Aboard by Chris Mulholland
You are a night janitor aboard a freighter at sea.

Play time is 5 minutes
Move with the arrow keys
Watch how this game was made here:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsHE5OvwMiarwMqA3Vhsqlw
Follow me on Twitter if you'd like: https://twitter.com/ch_mulholland
| Youtube | https://chrismulholland.itch.io/aboard |
| Original URL | https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/47/aboard |
Ratings
| Overall | 310th | 3.888⭐ | 96🧑⚖️ |
| Fun | 934th | 3.239⭐ | 96🧑⚖️ |
| Innovation | 448th | 3.66⭐ | 96🧑⚖️ |
| Theme | 154th | 4.197⭐ | 96🧑⚖️ |
| Graphics | 337th | 4.064⭐ | 96🧑⚖️ |
| Mood | 28th | 4.399⭐ | 96🧑⚖️ |
| Given | 27🗳️ | 33🗨️ |
I know it's supposed to be a minimalistic game, but you should consider giving a purpose to the in-game currency. The point of the game is to show how meaningless empty work can be, however, giving an illusory award to the player (such as a bigger bucket or stuff you can decorate your cabin with) might make people stick to the game for a longer time. And it will all still be for nothing at the end.
Taking into account it's supposed to be a conceptual game, I'd also cut the "moral of the story" text at the end. In my opinion, the concept is pretty clear by itself and literally delivering the message at the end, as explaining a joke, makes it a little less special.
Overall, even though I've seen a bunch of games associating the workplace with the "stuck on a loop" theme, this is one of my favourite games of this jam so far. Someone on the comments mentioned that the game is depressive as if it's a bad thing. I really dig it and was really drawn into it. Kudos.

job well done
Remind me the boringness of my student job, except that I prefer the moody piano than what I had to listen.
I'd love to see more games with this aesthetic; would work really well for horror.
Also the concept + incorporation of the theme was unique and very well done.
"There were puddles all over" lol
It made the delivery of the message that much more impactful.
I hope you'll make more of these in the future!
Really a gorgeous game. Especially the early 20th century feel in the intro message, and the window view.
Btw, I didn't manage to submit in time for LD, but if you feel like giving my (browser based) game a try, you can find the link on my profile description.
also the game delievers an important message.
Well done! :)
a short game that fits the theme very well
I was a little confused at first by the graphics, the water bucket between hallways looked like part of the floor.
Nice entry!
Probably the most...personal entry I've played this LD. Only negative point for me would be the fonts were a bit unclear.
The little flooding interlude was a welcome surprise that kept me going for a while longer.
I love the mood you managed to set with just the intro sequence, the ambient white noise of the sea and lo-fi graphics. I do have to mention, though, the way you downscaled the text is often difficult to read, and, in the case of the opening letter, hideous. I had that issue with my LD46 entry, it's not a game-ruining thing, but definitely something to watch out for in future games.
Good job overall.
The game has amazing atmosphere, I love it! Simple graphics and idea, nothing out of the ordinary there. I like that you made this into a little story game! There isn't much of a "gameplay" here and might be a little confusing at first... but it's not the main point of the game. The story it tells is.
Well done, nice job!