Hooked by echerry

[raw]
made by echerry for Ludum Dare 59 (JAM)

322323.png

The world is dying, but love lives on.

You are a tiny Sugar Glider in a world that shows no mercy. Corrosive acid rains, lethal radiation, and toxic gasesrising from the depths have turned the land and sea into a death trap.

But you won't give up. Your beloved is locked in a cage, held by a greedy Merchant. To buy her freedom, you must face the relentless elements and fish in the most hostile waters ever known.

Will you brave the deadly abyss to bring her back?

https://youtu.be/bXr6p4d0dzU

Ratings

Overall 16th 4.352⭐ 66🧑‍⚖️
Fun 47th 4.115⭐ 67🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 297th 3.569⭐ 67🧑‍⚖️
Theme 770th 2.664⭐ 69🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 53th 4.515⭐ 68🧑‍⚖️
Audio 23th 4.333⭐ 65🧑‍⚖️
Humor 307th 3.112⭐ 60🧑‍⚖️
Mood 23th 4.485⭐ 68🧑‍⚖️
Given 30🗳️ 15🗨️

Feedback

Gamcho
Apr 21st · 02:15 UTC
The thumbnail looks so cool! For some reason, I can’t get the game to start on my end. I hope it gets fixed soon so I can give it a try!
Arada
Apr 21st · 02:17 UTC
Well done, great game idea
roccay
Apr 21st · 02:19 UTC
Such great pixel art! I really love the fish drawings - they remind me of early Pokemon art in the best way.
Not sure if I understood it correctly, but switching between hold and click helped me catch a lot of high-quality fish. Also loved the design of SFX and bubbles that give signals to make desicion, great work!
(I clicked because of the cover page - I have a pet hamster lol)
Padla
Apr 21st · 02:22 UTC
god bless. winner is here
breadstick
Apr 21st · 02:39 UTC
What a seriously awesome and atmospheric game! I'm reminded of Dredge but in the best of ways: especially since you expanded upon that formula with the adjacency bonuses and modifiers on the individual fish. It's genuinely exciting to be pushing your luck fishing after a 6-star as the skies are darkening and the acid rain is coming down hard, after you've lost your last umbrella and precious hitpoints are ticking away... super memorable experience you've created here! Excellent work
Ivelsoul
Apr 21st · 03:36 UTC
luchshie (зе бест)
LDJam user 410492
Apr 21st · 04:10 UTC
"Why am I dying, WHY AM I DYING? Oh right the acid rain..." very nice art btw!
tortoise_181
Apr 21st · 11:38 UTC
epic,pixel sprites are so beautiful!
![68613F7B8E94D42D11C20E57AB9AF1F6.png](///raw/e3d/76/z/71ecc.png)
LAN_041
Apr 21st · 12:41 UTC
I really like visual, animation and music! Such an atmospheric mouse game. Thank you!

I hope that you will make a full version of the game and put it on Steam, it has great potential! Refers me to Dredge, which I played for many hours hehe
LDJam user 424535
Apr 21st · 15:09 UTC
I really love your style and your games! thx for expirience!
HDVR02
Apr 21st · 15:15 UTC
Excellent game, love this krysich chel
Nikiroz
Apr 21st · 18:33 UTC
Awesome visuals and sound design—the post-apocalyptic atmosphere is spot on. The gameplay loop is enjoyable, and most importantly, the end goal of rescuing your girlfriend is clear.

The only thing missing is some kind of timer during extraction, so you can roughly understand how much time you have before dying. The economy also feels a bit odd—I managed to beat the game after going through radiation just a couple of times, and it seems I couldn’t see all the available fish in a single run, but that’s a minor issue.

Fantastic work!
torcado
Apr 21st · 21:29 UTC
Victory!!
This is fantastic. incredible art, as usual. the whole game was enjoyable front-to-back. I have minor qol complaints, like it would be nice to have a place to have a temporary area to place fish. but that being said, planning around that inevitability makes for some interesting decisions! The game is well balanced, playing and beating it is challenging but rewarding :)
great job!!
LDJam user 342640
Apr 21st · 22:48 UTC
Despite the super oppressive atmosphere this is actually a really cute & relaxing game, I really like the inventory management aspect of the fishing & I think it has room to be expanded on. Great job!
steinhks
Apr 22nd · 00:07 UTC
The pixel art and sound design are really atmospheric and beautiful!
CoderGuy111
Apr 22nd · 03:01 UTC
Simple loop, satisfying gameplay, lovely art style. The backpack arranging itch is one that's always nice to scratch. I would buy a more fleshed out version. Flimsy link to the theme though.
Seravlac
Apr 22nd · 08:06 UTC
Mood from pixelart style and audio is great! Gameplay loop is also good, I even managed to catch a golden fish once!
CircleOfLife
Apr 22nd · 09:09 UTC
Очень круто сделано за 3 дня. Прошел где-то за минут 40. Третьи грейды брать уже не стал, так как получал с рыб достаточно инкама, чтобы снять все замки. Понравилось, что если запотеть, то можно даже с плохой удочкой поймать сложную рыбу. Единственное чего как по мне не хватает - таймера для экстракшена, хотя бы в виде полоски под кнопкой, ну и сам экстракшен кажется достаточно долгим ~10 сек, как я насчитал, из-за чего я старался заканчивать забег заранее, так как пару раз у меня прокала и радиация и дождь одновременно, что убивало меня меньше чем за 10 сек. Еще лягушка занимает 1 клетку, а спрайт как будто занимает 3, но мне это не сильно мешало, а даже было удобно скорее. В остальном игра - имба. Спасибо.

P.S.: Sam - настоящая рыба-гнида, занимает 3 клетки, стоит 10 и не дает бонусов :angry:
LDJam user 268934
Apr 22nd · 10:10 UTC
Sick pixel art ! Love fishing games the weather conditions and inventory management is also great!
The only thing I'm missing is the theme.
oeueGHa
Apr 22nd · 11:17 UTC
Арт красивый, но геймплей суперфрустрирующий и сильно гумозно затянут. И не очень понятно, экстракшен рандомный или нет, время не засекал, но по ощущениям, чем у тебя дольше ран, тем дольше экстракшн, нельзя толком спланировать, когда нужно уходить.
Gleb Domakhin
Apr 22nd · 13:35 UTC
Really great overall design, fun gameplay, great atmosphere and sound design. Olya is looking gorgeous. 10/10.
LDJam user 195687
Apr 22nd · 14:16 UTC
I love a good fishing game with a tetris inventory! Amazing pixel art and art direction. The gameplay loop is very satisfying as well. I liked that fish had different scoring rules depending on how you placed them. I think the UI element that pops up when a fish is available to catch can be made more obvious. I missed it a few times while sorting my inventory, but maybe thats just me. Overall a really great game!
Luka420
Apr 22nd · 15:18 UTC
Amazing pixel art! And the game was a lot of fun!
wdebowicz
Apr 22nd · 18:02 UTC
this is my favorite entry so far! addictive and hearth worming game!
23edsa
Apr 22nd · 23:37 UTC
Very cool, I wish with the ultimate upgrades I would be able to reel all fish. Other than that - I hope you make this into a full game!
sinemual
Apr 23rd · 04:50 UTC
A brilliant game! The mechanics are addictive, and there are so many interesting gameplay mechanics! Fishing in radioactive waters—the hook alone sounds intriguing! “What will we catch this time?” I'm a little confused about the theme—I guess “radio” refers to the signal?
chakramgl
Apr 23rd · 06:32 UTC
An awesome game. I love the pixel art, visual style, gameplay, sound design, and atmosphere. Simple and self-contained, yet with huge potential for expansion. This is an example of an ideal project for Ludum Dare. Amazing!
Sharky3188
Apr 23rd · 12:05 UTC
Incredible game, best jam game so far. The visuals were stunning and it completely locked me into the whole atmosphere of the game.
I loved the setting, it felt so rich with detail.
The characters were great, and the overall game play got me playing for quiet a while. It was very satisfying getting those combos when you got back into the port.
The extraction timer was also a really nice choice, it just added an extra layer of tension that really make you think carefully about how you timed everything.
The audio was fantastic, it completed the whole package, the little mouse/squeak noises really added an endearing and tragic element.

I think the weakest element of the jam was the relation to the theme, it would have been nice to see a slightly stronger tie in.
Overall another exception LD game
3blackpixels
Apr 23rd · 16:03 UTC
Solid game. Love the pixel art.
1de
Apr 23rd · 16:50 UTC
10/10 guys. I cant stop![Снимок экрана 2026-04-22 005723.png](///raw/680/86/z/727b4.png)
Sobigdrasil
Apr 23rd · 17:10 UTC
Mega fun, nothing to say - amazing atmosphere, art, music, gameplay - everything is cheff kiss!
I def will go back to this game to save the cutie :'3
Pavel Goncharov
Apr 24th · 06:27 UTC
But son, we already have DREDGE at home! 😁
Jokes aside, this is one of the best games here at LD59. Great atmosphere, sound, and graphics. Wishing you the best of luck in taking first place!
Igor Korobeinikov
Apr 24th · 18:34 UTC
Ребят, ну просто топ
Лучшая игра, что я видел за этот джем точно
Гемплейно топ, сидишь кайфуешь, рыбачишь потихоньку, под чудесную музыку. Прогрессия тоже понятна интуитивно
Арт потрясающий, за 3 дня джема такое сделать - честь и хвала художнику.
Отдельное хихи- имена рыб, восхитительно
Вобщем волшебная игра, с большим удовольствием прошли. За концовку отдельное спасибо)
ashia
Apr 24th · 18:35 UTC
Ребята, этот проект меня поразил. Великолепный арт, атмосфера, музыка, сюжет!
Механика простоватая, и особо не читается тема джема, но ваш подход к созданию этой игры очень профессиональный. Играть одно удовольствие, я была бы счастлива увидеть полноценную игру в этой стилистике. А сценка в конце очень растрогала.
Сразу захотелось узнать побольше о команде и других ваших проектах, обязательно поизучаю прикрепленные ссылки. Вы люди с отличным вкусом, и проделали великолепную работу!
Shram
Apr 24th · 19:53 UTC
Респект за такую хорошую игру. Одна из немногих игр которые хочется доиграть. Слежу за твоими работами, продолжай в том же духе.
KALABHERS
Apr 25th · 12:04 UTC
NICE
daniel
Apr 26th · 18:07 UTC
Great little game loop, I was hooked playing. Surprised with the amount of fishes and thought into the gameplay you managed to put in.
nexusasx10
Apr 26th · 23:34 UTC
Like the atmosphere very much! Art and music are amazing. There is a bug when rod is not reacting to holding LMB or when hint is stuck on the cursor. But anyway this is very good game for 3 days!
LDJam user 424326
Apr 27th · 09:55 UTC
A really cool concept!
Please keep working on the project.
I like the atmosphere you’ve created.

I’d love to see the fishing mechanic developed further—at the very least, it would be nice if the chance of catching fish didn’t depend solely on the quality of the rod.
CataclysmicKnight
Apr 28th · 20:30 UTC
This was fantastic!!! I love games where you earn money from your bag management like this, and you did a good job with spacing out upgrades and revealing new surprises (the fish you can’t catch at first). I played the heck out of this and saw it through, and had an awesome time with it. This is one of my favorite Ludum Dare games this time!
sztobar
Apr 28th · 20:31 UTC
I got really hooked up on your game ;) Jokes aside when I turned your game on I haven't even read the description but I immediately caught what the game is about. Really cool concept and well executed
Paulsams
May 02nd · 09:27 UTC
The game itself is normal, but there's nothing innovative about it. There were also a lot of "different pixels" in the visual, which didn't look good. Also, if I understood correctly, random in the fishing was very strange. And waiting for 10 seconds without being able to do anything (no, of course, you could have sorted the inventory in time, but it seems that this could have been better implemented) was not very good. But in general, you can enjoy the game, but for me it turned out to be too ordinary (with borrowed main mechanics).
miltage
May 06th · 08:15 UTC
Probably the most polished experience I've played this jam. The pixel art and aethetic is awesome. Loved this entry, great job guys!