Echo by japes

[raw]
made by japes for Ludum Dare 59 (COMPO)

Explore the world by sending out signals and interpreting their behaviour.

2026-04-19_18-46.png

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  • Made with Unity.
  • All graphics are basic Unity assets.
  • Sounds from freesound.org and jfxr, tweaked with Audacity
  • Source code available on request.

Ratings

Overall 228th 3.146⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Fun 176th 3.188⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 82th 3.625⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Theme 89th 4⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 278th 2.188⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Audio 217th 2.565⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Humor 173th 2.19⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Mood 277th 2.261⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Given 16🗳️ 23🗨️

Feedback

mdotedot
Apr 19th · 21:46 UTC
Ah this was really nice. I do not know if it was meant that in the middle of the game everything was gone and I had to use the signal to find a path .. very nice idea. I love the starting screen with th WASD directly in the face so as to show what controls to use. Also the Mouse introduction. Great game-design! Job well done!
Zazzar
Apr 20th · 10:28 UTC
Made it to the end (where it keeps repeating I think? EDIT actually I was missing the real goal. Got to the true end yay!) Nice tutorialisation at the start, I got the hang of the controls quickly. Unless I just got lucky and avoided the walls, but when you introduce the Hold to Scan instruction it would be reinforced even further if there was a need to use it straight away. The rebounding off the invisible walls was very intuitive and easy to follow, although a small indicator showing the difference between hitting a wall and the goal would go that extra step of clearing up what you are looking for as the player. Nice work, good concept!
bonedaddy
Apr 20th · 10:31 UTC
Fellow "hold mouse to charge" gameplay dev! Really liked what you did here, it reminded me a bit of those invisible levels in Splatoon single player. I think it could really benefit from having the obstacles and goal emit a different sound when hit, so the player can get a sense of where they are from the echolocation (maybe that'd make things too easy, but it was something I was thinking about).
Trav
Apr 20th · 10:47 UTC
Smart idea and I liked playing. Hard to tell the difference between something that kills you and the goal though.
skale
Apr 20th · 16:29 UTC
Nice work making something that simple to be that interesting
GettingRekt
Apr 20th · 16:33 UTC
A really enjoyable game with solid mechanics. I still don't know how to identify the kill zones. I gave up after a couple of the empty timed levels since it felt like the game was over. But reading the comments it seems like I missed something. A neat touch to have a secret ending. Great job!
glem-fumeno
Apr 20th · 16:33 UTC
Cool game! reminds me of "Dark Echo". If I could suggest something it would be to add some multisampling/anti-aliasing. Also - for me the audio was glitching out when I did a big burst but it might be my headphones
FrowsyFrog
Apr 20th · 16:38 UTC
Quite interesting mechanics! I didn’t expect to encounter movable obstacles later on XD Great job!
🎤 japes
Apr 20th · 18:29 UTC
@glem-fumeno had not heard of Dark Echo, it is VERY similar!

I see they persist the "sound waves" for a lot longer, so it's easier to visualize the space around you. Makes sense. As it is, my game is a bit too hard/frustrating, I think.

I get the audio glitch too on the web build :( sounded much better from unity player
🎤 japes
Apr 20th · 18:30 UTC
@gettingrekt that last "bonus stage" just loops forever, you haven't missed anything :)
SHU WEN
Apr 21st · 04:41 UTC
nice idea !! i love it
Alex Mulkerrin
Apr 21st · 13:28 UTC
Really cool effect with the sound wave reflecting off objects in the scene. It's challenging to identify a cross from a circle but it is possible. It's nice that it has an endless mode at the end of it. Very suitable execution of the theme :)
cogcomp
Apr 21st · 20:54 UTC
Nice visual feedback. The sounds could have been a bit more distinct for the different objects but I got the hang of it pretty fast. I can definitely see this working as a real game with some polish and a couple more levels. Well done!
Helslo
Apr 21st · 21:19 UTC
I like the idea a lot and its executed very effectively. Since the arc spreads out with charge distance it might be nice to tweak the charge bar also indicate the spread of the signal.
Aannnnman
Apr 22nd · 07:46 UTC
Great idea. At first I noticed the graphics, but the gameplay carried it, and the visual feedback was also good. Well done, great concept.
MemoLoop
Apr 22nd · 14:34 UTC
I like this puzzle game and the mechanics of charging. The graphics are very simple but the gameplay is cool!
Nombrillus
Apr 22nd · 19:49 UTC
Nice mechanic! I wish the wave would load a little faster, or have a bit more persistence when it hits a wall. I really like that the tutorial on the controls is an integral part of the level design! Well done :)
🎤 japes
Apr 22nd · 20:17 UTC
@nombrillus thanks, it does need a bit of tweaking wrt charge times and persistence. I want to make it a bit easier to visualize your surroundings without literally highlighting the edges.
darkshadow
Apr 22nd · 21:01 UTC
Great idea love how tactile the echos are! And I like how both modes have their usages, one for finding the way the other for telling what shape things are. Audio was a bit repetitive needs a little variation.
Shoalmuse
Apr 23rd · 04:36 UTC
Nice entry. I really loved the diagenic instructions in the level. I agree that the audio ends up being pretty repetitive. Some variation and even ambient music would add a lot.
SteveOfStevesGames
Apr 26th · 14:30 UTC
A nice puzzle game.
The mouse clicks could have been slightly better, longer lasting maybe, just to save holding the button so much but a minor inconvenience.
benskca
May 07th · 23:38 UTC
Very cool mechanic, I think you introduced the different level features over time very well. Lots of "aha" moments when I realised the different things the echo could reveal. If you wanted to continue the game I think a good next step would be to revisit the graphics and possibly introduce some context for who/what/where/why the player is doing what they're doing.