Callous by MateusBoga

A game where you explore the depths of the subconscious of a patient diagnosed with a rare mental disorder.

INSTRUCTIONS:
Click on totems (which take the form of miscellaneous objects) inside of the mind of Samuel to enter a deeper state of mind. (Flowers are special)
Samuel is haunted by the ghosts of his past. Don't get caught by them or you will lose all your touchstones!
Use touchstones to abandon a level of consciousness and get back to the previous one.
Find the cypher codes to unlock each new area, and find the origin of Samuel's disease.

CONTROLS:
Left Mouse Button - Interact
Right Mouse Button - Use Touchstone
Mouseover edges of the screen - Walk
Play here: https://mateusboga.itch.io/callous
| Link | https://mateusboga.itch.io/callous |
| Link | https://mateusboga.itch.io/callous |
| Link | https://mateusboga.itch.io/callous |
| Original URL | https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/48/callous |
Ratings
| Overall | 128th | 4.1⭐ | 37🧑⚖️ |
| Fun | 969th | 3.309⭐ | 36🧑⚖️ |
| Innovation | 94th | 4.114⭐ | 37🧑⚖️ |
| Theme | 8th | 4.614⭐ | 37🧑⚖️ |
| Graphics | 36th | 4.629⭐ | 37🧑⚖️ |
| Mood | 6th | 4.629⭐ | 37🧑⚖️ |
| Given | 22🗳️ | 49🗨️ |
Edit: Awesome, going to check it out now.
My only issue is that I was really confused on what exactly would take me to the next area (flowers seemed to be the right one) but I didn't know what the other things seemed to do.
Flowers take you to the "Cave of Instincts" which lets you know the cipher to unlock the gate to the next area. The other objects are just a way to explore each area (also its randomly generated every time)
Each area is technically endless, so you can just keep going "deeper and deeper" until you run out of patience (or your browser runs out of memory)
Thanks for playing! :D
Yea I think I did some mistakes in game design, and I ran out of time to add tips and more dialogue. Thanks for playing!
Aside from this minor problem, congratulations for making this game, I hugely appreciated it !
I loved the mood.
Same feedback as @caiolima, maybe more tips during the game :smile:
Graphics are beautiful and you succeeded in telling a good story in the game.
Great work :smile:
Finished with 14 stones
Thanks for playing!
With a good background music it would have been absolutely perfect!
Nonetheless, everything else is perfect!
Great Work!!!
The story is very well balanced between the texts and the environment and all makes sense at the end which is very satisfying.
Amazing entry.
The fact that the touchstones are not only your only way of going back, but they're also how you get scored at the end of the game, is pretty neat.
I would suggest adding some graphic element at the right-left edges of the area, so that the player never sees the edge of the world and the illusion isn't broken. Some mist would do nicely in this case, or some clouds or waves (to represent the vast, unexplored mindscapes :)).
The slow walking pace of Samuel fits the mood but gameplay-wise it gets a bit tedious when you want to backtrack through the area. Maybe allow running and let players decide on their preferred pace of exploration :).
One of (if not my) favoutite entry! Well done!
The art in this one was absolutely gorgeous, and a super neat way to represent the inner workings of one's mind. The game did run a liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiittle slow on WebGL, but I'm glad I was able to stick it out and see this through to the end.
Also, it took me a while to figure out there were rocks I could pick up. Maybe making them easier to spot (especially in lighter backgrounds) would be a good idea.
Overall though, this was a really stellar entry, excellent job!!