LudumData

Stay Tuned by ThinArc

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

When sadness hits, it feels like being surrounded by invisible shadows. In this short 2D game made for a game jam, your only defense against the encroaching darkness is an old radio.

Gameplay: Tune the radio frequency to cut through the static and bring back the music. As long as the melody plays, the ghosts vanish—but as they draw closer, they will try to sabotage your signal.

  • Defend your frequency: Three unique ghosts will take turns trying to disrupt your tuning.
  • Stay focused: React quickly and press the A and D buttons to keep the music playing and hold the gloom at bay.
  • Objective: Hold the signal through 5 waves to reach the ending.
  • Alpha2​: You can use Russian language.

Music is more than just sound. It is the light that helps you navigate through the darkest times.

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Itch.io https://thinarc.itch.io/stay-tuned
Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/59/stay-tuned

Ratings

Overall 679th 3.167⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Fun 775th 2.619⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 564th 3.15⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Theme 439th 3.725⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 314th 3.95⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Audio 252th 3.7⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Mood 296th 3.85⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Given 35🗳️ 0🗨️

Feedback

gamebuilder
Apr 21st · 18:37 UTC
The graphics and sound in this game are top-notch. Very creative. You certainly have artistic talent. I couldn't figure out exactly how the controls worked, however. It seems that I could make progress just by randomly pressing A and D. Maybe you could clarify the instructions. Still, the concept behind this game is brilliant, and the mood is beautiful. Well done.
N.O.X
Apr 21st · 18:55 UTC
A unique experience. The atmosphere is obviously spot on. I find the gameplay loop, and especially the way it’s executed, really interesting. Congratz :)
Achiru
May 04th · 15:46 UTC
Cool idea and cool art, either missing instructions or the "tuning" is broken? In my first playthrough I got all the way to the end thinking it played with the mouse :laughing: Second playthrough I actually read the instructions so I could actually direct the signal bubbles, but I didn't really hear any change to the music when doing that.
It's definitely not finished, but what's there is a good start and has pretty consistent art.
You should add 2 lines of instructions on the page to explain the tuning part though.
bjornstenlund
May 04th · 16:05 UTC
Great music and sounds! I really liked that it just started right away! I was a bit confused initially, but I really liked how the intro/game/menu just blended together! I didn't really understand that the game ended, and usually I would say that's a bad thing, but here it just felt worked great with the atmosphere! I think it would be nice with a mute button in the end screen, because the music is stuck looping now when I'm writing this :P

Anyway nice game!
LDJam user 430897
May 04th · 16:15 UTC
When I started the game, I thought it was supposed to be played with the mouse, so I just kept clicking on the ghosts, haha. Then I realized you could press A and D to manipulate the radio wave, lol. I liked the idea! Congratulations.

If you could rate my game, I would appreciate it.
Dogshroom
May 04th · 16:17 UTC
Loved the atmosphere and soundtrack!
fabelay
May 04th · 16:24 UTC
Audio and Mood is this entrys strongest part! The game is a card upgrade shooter and you shoot with radiowaves. I am still not completely sure how to play it correctly or whether I won or died, haha. I felt like ive taken no damage, but its not completely clear without knowing it.

I like the audio and the general art style a lot, with polishing and clear instructions it would be really nice.
Shaggy
May 04th · 16:52 UTC
I love the eldritch atmosphere! It was a bit too easy though and i never had to press any buttons, just upgrade damage and win :) Nice entry nonetheless!
Kiyan
May 04th · 17:05 UTC
Interesting game and great ambiance. It's funny, we took a quite similar approach of the theme concerning radio wave and working around the antenna, but you did so in a deeper story, lore wise.
Really great to see how a similar thought produced completely different games.

I had some trouble understanding what I was controlling, but as a game jam game, it is a good problem to have when there's only this that pops up first. Congratulation on your release !
justking144
May 04th · 17:28 UTC
Loved the artstyle for this game. Definitely don't see many games like this in a jam and it really helped up the creepy atmosphere

That said, the game was a bit too easy and I never actually had to use A/D to fight off the ghosts. Might've helped if the ghosts were attacking from a larger range of angles with a smaller signal or the radio had to be tuned to a different frequency for each type of ghost
galareteg
May 04th · 17:30 UTC
Amazing graphics and audio! I'm not entirely sure what was I doing, but I completed the game so I guess I did a good job lol
Luka420
May 04th · 17:38 UTC
Really cool visuals, sound design and atmosphere!
ChuChuGeralt
May 04th · 19:30 UTC
The mood and the audio were really nice, and I loved the overall design! As others mentioned, it would have been helpful to have more instructions, I actually played twice without realizing I could use A and D (lol). It also would have been great to see an end screen of some sort, just to clarify if I reached the only ending or if there was more to discover. Overall, a nice interpretation of the theme with some great grim graphics!
Local Minimum
May 05th · 08:13 UTC
Very cool art-style and coherent mood. I liked that a lot.

At first I was very confused about the what I was doing as a player. The wording made me think I was going to scan frequencies to have improve the music to noise ratio and not at all direct shots with the antenna. But once I figured out the game-play it became very understandable.

More feedback in my play-through:
https://youtu.be/7DbVRtr5eWA
kack3y
May 05th · 20:57 UTC
Nice entry. Good graphics and audio fit the game.

You game needs more time on the UX, it was hard to understand what to do even with the controls.
Also is there another ending than the "I finished what we started, but maybe we shouldn't have" one ? It feels like the bad ending, but I haven't been hit by any ghost I think...

Uncomfortable atmosphere when you hit the ending (at least the one I reached), fit well with your game again.