Inner Joe by Ulisses
Use the A/D or arrows to guide Joe through obstacles and criticisms, finding the strength to move on and show he is capable.
*Please do not rate us in the AUDIO category, we shouldn't have submitted. Thanks.
Special thanks from friends: Kroltan, Lucas Silva, Vitor Figueredo, Gabriel Rossito
Sometimes people make criticisms that throw us more and more downwards, making it look like we are going straight to the bottom. But it is up to us not to give up and move on, no matter how difficult it is, or how dark it is.
| Link | https://ulissescad.itch.io/inner-joe |
| Original URL | https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/48/inner-joe |
Ratings
| Overall | 996th | 3.474⭐ | 21🧑⚖️ |
| Fun | 1403th | 3⭐ | 21🧑⚖️ |
| Innovation | 1206th | 3⭐ | 21🧑⚖️ |
| Theme | 369th | 4.026⭐ | 21🧑⚖️ |
| Graphics | 811th | 3.763⭐ | 21🧑⚖️ |
| Audio | 103th | 4.158⭐ | 21🧑⚖️ |
| Mood | 260th | 4.053⭐ | 21🧑⚖️ |
| Given | 10🗳️ | 10🗨️ |
I really liked the concept and the delivery of the message was very impactful.
It seems some of the messages haven't been translated from Portuguese though, so it's a bit tricky for our international jammer friends.
I would have liked if I could see a little bit further down, but I guess the current setup fits thematically. Reason being I had the instinct of never let my character trail offscreen above, so I would often jump before I could see where I would land, then have to wait for the camera to catch up.
A suggestion for the artist is to watch out for scale when making pixel art. In-game, the background and walls are much higher resolution than the wooden beams. There also seems to be a different scale for the player and lantern's pixels. If you keep all sprites with the same pixel size, the art can become much more cohesive.
The whole game could be zoomed out a lot more so you can see more of the lantern powerups before you make your next plunge into darkness.
Gameplay part needs a few bugs fixed (sometimes I can fall for a very long time and not die), and some of the messages are in Portuguese, which I do not understand (and understanding the messages is paramount in a game with, well, *a message*.
Good job!

And this bug, that locks you.
The really good music and sound effects give this game a very strong mood, especially combined with falling far and then anxiously waiting to see if it turns into a game over or if the light is slowly crawling back up again.
I couldn't really focus on the messages once I got further down because I was focusing on not dying (again) and the text boxes felt frustrating because they are in the way of me seeing the next platforms. Not sure if that is on purpose.
- the music is just great, it really adds to the message you want to bring across
- the graphics are nice, but could use some simple tweaks. I would, for instance, change the background in a way that it fits with the rest of the style. There is some kind of unspoken rule that all the pixels in a game need to be the same size (which is not always true, but I would highly consider it for this game)
- it is not always clear where the next platforms will appear, making the jump a wild guess. Which makes the game feel a bit random and unfair at points. But maybe that is a good thing in this case, as your message fits well with that
- It is simple to play, and I like that a lot :smile:
Well done sir!
Sometimes I would fall between platforms and not die, I'd completely disappear, including my light, and continue to live, sometimes I would just die. I think a quick tutorial would help me understand better why this happens.
Also, I double what kroltan said about the pixels, however, let me add that the pixel art is great. Great shading, well done.
Overall a great experience.