Hole Down by Seeko Studios
Hole down puts us in the shoes of Bob, an office worker tired of his job, that ventures down a hole looking for riches. Will he actually earn something? Will he ever make it back home?

Controls: A - D: Move left or right S: Go Down Q: Switch items F: Grab Items E: Use potion

| Link | https://kilthrall.itch.io/hole-down |
| Link | https://kilthrall.itch.io/hole-down |
| Link | https://kilthrall.itch.io/hole-down |
| Original URL | https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/48/hole-down |
Ratings
| Overall | 213th | 3.989⭐ | 49🧑⚖️ |
| Fun | 233th | 3.883⭐ | 49🧑⚖️ |
| Innovation | 314th | 3.777⭐ | 49🧑⚖️ |
| Theme | 521th | 3.926⭐ | 49🧑⚖️ |
| Graphics | 69th | 4.53⭐ | 52🧑⚖️ |
| Audio | 112th | 4.13⭐ | 48🧑⚖️ |
| Given | 35🗳️ | 8🗨️ |
@jamie-simpson Thank you for the feedback! We were aware that some things might seem confusing, the first 5 zones are mostly meant to introduce 1-2 concepts each, but it was a bit crammed so I get where your confusion might come from. We will add a description later with what feels weird.
The artstyle and music just overflows with style and is really cool, kind of reminds me of persona 5 in a way.
Great work!
You should teach the controls within the game at least a little imho. Apart from that I really don't have much to say. Well done.
Edit: Creo que lo rompí... termina ahí?

Edit: Igualmente tenés más abajo en itch para descargar la versión original, osea la que hicimos en el tiempo de la jam en la cual el final andaba (y otras cosas no jajjaja)

While I'd say I've played "better games" in the jam, after a few rounds of playing this one, I'm borderline inclined to call it my favorite of the jam to this moment. With its polish, looks, gameplay and vibes, I'm impressed it hasn't been seen as much around.
I'm biased to the art style, which reminds me a lot to styles I'm a big fan of, such as seen in games like Caslte Crashers, but with a more minimalistic, almost noir vibe to it. It looks gorgeous, and it goes hand in hand with the music and sound effects.
And the gameplay is superb too. Very responsive, has a satisfying "snap" to it, feels quick but not rushed and sturdy but not heavy. Giving the player the space to maneuver around, figure out where and how to engage in combat, what items to carry around, it made me feel truly in control.
My only gripe with the game is that I felt at times that I was taking damage for no reason. While I figured out at some point that dropping from ledges caused damage, I am not sure yet if some enemies have ranged attacks or something I cannot see.
But otherwise, this game was fantastic. I cannot stress that otherwise. I'd like to see it as either a roguelike or a full fledged narrative game. This belongs to consoles and online gaming platforms. It's just that good! :whale:
Regarding the future of the game, we are still not sure whether to carry on or not (if we do, it will most likely be as a rogue-like) but if you want, we will definetly update you once we make a decition (I can give you my discord if you want, or just answer through here, or add me on itch, idk, whichever you prefer works).
Really, the amount of polish is incredible. I love the Persona vibe :p
Music is awesome.
Gameplay is (very) original.
We have a winner here.
Said that, core idea of limiting vertical movement to only down is simple yet smart take at the jam's theme.
The weapon / armor is also handled really well, it's simple yet it lets you decide how to approach things. It's a shame the jam ending was broken but what you can see makes me thing it was going in some #deep way that has double points for the theme.
Overall muy copado che, posta que lo re veo como un skyhill o dice dungeons, un roguelite de ese estilo.
Art, the narrative at the beginning were all cool. Gameplay was fun but there could be more levels. Would be better if the levels were procedurally generated tho. That's all I can say. Good job!
Art and soundscape are fantastic. I think I even saw a filmgrain effect in there adding to the style. Great work!
And that is literally the only negative part I can think of, because everything else is just absolutely awesome ! The visuals, the animations, the intro, the music and sound design are all astounding, and the level of polish and work you've put into this is just on another level.
It's incredible you managed to make something look and feel this good during the timeframe; that's the level of quality you'd expect from a released, standalone indie game, not a jam submission. Seriously, well done !
Also you have numbers swapped in in-game boxes and in the menu. But that's a minor thing.
Here is the timed link for the stream:
https://youtu.be/vC17EaL3CcI?t=342
Congrats to the whole team!!
Mad respect yo
I think some of the rules are a bit unintuitive (damage from falling makes sense), but on one level the enemies died as I moved towards them (like 3 blocks away).