Rat Signal by Podrez

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

Untitled-8.png

A minimal atmospheric game about control, trust, and surveillance.


A small, defenseless rat in a maze.
It has a collar. You have control.

You guide it step by step, but you don’t see the whole picture.
You are being guided too… but to where?


Eng / Ru

Controls: - WASD + Mouse + Esc for change languages

Playtime:
Depends on your attention… but usually around 15 minutes.

No jumpscares. Just a puzzle. and two endings


4.png 1.png 2.png


Also you will support us a lot if you add our game to your wishlist on Steam - Steam   Discord

Made especially for Ludum Dare 59 ♥

Ratings

Overall 181th 3.915⭐ 43🧑‍⚖️
Fun 239th 3.671⭐ 43🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 340th 3.512⭐ 43🧑‍⚖️
Theme 235th 4.06⭐ 44🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 243th 4.102⭐ 46🧑‍⚖️
Audio 336th 3.513⭐ 42🧑‍⚖️
Humor 190th 3.475⭐ 42🧑‍⚖️
Mood 147th 4.11⭐ 43🧑‍⚖️
Given 48🗳️ 76🗨️

Feedback

RelbiBoltik
Apr 20th · 18:49 UTC
Add a cat and a huge, bloodthirsty mouse on its hind legs peeping through the slit in the door.
MountainGoose
Apr 20th · 19:15 UTC
Good stuff! Well done on the weird vibe and cool idea for sure.
🎤 Podrez
Apr 20th · 22:50 UTC
@mountaingoose Thanks for the playing and the feedback 🙂
🎤 Podrez
Apr 20th · 22:50 UTC
@relbiboltik
I wanted to add a snake 🙂 Maybe later. I have some ideas on how to expand the game, but to be honest, I’m not sure I’ll continue working on it
Nidoprince
Apr 21st · 01:27 UTC
The mouse was very cute once you could really see them at the end, and I liked the perspective shifts with the cameras.
🎤 Podrez
Apr 21st · 01:38 UTC
@nidoprince Thanks for the feedback and for playing 😄
Gamcho
Apr 21st · 02:16 UTC
RAT! RAT!
zj798164639
Apr 21st · 06:50 UTC
I like the graphics! And the rat is so cute
Boring-wayne1
Apr 21st · 06:51 UTC
The mouse is soooooo cute!
zj798164639
Apr 21st · 06:57 UTC
It reminded me another game I love, Ghost of a Tale
zj798164639
Apr 21st · 06:57 UTC
It reminded me another game I love, Ghost of a Tale
🎤 Podrez
Apr 21st · 10:00 UTC
@zj798164639 This is the first time I hear about it. I will need to try it
🎤 Podrez
Apr 21st · 10:04 UTC
@gamcho ![Снимок экрана 2026-04-21 130427.jpg](///raw/080/96/z/71e4c.jpg)
udfblr
Apr 21st · 12:37 UTC
Cool game. "Svoi" is fun. It's very easy to understand, and it's immediately obvious what to do.

The narrative is great. Keep up your passions.
Sariiger
Apr 21st · 15:08 UTC
The rat in the end was adorable.
I loved the concept of only seeing a few angles, and trying to figure out which camera was where in the maze, and figuring out the rest from that limited information.

Amazing concept and execution!
JuanRod707
Apr 21st · 16:34 UTC
Very cool implementation and design, loved how well thought your maze layout was. The only thing that felt weird for me was the directions being switched on the rat's perspective and not the camera, while it makes sense if you think about a realistic scenario, it is strange from a player's perspective
skeyven
Apr 21st · 19:25 UTC
Раз уж игра поддерживает Ru language, то и отзыв оставлю на русском.

Оч понравилось разбираться в том, как там камеры разложены. Что мышонку надо команды давать относительно него самого.
Озвучка во время радио-переговоров: "Крысы-крысы!" топчик!) Ну и отсылка про "своих" разрывная
Классно получилось
![Снимок экрана 2026-04-21 222258.png](///raw/1a8/76/z/721b6.png)
PeterLeBagarreur
Apr 21st · 20:37 UTC
WHY CAN'T I PET THE RAT ?????? hahaha

Nice game!
🎤 Podrez
Apr 22nd · 02:25 UTC
@udfblr Thanks Смешарик 😄

@Sariiger Thanks glad that you appreciated it

@juanrod707 Thanks, that was the idea 🙃

@skeyven Хе хе скавен оставил отзыв на крысу, на сама деле озвучка переговоров даже чуть более заморочена чем можно подумать, если кто нибудь догадается откуда я нарезал сэмплов, надо будет ему какой-нибудь приз придумать

@peterlebagarreur Yeah, good question, why didn’t I add that? 🤔🤔🤔 Thanks for the feedback!
ufen
Apr 22nd · 03:05 UTC
Like the vibe and art style. The gameplay's fun controlling the mouse but guess what who is also being controlled? Amazing work and good luck on your steam release
🎤 Podrez
Apr 22nd · 03:30 UTC
Thank you very much @ufen :hearts:
LDJam user 426288
Apr 22nd · 08:12 UTC
The atmosphere in the game is really immersive, and the mouse is so cute! 🐭💖
Andrey Angaev
Apr 22nd · 14:35 UTC
I like how the rat was made, graphics are beatiful. Cute and funny game) Puzzles were pretty good.
LDJam user 179298
Apr 22nd · 15:40 UTC
![4x (1) (1).png](///raw/26c/b2/z/724b4.png)

Very well put together, the graphics fit the mood. Sometimes the controls were confusing but that's fine. rat/10
0kura018
Apr 23rd · 16:10 UTC
It's funny, but there's not enough content
LDJam user 424632
Apr 23rd · 17:24 UTC
It would be funny if the game was distributed as an rat.tar archive.
Cool game!
🎤 Podrez
Apr 24th · 06:38 UTC
@shivvvy @andrey-angaev @vladimperator @0kura018 @catanus

Thanks for the kind feedback, it’s really nice to receive it

As for the amount of content, I tried to make the game feel complete, and I only had three days. Maybe I’ll expand it in the future. I have some ideas for new mazes and other puzzles
LDJam user 235915
Apr 25th · 09:09 UTC
What a nice mouse!) A very enjoyable game)
Chimpoka
Apr 25th · 13:08 UTC
Nice game! Couldn't notice the key, so switched to easy mode) Hints are super useful!
Alexanrd
Apr 25th · 18:30 UTC
Хорошая игра!Свои
SMOLBIGBY
Apr 25th · 23:37 UTC
Interesting puzzle game! Figuring out which camera on the map is which was fun. The graphics are good too.
apt_prose7
Apr 26th · 08:42 UTC
Great mechanics, easy to learn and play.
sledzik
Apr 26th · 14:15 UTC
Grat game! and thanks for the easy mode, great job!
Discomorphine
Apr 26th · 20:56 UTC
I can't decide, who i like more: Brut or the rat...

I beg you on my knees: please, more mazes!!!!
Allax
May 03rd · 17:16 UTC
It was funny at first, but the problem is that the rat doesn't move exactly as I press it. I can press left, but it can then move through a whole section of the maze. I didn't understand why I couldn't complete the game until I turned on Easy Mode, which showed the rat's movements were somewhat erratic. The game has potential, though, and I recommend replacing the rat with a human.
VenomousMouse
May 04th · 07:51 UTC
Awesome graphic, cool narration and mood. Great game.
🎤 Podrez
May 07th · 23:26 UTC
@venomousmouse @discomorphine @sledzik @apt-prose7 @smolbigby @alexanrd @chimpoka @bassilij
Thank you very much for the feedback. Sorry I didn’t reply right away, I got a little sick. Maybe someday I actually will continue developing the game, but at least first I need to finish Fool’s Trigger.

@allax I didn’t really understand what you mean. You can’t press the button until the mouse reaches the point. And when you press the direction selection button, the mouse runs there and looks by itself. That’s why you need the TVs that show it.
Tsaot
May 08th · 02:34 UTC
I enjoyed this one. The snarky dialog added that one little touch that made me smile as I played.
LDJam user 407703
May 08th · 20:06 UTC
I saw this several times during the rating period, but only just got around to playing it now. Really a great idea and an excellent use of the theme! I love the visuals and the atmosphere inside the control room.
🎤 Podrez
May 12th · 21:57 UTC
@anszwaThanks @tsaot for the nice feedback, guys.


So, I guess 181th place is good? I don’t know, what do you think?


Also, if anyone here isn’t too lazy, leave some kind of comment on the game’s Itch page. I honestly don’t know whether Itch promotes games based on comments, but...