The Forlorn House by pikachurian

[raw]
made by pikachurian for Ludum Dare 49 (JAM)

Note: In the web version, the creature's audio is a bit buggy. I recommend playing the downloadable version if you're able to.

You are stuck in a house with a creature. You must collect keys around the house to unlock different rooms and, eventually, escape. Your sanity goes down if your flashlight is off. You can restore your sanity by standing under a light. You can turn on lights by interacting with nearby light switches. However, the creature is alerted when you switch and leave on a light. Note, you must hold the correct key while interacting with a locked door to unlock it.

Controls:

wasd - move

mouse - look around

right click - toggle flashlight

e - interact with doors or switch, and collect items.

1-9 or the scroll wheel - cycle through your items

Note: The title screen has a secret if you wait after beating the game, good luck.

ScreenShot1.PNG ScreenShot2.PNG ScreenShot3.PNG

Credits:

Made By pikachurian, MC_Creeper, and Kirbybowwow, for the 49 Ludum Dare game jam. Everything was made for the jam, except some image textures, and a rain sound effect.

Ratings

Overall 1086th 3.25⭐ 16🧑‍⚖️
Fun 1049th 3.143⭐ 16🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 1489th 2.286⭐ 16🧑‍⚖️
Theme 1412th 2.571⭐ 16🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 1258th 2.821⭐ 16🧑‍⚖️
Audio 699th 3.214⭐ 16🧑‍⚖️
Humor 1219th 1.875⭐ 14🧑‍⚖️
Mood 74th 4.214⭐ 16🧑‍⚖️
Given 5🗳️ 5🗨️

Feedback

Harry Holschier
05. Oct 2021 · 16:50 UTC
for some reason I collected the key and it didn't work for me, however it was extremely creepy with the sanity meter coupled with the depth of shadows when navigating around hallways awesome game!
🎤 pikachurian
05. Oct 2021 · 17:19 UTC
@harry-holschier I'm really happy you enjoyed the game. You receive the first comment award ! <- pretend this is a trophy.

If you are willing to give the game another shot, you have to currently hold the correct key to open the corresponding door. Meaning using the number keys, 1-9, or the scroll wheel, to find and hold the correct key before opening the door. Unfortunately, I didn't add this to the help menu. Sorry about that.
LDJam user 263516
05. Oct 2021 · 17:24 UTC
Startled me !!!
Good creepy fun :) good work on creating a finished and polished game. That jumpscare was so mean. The sound effects are perfect. Nailed it
R3dleg
05. Oct 2021 · 17:27 UTC
You managed to shock me xD In a gamejam. To be honest it didn`t felt that innovative, but overall it is a very nice entry and it seems to work as an horror game. At least for me. And nice... monster xD
Fedev
05. Oct 2021 · 17:32 UTC
Nice short horror game! I had to read the comment because I couldn't interact with the key/doors, I couldn't finish either, I think it's a little hard for a small map, but maybe I'm not very good at it.
Souptik Datta
05. Oct 2021 · 17:33 UTC
First horror game I played this time. Good job!
🎤 pikachurian
05. Oct 2021 · 17:38 UTC
@ivysly Thank you very much. We decided to make a smaller atmospheric game, rather then a less polished level based. The creature's AI was the hardest thing to code.
🎤 pikachurian
05. Oct 2021 · 17:50 UTC
@fedev Thank you. Besides the main floor, there's a basement, and a small attic. It is a little on the hard side, but it's definitely beatable. The player walks faster then the monster, so you can out run him.
🎤 pikachurian
05. Oct 2021 · 17:51 UTC
@souptik-datta Congratulations and thank you, I'm glad our game could be the first horror game you played this jam.
🎤 pikachurian
05. Oct 2021 · 17:53 UTC
@r3dleg Thanks for commenting! The monster had slight inspiration from no face.
Kraig
05. Oct 2021 · 18:01 UTC
Well, 0% sanity doesn't seem to do anything. I liked the atmosphere.
🎤 pikachurian
05. Oct 2021 · 18:04 UTC
@kraig Thank you for playing. When you reach zero sanity, the creature doesn't scare immediately. This makes the game more unpredictable, and might make it so you could win by the skin of your teeth.
potkirland
05. Oct 2021 · 23:32 UTC
nice creepy feel to it. it would be much better it items had names on them but that wasnt a big problem
jitspoe
06. Oct 2021 · 03:26 UTC
Nice mood. Pretty intuitive to play. I liked the suspense of having to select the correct key. I did want to click to use the key, though, instead of press E, but that's a minor thing.
Dinwy
06. Oct 2021 · 16:32 UTC
I finally able to open the front door :D I really like horror game and this game is great! It would be nice explain user to how to play it, I kinda guessed but I tried several times to figure it out.
Ava Skoog
21. Oct 2021 · 19:23 UTC
This is well made! Creeped me the heck out and got me with the jump scare, so I do appreciate the disclaimer at the start. I like the PS-like graphics following the PS-like logo at the start! The only thing is I feel like I've played almost this exact game in LD before, but this is a nice take on it. I managed to get stuck behind the desk(?) in the first room somehow. Good use of light and audio helps a lot with the atmosphere!