Fear of Sea by UnidayStudio
Descend into the Abyss - And Your Own Mind!
In Fear of Sea, you’re trapped in a steel coffin, going hundreds of meters below the surface. Your only goal: find hidden treasures lost to the ocean’s darkness, but down there, the pressure isn’t just physical—it’s psychological.
Every dive is a high-stakes puzzle. You must carefully plan your route, dodge deadly sharks, and keep an eye on your oxygen level. The deeper you go, the less margin for error. Hit the rocky seafloor, and your vessel might not recover. Stay down too long, and you'll never resurface.
This is a game about dread, strategy, and survival. There's no combat. No help. Just you, your submarine, and the crushing weight of the sea.
Screenshots:
Key Features:
- 🌊 First-Person Submarine Cockpit: Feel every creak and groan of your vessel as the depths close in.
- 🦈 Tension-Fueled Shark Encounters: Outmaneuver aggressive predators lurking in the dark.
- 🧭 Strategic Route Planning: Choose your path wisely—one wrong turn could be your last.
- 🫁 Oxygen Management: Every second counts. Balance risk and reward as you search for treasure.
- 🎧 Psychological Atmosphere: Audio design and environmental storytelling push your fear to the edge.
Can you brave the deep long enough to make it back alive?
Welcome to Fear of Sea. No one can hear you drown.
| Itch io Page | https://unidaystudio.itch.io/fear-of-sea |
| Original URL | https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/57/fear-of-sea |
Ratings
| Overall | 461th | 3.521⭐ | 26🧑⚖️ |
| Fun | 599th | 3.13⭐ | 25🧑⚖️ |
| Innovation | 578th | 3.043⭐ | 25🧑⚖️ |
| Theme | 104th | 4.217⭐ | 25🧑⚖️ |
| Humor | 599th | 2.342⭐ | 21🧑⚖️ |
| Mood | 230th | 3.896⭐ | 26🧑⚖️ |
| Given | 28🗳️ | 12🗨️ |
At the same time, I found it difficult to meaningfully strategize since the sharks move so much faster than the submarine, and they're very difficult to see. The audio balance jump-scared me a bit as well, which might have been intentional, but it might be good to even it out to build tension as well.
If you don't know the engine, it's an easy to use, fully tested, feature complete, 3D game engine written in C++ and scriptable in Python. Feel free to check it out here:
# [Learn more about Cave Engine](https://unidaystudio.itch.io/cave-engine)
It was very good to create this project using it. :smiley:
Very impressive for three days, Controls were easy, but I think you should be able to tilt the nose of the submarine to follow the mouse so you can look down and gradually descend
Here is my list of things that I think could be improved:
- The controls feel a bit heavy, I think that it's because the movement of the sub feels like it's done with impulses than forces: there is no acceleration and the sub stops immediatly when I release the button.
- I think that the cockpit is too big to see where you are in tight areas.
- The Shark/Ground/Depth indicators should be moved to the center of the screen, below the Oxygen bar, or made part of the sub's cockpit interface. Maybe it's because I'm playing on an ultrawide (21:9) screen, but I am distracted by looking at the corner of the screen to see if the shark is coming, or that I'm not hitting the ground.
- Maybe add a screen tint or a sound indicator when the shark is approaching at top speed. I died countless times suddenly without knowing why (I assume it was the shark and I wasn't looking at the shark distance because I was focusing on the Oxygen level).
Good work!
I do have a few pieces of feedback though: the biggest one being the inability to see very well your surroundings / maybe additional camera switches like in racing games (e.g. seeing your car from the outside) would help this. I also felt it to be a bit puinshing, but that's okay. A way to light the way forward would also be awesome.
Overall, a cool starting point for a great experience : )))