Your Dreadful Majesty by Shess

[raw]
made by Shess for Ludum Dare 56 (JAM)

"They look at you in awe and terror. They reach out and beg for your benevolence. But the gifts they receive will take a greater toll on their bodies and minds than they could ever be ready for."

ydm<em>scr</em>003.png

Story: you, a dormant elder god, have been discovered by humans. Excited by their encounter with the divine, they form a cult around you and begin their worship. Although you cannot communicate with them directly, you can bestow the light of your otherworldly knowledge upon them and let them drink your ichor.

As you observe these tiny, fragile, broken creatures, you may develop a certain fondness for them. But the weight of your love can be crushing, and you must never forget that.


  • Respond to your cult's prayers and grace them with gifts
  • Balance between falling asleep and being fully awake
  • Meet outstanding individuals and explore their stories
  • Collect all 8 endings (or don't, perhaps I made too many)
  • Play in browser!

Controls: mouse only. [CLICK] on the choices presented to you as the story unfolds. Feel free to check the in-game tutorial for additional help.

Tips and tricks: - once you pick an option, the game will remember it and display a little note on it next time; - while some choices will give you resource regeneration, sustaining your followers might drain it instead; - sometimes humans will misinterpret your intentions, and that's alright; - if you complete a special storyline, you will get its corresponding ending; - you can use INSIGHT to unlock hints for the endings you haven't obtained yet.


ydm<em>scr</em>001.png

Code: Yanrishatum. Art: Ponytrator. Gamedesign, writing: [Shess].

Ratings

Overall 23th 4.316⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Fun 159th 3.875⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 353th 3.526⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Theme 280th 3.974⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 26th 4.675⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Mood 3th 4.7⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Given 50🗳️ 26🗨️

Feedback

Wiskey
08. Oct 2024 · 08:10 UTC
The pixel art is f*cking awesome! <3
Also, lovecraftian horror but from the perspective of an old one? very clever, well done
og.theo
08. Oct 2024 · 08:36 UTC
Really liked the artstyle and overall theme. The game feels well designed and quite polished! Great job!
Tasostagtal
08. Oct 2024 · 08:37 UTC
Looks amazing. Simple and very cool
Risminator
08. Oct 2024 · 08:37 UTC
What an interesting game!
The interpretation of my actions was confusing at times in my first playthrough. Sometimes "sleeping" may mean approval of the plea and sometimes it may mean ignoring the plea, and something like that for every choice. But I don't really think that it worsens the experience: Indeed, the god's answers aren't interpreted the same way by different people. The resource system is very intuitive and really well designed though! In some time, I managed to understand how the game works.
It's easy to become attached to your cult, and it was very interesting to know how to get an ending I want, the hint system motivates you to explore more options, it's intriguingly good!

The music, the altar that changes depending on your choices, gorgeous UI and beautiful writing - Such an immersive experience, thank you for your game!
juju
09. Oct 2024 · 23:37 UTC
Incredible art style! Please keep working on this!
sarfivell
10. Oct 2024 · 03:15 UTC
The Elysium ending is my favorite. I felt so horrible rejecting the girl in one of my playthroughs :(
The art is very nice too. I like how it always reflects your choices
Carraka
22. Oct 2024 · 14:56 UTC
I really enjoyed this game! Played through a bunch of times and got some different endings. Definitely enjoy the Elysium ending. I could never figure out how Knowledge/Light is supposed to work. Also, the font was slightly difficult to read at first. Great job!
someone
23. Oct 2024 · 00:04 UTC
I really loved this game. Lovely writing, intriguing stories, gorgeous pixel art, great sound design and an excellent level of polish.
I got all the endings. The Prometheus one gave me the most trouble until I unlocked all the numbers, I kept getting the Throne ending. I like how none of the choices were ever outright bad options to pick.
Interesting interpretation of the theme. Very different to any other game I have played here so far.
Great job!
Achiru
23. Oct 2024 · 00:10 UTC
Really cool game, I did most of the endings and really enjoyed the overall mood, whatever choice I made. I had to finish a few games before really understanding the meaning of the different icons though, maybe a tutorial entry on the icons would help.
Sockenpuppe
25. Oct 2024 · 15:47 UTC
Holy shit, this is amazing! The music really sets the mood and I absolutely loved seeing the changes on the left side depending on what choices I made.

I played long enough to get all endings. I struggled a bit with getting "Offsprings" and "Usurper" because I was a bit unlucky in that those playthroughs took a bit too long so I would end up with the "Throne" ending a bit too often haha. I knew what choices I had to make but I also had to get these playthroughs to last long enough in order to get those choices or I'd end up meddling a bit too much and ending up with "World End".

"Elysium" was my favourite by far!

Loved this game so much :D