goal of the game isn't clear at that point.
PabloTitan
10. Oct 2019 · 12:19 UTC
Did you used some shader here? Unique style, eloquent mood ;) and a really nice, challenging gameplay
Oneki
11. Oct 2019 · 09:37 UTC
Such a thick atmosphere! Transported me to Nick Cage in Mandy. Love the experience twist in pretending it's "another obvious" survival game, but no-no there's some creepy shit here instead.

Controls would have been nice in-game. Couldn't summon with the scroll, after trying really hard. Stood next/on top off/under the pentagram, all 4 candles were already lit, had a skull... pressed everything and nothing :(
BilalCh213
11. Oct 2019 · 16:32 UTC
Mood and Aesthetics are the main elements of this game. Nice music and art. Gameplay is harsh and the objective of the game is vague (probably, just to survive?). Controls could have improved. Anyway, the entry is real good and solid!
ToFuMan
12. Oct 2019 · 03:21 UTC
one of the best game I've played until now. complete, full with content, can see potiential. maybe consider to do this as a full project?
JoelLikesPigs
13. Oct 2019 · 08:13 UTC
Oh man! I hadn't realised you had entered! This game was great! Super moody and love your "disintergrate" effect when you destroy trees and things. The music really nailed the atmosphere - I could for sure see this being developed into a full game well done!
Omiya Games
18. Oct 2019 · 05:04 UTC
I really like the slow, gradual reveal of the game as one slowly walks downwards to discover what's coming up. The audio does a fantastic job of creating an ominous and hostile atmosphere. It took a very long while for me to figure out all the controls, as well as discovering what materials were necessary to create my own bonfire; but in a way, that frustration sort of enhanced my experience as things slowly become clearer, and the narrative slowly unfolded in front of me.

Still, I do think having an actual tutorial on teaching the controls would have been really nice. For example, instructions on how to bring up the inventory would have been nice very early on. It would have also been nice when one had enough materials to create a bonfire, and where it would be created when the right-mouse button was clicked (where the mouse cursor is). I definitely felt like I died a lot from too much experimentation, and once I realized how simple the game was, felt a bit bummed by all the things I could have learned earlier if the game just gave me hints at what buttons to press.