Blind Signal by Ilya Kr

made by Ilya Kr for Ludum Dare 59 (JAM)

🌫️ You can't see the forest. You hear it.

In BLIND SIGNAL, you are a lost traveler deep in the heart of a rotting swamp. Your eyes are useless. Impenetrable darkness all around. Somewhere ahead — a dim light. A house. Between you and it: stone, water, rot, and something with teeth.

You only have your hearing and a limited amount of energy to "shout" into the darkness. Send out a signal — and for a second, the echo reveals the shapes of trees, pits, traps, and the path home. But be careful: every signal tells the predators where you stood. The information is real. The risk is real. You must decide — step by step, tile by tile — whether it's worth sending a signal and being noticed.

🔊 Gameplay

Total blindness: You cannot see the map beyond one tile around your character. The whole world is hidden by "fog of war".
Echo scan: Press "space" to emit a sound wave. For a short time, all objects, traps and enemies within range are highlighted and remain in memory (their silhouettes appear on the map).
Resource — Voice: The number of scans is strictly limited. Your remaining charges are shown as a battery icon. Use them wisely! Use them all — and you'll be left in permanent darkness forever.
Turn‑based tactics: The game freezes while you decide: move forward blindly, risking your life, or use a precious scan to light the way?
Swamp hazards: A terrifying monster, traps, and obstacles await you in the woods.

https://youtu.be/sBfzOiTtgOk?si=KtH-fc0xK7ON30Gn

🎮 Controls

Movement — turn‑based tile movement.

Desktop: WASD or Arrow keys
Mobile: On‑screen arrows

Scan (Echo) — emit a cry and see the world for 2 steps. Costs one battery charge.

Desktop: Space
Mobile: On‑screen Scan button

Pause / Restart — menu (to start the journey over, turn off sound, or reset progress entirely).

Desktop: ESC
Mobile: On‑screen Pause button

Link	https://fatharegames.itch.io/blind-signal
Original URL	https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/59/blind-signal

Ratings

Overall	467^th	3.524⭐	44🧑‍⚖️
Fun	438^th	3.357⭐	44🧑‍⚖️
Innovation	474^th	3.317⭐	43🧑‍⚖️
Theme	347^th	3.89⭐	43🧑‍⚖️
Humor	347^th	2.987⭐	40🧑‍⚖️
Mood	558^th	3.405⭐	44🧑‍⚖️
Given		32🗳️	43🗨️

Feedback

goodwayman

Apr 20th · 16:24 UTC

- I really like the idea
- nice graphics
- the game mechanics are interesting, but not used the full potential of it - the game after 3 levels gets less interesting and too easy (once you catch the mechanics). In the last 3 levels I didn't use signal ability at all

Nathanial

Apr 20th · 19:25 UTC

Good mechanics to build on. The signal implementation is a bit odd, seems like you're more often punished for using it. The "meta" appears to be to just run in a path and memorize enemy locations for the next try.

The existence of the battery is negligible. I think it would be more interesting if enemies didn't follow your signal but you were forced to manage your battery charge.

XeduR

Apr 20th · 19:27 UTC

"The enemy hearing/seeing your pings." Seems like we had a similar idea with this mechanic.

I liked the game's general mood and its concept. I think the game could have benefited from "playing faster". The walk animation and the delay made the game feel perhaps a bit unresponsive.

I agree with goodwayman that the game didn't use/reach its full potential. The ping wasn't necessary to complete the levels, it felt more like a limited use power up or cheat.

semenov

Apr 21st · 06:31 UTC

a story about getting lost in the forest

muchothepanda

Apr 21st · 07:13 UTC

Fun game, graphics are cute and wish there was more levels. I hope you make the signal mechanic more important in the future because it felt very easy to beat the game without it.

alexhonor

Apr 21st · 09:11 UTC

enjoyed the idea, graphics are amazing, liked the zombies, keep making nice stuff

ZedGame

Apr 21st · 09:17 UTC

I liked it a lot. The gameplay loop is interesting and the sounds and graphics look great! One thing I'd change is the movement speed - making it quicker would allow for faster trial and error.

DontGiveUpBoy

Apr 21st · 09:22 UTC

This game has nice graphics and smooth animations of turns. First levels are really easy. That is good for playing. Good job. But i pass this game without any enemy apearing. You need more levels.

red-horde-games

Apr 21st · 09:40 UTC

Levels might have been too easy, otherwise a solid entry!

Noat

Apr 21st · 11:25 UTC

Thank you all so much for playing and taking the time to leave feedback!

@goodwayman @nathanial @xedur @dontgiveupboy — you're absolutely right, the signal was meant to be the core of the game. We wanted the signal to feel necessary, but never the only option — that's a design misstep and the first thing we'll work on going forward.

@muchothepanda @alexhonor @zedgame — glad you enjoyed the atmosphere.

Thanks again, this feedback is exactly what we needed.

fkjaha

Apr 21st · 12:22 UTC

I wish the game had just a little more variation. Lets say you have single 2m radius scan and single 5m radius scan, and you have to complete the level with those abilities.
Anyway, a decent game, well done!

CrimsonTrouper

Apr 21st · 14:46 UTC

cool graphics and idea but the only downside is that you see just a little bit TOO MUCH. It would be cool if you could see the whole map by making a sound and then could barely see in the dark so you would need to memorize the whole map, but as it is now - the main gimmik is a bit useless. But even without it the game is still fun overall

bobanko

Apr 21st · 14:55 UTC

nice graphics, sounds are terrific, lack of action/speed.

starr

Apr 21st · 15:05 UTC

Love the concept, assets fit together well. Especially awesome tutorial - short, but useful and explaining new mechanics one by one. Gameplay currently struggling a bit - currently everything just very straightforward and easy.

JCoMcL

Apr 21st · 15:20 UTC

Some pretty cool mechanics, but it feels like they never really come together into a proper challenge. The atmosphere was really let down by the goofy assets. It may even have been more compelling without graphics.

no_firing

Apr 21st · 16:05 UTC

Good game, awesome art!

Dywanix

Apr 21st · 17:57 UTC

interesting idea and artstyle

Myokka

Apr 21st · 18:57 UTC

A great idea combined with good visuals is the recipe for a good game.

schizoid2k

Apr 21st · 23:49 UTC

Nice puzzle game... graphics and sounds were nice. This is a great start for more levels and increased gameplay. Good job!

Ulziton

Apr 22nd · 01:08 UTC

Well done game, gj guys

Pavel.Cherepanov

Apr 22nd · 06:37 UTC

At first glance, it seems like a simple maze puzzle, but the fact that you can't see the full map and enemies are hidden creates this really interesting tension - almost like a horror game! That's a clever design choice that elevates the whole experience.

I really enjoyed it! The concept is solid and polished enough that I think you could easily release this on web platforms or even mobile.

Great job on this one!

alisher_fazilov

Apr 22nd · 07:06 UTC

The graphics are nice, and the voice acting is funny. At first I thought I'd have to run around, but it's actually a turn-based game. Overall, it's fun to play, but I feel like I want more impact when the player moves.

Noat

Apr 22nd · 09:21 UTC

Thanks again everyone for the feedback!
@fkjaha @crimsontrouper @starr @jcomcl — lots of great ideas here for making the signal actually matter and ramping up the difficulty. We've got plenty to experiment with.
@alisher-fazilov — fair point on the pacing, we'll work on making movement feel snappier and more impactful.
@bobanko @no-firing @dywanix @myokka @schizoid2k @ulziton — thanks a lot, glad you enjoyed it!
@pavel-cherepanov — really appreciate it! Mobile is on our radar once we add more content and dial in the balance.

anku

Apr 22nd · 21:37 UTC

A great idea, with a strong visual style and solid SFX. The only thing I felt was missing was some music - even a light ambient track would have fit nicely, in my opinion. The gameplay is intuitive and easy to get into.

dk5000p

Apr 23rd · 03:07 UTC

I liked the concept but came to the conclusion it was safer to just not use the signal and the one square was enough to navigate. Wonder what it would have been like in complete darkness.

Lenny Rudeberg

Apr 23rd · 07:07 UTC

Nice one, limiting the amount scans you can do really adds to the progression and strategy of how you play the game. GG!

LDJam user 423872

Apr 23rd · 11:28 UTC

Good idea. I like that there's a gradual difficulty ramp. But I'd like more mechanics to increase the difficulty of the gameplay.

YugiMuto

Apr 25th · 11:51 UTC

It turned out to be a cool game, it was interesting to complete all the levels!

LDJam user 424943

Apr 27th · 16:10 UTC

The mechanics and onboarding are very well done, but the levels themselves are too easy. Some can be cleared in a straight line even after the basic tutorial. In the end, I only died once.

This could already be turned into a full game — the main question is level design.

I noticed a minor issue: sometimes after using the signal, objects get highlighted that weren’t visible within the circle when the signal was used.

Alexandr Gerya

May 04th · 21:05 UTC

cool concept but i legit didnt even use the signal for the last levels lol just walked in a straight line

VenomousMouse

May 05th · 09:50 UTC

Good mechanic and graphics. Cool game.

Carraka

May 05th · 11:21 UTC

Some delightful ideas here. Once I was told that signals were limited, I just never used them except for the one time there was a monster in my path. I feel like most of the time I was moving in a straight line or following a slime trail on the ground (even though no one ever said it was important, it often seemed to be the path home). The fact that I could see whether a rock was in my way on the next step made those easy to avoid as well. So removing the path and making the rocks less visible might help encourage signal usage outside of to lure monsters?