Runic Distractions by 1y1e

[raw]
made by 1y1e for Ludum Dare 55 (COMPO)

Take on the role of a most maligned ritualist as they race each night to complete their summoning spell.

Mouse and keyboard required. Make sure you select your keyboard layout in the opening screens! QWERTY, AZERTY and QWERTZ are supported.

Did you get stuck? See below for spoilery help. Otherwise, the play link is at the bottom of the post!

Thanks for playing and rating, feels good to game jam again.


BUG FIX 2024-04-15, 12:15 BST: thanks to everyone alerting me about problems with different keyboard - turns out Unity handles this sort of remapping automatically! So all I really needed to change was the displayed keys. Non-QWERTY keyboards should have a much nice time now :)


  1. Runes: You have to mash each section of your keyboard in order to generate runes - your goal runes are at the bottom of the screen, and you must complete them left to right. EG: masking "QWERT" will set the left side of the rune to that value.
  2. Candles: Do the candles keep getting blown out? Use your mouse to reignite them! click and hold to light your lights, and mouse over the problematic candle.
  3. Bells: when activated, you'll see the bells start to jump and you will hear a sound cue. Run your finger along the number keys 1 to 8, and the timer will go back to normal pace.

Screenshot 2024-04-15 at 01.43.06.png

Ratings

Overall 34th 4.083⭐ 20🧑‍⚖️
Fun 46th 3.972⭐ 20🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 8th 4.444⭐ 20🧑‍⚖️
Theme 7th 4.528⭐ 20🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 33th 4.222⭐ 20🧑‍⚖️
Audio 51th 3.806⭐ 20🧑‍⚖️
Humor 34th 3.917⭐ 20🧑‍⚖️
Mood 13th 4.222⭐ 20🧑‍⚖️
Given 14🗳️ 12🗨️

Feedback

LDJam user 388431
15. Apr 2024 · 04:22 UTC
I absolutely loved this game! Such a creative way to fit with the theme. I know it's oversaid, but I really felt like I was casting spells lol. The ending was very silly too. Good luck!
Fatal-Exit
15. Apr 2024 · 10:16 UTC
Seemed like a great game. However that level of button mashing is a no go with an RSI injury, so had to stop playing pretty much immediately. Graphics and mood were amazing tho, well done!
hugohil
15. Apr 2024 · 10:21 UTC
very cool gameplay! i had problems with the keyboard layout though, i selected azerty and it stayed in qwerty. Also, i use a mac keyboard so some of the punctuation characters are placed differently than windows.
Couldn't play it through but the idea is nice!
Andreas Decker
15. Apr 2024 · 10:23 UTC
Very cool idea and the mood and setup was all around perfect for me :D

Unfortunately, using my QWERTZ keyboard didn't quite work, even though I selected it. The Y and Z were switched and the - was also elsewhere.
JSMCAG
15. Apr 2024 · 10:24 UTC
Surprisingly hectic!
Loved the main mechanic of mashing keys to build runes. Having to take your hands off the keyboard to use the mouse was brilliant!

Overall, short but very fun! Great entry!
Swerky
15. Apr 2024 · 10:27 UTC
Very addictive! Well done.
LDJam user 384191
15. Apr 2024 · 10:35 UTC
I love it! The tone is just the right blend of silly and spooky, and the tasks are hard enough to be challenging without being too frustrating. The only (very minor) issue I had was that the keyboard mapping wasn't right: pressing the "A" key on my (AZERTY) keyboard triggered the "Q" in game, even though I chose the "AZERTY" option at the beginning. Again, this is very minor as I still managed to reach the end by using the other keys. Great job!
🎤 1y1e
15. Apr 2024 · 11:16 UTC
Thanks to all the AZERTY and QWERTZ owners for flagging that input bug! Should now be resolved, full details in the description 👍
Alex Mulkerrin
15. Apr 2024 · 14:49 UTC
Keyboard mashing as a mechanic is certainly novel!

I enjoyed the aesthetic of this and the humour that came through in the text. Nice lighting effects too with the candles that must remain lit so you can see the runes.
Domenixius
16. Apr 2024 · 17:00 UTC
Love this! Super creative and fun! All hail the Dark Lord! Would have liked some audio feedback when I changed a rune since I found myself still mashing when the part I wanted was already locked in. The game was the perfect length for this style of game cudos!
Chuckiee
18. Apr 2024 · 08:18 UTC
Nice, feels like inspired by Inscryption. Also very innovative and fun! I hope my keyboard thinks the same :smile: Nailed the mood. Great entry! PS: What an ending :smile:
jdah
19. Apr 2024 · 02:17 UTC
nice game! I expected a typing game but was pleasantly surprised with another form of keyboard mashing game :D well done!
Flying Dog Fish
20. Apr 2024 · 14:13 UTC
What if someone comes to play your game with a Dvorak keyboard layout? It shouldn't matter what keyboard layout people have. You should program your game to use keyboard button detection that is independent of the layout (like KeyCode constants in Unity).

Anyway, this is a pretty unique game. It looks great and has a great moody atmosphere. The ending was funny too.

I managed to cheat, in the last level I just ignored the bells and lighting candles, as I remembered which parts of runes were on which keys. To avoid this, the candles going out should hide the required runes too and the ringing the bells should be enforced somehow.
LDJam user 364744
21. Apr 2024 · 21:20 UTC
this is just way too fun. i love the hectic style of gameplay, and i don't think i've ever played a game with an input scheme like yours. love the little details like the candle flame and the ending made me lol. fantastic entry!
shadowbrain
24. Apr 2024 · 11:16 UTC
Interesting! Not a massive fan of button mashing personally but it is a neat creative way to use a keyboard haha.
kjscott
28. Apr 2024 · 18:49 UTC
Deceptive simple yet elegant little game, very interesting mechanics and fun to play.
MaxguN
28. Apr 2024 · 22:25 UTC
Hahaha loved it, didn't expect the invocation but it was purrfect ;) Loved the mechanics for the invocation, not too hard yet a bit of a challenge with the timer ticking in the background.
Thank you for the game and congrats on your entry!