LudumData

Echo Chaser by Verbante

[raw]
made by Verbante for Ludum Dare 59 (COMPO)

Chase echoes...

Explore an interconnected world. Find the source of the echoes.

Controls:

  • arrows: Move
  • x: Echolocate
  • z: jump (alternative)

Post Jam:

https://verbante.itch.io/echo

Post jam version introduces some minor visual, map and code tweaks to make exploring slightly more comfortable.

Theme:

I interpreted the theme in 2 ways:

  1. Following signals

  2. Using signals to what is around

Ending (spoiler):

!> There are many ways of reaching the end, most of them takes around 10 minutes on first try.

!> If you've finished it one way you can play it again to find an other path.

echo-splat_4.gif

Thanks:

Special thanks to my playtesters: aniseako, starfury, snowpardux and poetphin,

To mhughson for it's platformer demo code,

and to you for playing!

echo-splat_6.gif

Speed running:

There is a speed run mode in settings (P). Feel free to post your best times!

Post Jam https://verbante.itch.io/echo
Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/59/echo-chaser

Ratings

Overall 10th 4.208⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Fun 14th 4.104⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 13th 4.125⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Theme 31th 4.271⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 9th 4.458⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Audio 40th 3.875⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Mood 21th 4.146⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Given 14🗳️ 18🗨️

Feedback

Guardaro
Apr 20th · 01:28 UTC
Looks amazing! Any possibility of a cart? I'm trying to try as many pico8 games as I can on my handheld.
Psycanic
Apr 20th · 05:25 UTC
How you handle the pixel is insane.. got any inspiration from Animal Well by any chance? Both of you are insane
Umaiit
Apr 20th · 07:22 UTC
Love your pixel art!
quietchili
Apr 20th · 12:13 UTC
I love the art and audio! Very Cool!
7uc4s
Apr 21st · 10:36 UTC
the art is really cool, also love the concept, though I wish it we could spam the echo locator a bit more :p
Wouter52
Apr 21st · 12:51 UTC
Loved it! The graphics are amazing, I love what you can do with such limitations. Having the platforms appear and disappear using the echo technique itself is really clever. If I may give a suggestion: Add a cover image to your game! It deserves the love! I managed to play all the way until the end.

One little thing I found: while explaining the controls, the "Z" key is not displayed.
🎤 Verbante
Apr 21st · 15:26 UTC
@guardaro yes! i'll let you know when I upload it to bbs
🎤 Verbante
Apr 21st · 15:29 UTC
@psycanic hehe thanks! Yeah I love Animal Well. I really like the games that immerse you in their rule system. So I was thinking about Rain World as I started this, and the sonar part probably comes from Barotrauma. Because of it's style sounds, and puzzle platformer aspects I started thinking more and more about Animal Well towards the end of the development
🎤 Verbante
Apr 21st · 15:31 UTC
@7uc4s Deciding on those limits are really tricky lol one of my play testers requested to spam it less so that he'd have to rely more in his memory. Glad you liked it regardless
🎤 Verbante
Apr 21st · 15:34 UTC
@wouter52 Yey thank you! I will add a cover image you're absolutely right. Glad you reached the end!!

About z: I try to keep my tutorials as simple as possible, usually at the cost of not explaining alternative controls. You can also jump with up key so I left that one out. Though I will put it in the explanation down below
Guardaro
Apr 21st · 15:55 UTC
I finally got around to trying it (I had to fight the LD embed pretty hard to get it to work). Amazing game! Might be my favorite of the 10-ish I've tried so far? Absolutely beautiful graphics, and I kept being surprised to find that there were more mechanics (I loved the blue / green blocks). Fantastic job.
🎤 Verbante
Apr 21st · 15:58 UTC
...
🎤 Verbante
Apr 21st · 15:59 UTC
@guardaro Awesome! Thank you :))
NE-Aquilon
Apr 21st · 21:50 UTC
Amazing. Truly beautiful. Visual style absolutely elevates standard platformer and echo gameplay.
Volkolak
Apr 22nd · 13:35 UTC
It's beautifully done, very vibey and interesting to explore the world.
iovorobiev
Apr 23rd · 18:10 UTC
Love it! I had constant feeling that I missed a turn somewhere, but then I saw the guy in the end and was like "oh, hello!" :)
qmdev
Apr 24th · 19:14 UTC
The game is very cool, visually similar to Animal Well, very beautiful.
LDJam user 243193
Apr 25th · 11:20 UTC
Well done, I love how signal is used to trace your surroundings. I can see the possible alternate paths but I'm happy with the one I've taken to reach THE END.
Purrseus
Apr 26th · 09:29 UTC
![Screenshot_20260426-112259.Chrome.png](///raw/ebc/c/z/72bdd.png)

I just finished your game for the first (possibly not last!) time. This was a really unique experience! You really captured the feeling of being stuck with a novel sense humans typically don't have!

The game is, simply put, beautiful. It's amazing, what you wrangled out of PICO-8 here. The sound/music is also super atmospheric. I was really immersed! Figuring out the rules of this world tingled something in me that I thought was reserved to nostalgia :heart:

I played on my phone and it worked buttery smooth, however being able to jump with Up was a minor nuisance with a digital dpad because I jumped a lot accidentally. This was really minor though.

Thanks for creating this gem!
smilewood
Apr 26th · 15:41 UTC
Very fun, I love the concept of an echolocation - based game and this is one of the best that I have had the pleasure to play. I think the 8-bit graphics style was excellent for communicating how the echos light up the world. I also really appreciated how the rippling lighting up of the world contributed to the soundscape, I think that added a lot to how immersing the navigation was. Fantastic game jam entry, well done!


edit: my completion time was 5:19
🎤 Verbante
Apr 26th · 17:31 UTC
@purrseus WOW thanks for the high praise!

I can add a setting to toggle jump with up for post jam
RenD
Apr 26th · 19:30 UTC
Impressive entry! All the mechanics you introduce are really clever and it's super engaging to understand how they work and navigate the levels. The sound design, the aesthetics, everything works together perfectly to bring a mysterious and almost spiritual vibe, just like Animal Well as others have mentioned. Incredible game, I think that's the best I've tried so far
Papaver
Apr 30th · 11:35 UTC
That was a fun and mysterious adventure! Great entry :clap:
LDJam user 352490
May 04th · 21:50 UTC
This game was extremely cool! It felt like I had to relearn how to see the world from scratch, and it was satisfying seeing all the ways different materials interacted with the echoes. There were a lot of cool platform designs, like the thin platforms that you could only see one side of, or the platforms you had to jump and alternate at the same time. And the visuals were gorgeous with all the particle effects.

I don't really any critiques, it was just fun to explore the world you built.

![explosions.png](///raw/ae0/65/z/7318f.png)
deformhead
May 06th · 12:52 UTC
Awesome game!

I had the idea of this gameplay for more than a decade, really happy to see it done better than I could have done, especially on a COMPO timeframe!

Loved your work on the particle effect, it makes the whole game, so I imagine it was a huge bet, but you did it perfectly well!

:clap:
nexusasx10
May 08th · 15:42 UTC
I've seen several games where you make impulses to see in the darkness but this game is the most stylish an well made game ot them. I love this art and sound. Also the idea of changing environment when you make a signal is really cool.