Timebound by Ategon


Solve puzzles while going backwards in time every 10 seconds. Shoot something to make it move through time. Some doors may need more than one pressure plate to open.
Play the game here (Web): https://team-auboreal.itch.io/timebound
WASD - movement
E - interact with levers, pick up the Box and Key
Left Mouse Button - Shoot projectile to stop something from resetting
Right Mouse Button - Place a Box on the floor (if you have it)
Space - Do nothing and wait ;)
Hold R - Restart level
Credits
Pixel Art - Ategon, vulkaara, Coeur
Coding - Icecube, Leafcutter, Holden, GhPanda
Sound - tumor, Staintocton, Kowara, lisamichelle
Design - Holden, GraphicEdit
Testing - Zilonis123
Team Auboreal Discord
Feel free to join the discord if you wish to be notified about future games from the team, new updates to timebound or just want to hang out with us!
https://discord.gg/JqmaaY32Kt
| Link | https://team-auboreal.itch.io/timebound |
| Original URL | https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/51/timebound |
Ratings
| Overall | 326th | 3.75⭐ | 36🧑⚖️ |
| Fun | 378th | 3.603⭐ | 36🧑⚖️ |
| Innovation | 122th | 3.926⭐ | 36🧑⚖️ |
| Theme | 248th | 4.015⭐ | 36🧑⚖️ |
| Graphics | 415th | 3.864⭐ | 35🧑⚖️ |
| Audio | 253th | 3.697⭐ | 35🧑⚖️ |
| Humor | 936th | 2.077⭐ | 28🧑⚖️ |
| Mood | 532th | 3.5⭐ | 33🧑⚖️ |
| Given | 40🗳️ | 42🗨️ |
Only small notes are that walking felt a bit too slow, and I would've liked that the restart button worked quicker, but overall great job!
Discovering the mechanics on my own was a little rough, but only because the explanatory text is rather subtle. I didn't see the "E" in the second level for the first couple loops, for example, and thought that I just had to shoot the switch.
Puzzle design is really good. They're the kind of "What the hell is this? Wait... Oh, I see!" puzzles which I enjoy a lot. Once you grasp the situation it's all about execution. Very satisfying to solve.
The graphics could've used just one more pass to make sure everything reads well. The cube blended in with the pressure plate so well that I just thought that's the plate looked like that when activated.
And I'm not sure if the audio is actually glitching out, or if it's an intentional stylistic choice. If it is, I think you went a little bit too heavy, the glitching isn't "melodic" or "rhythmic" enough so I thought my audio drivers were acting up for a second.
Overall, even though I sound really critical, I thoroughly enjoyed your game! I liked it a whole lot! Great job!
Is there a solution to the leash level? Or is it there to end the game on
Also amazing job on the soundtrack, I particularly like the main menu one, I would have kept it for the whole game but I guess that comes down to personal preference.
On further rewatching of my video, I see that lever automatically is pulled on a timer. That mechanic definitely needs better explained.
I really enjoyed the game! The levels are absolutely brilliant, and I had a lot of fun. Great work.
And here's that video I mentioned, for even more feedback: (sorry it doesn't feature me solving level 6 though)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0mrI8y-XII
You are only ever able to interact with a lever if you're standing next to it, you were just very unlucky in that you pointed the mouse cursor at the lever at the exact moment the lever flipped because of the timer.
Also, the fact that you assumed you needed to walk over to the lever was part of the design of the puzzle. It was an intentional misdirection, also called "the Catch". If you're interested in puzzle design, I recommend you the following video from GMTK, especially the second part "the Catch":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsjC6fa_YBg
Thank you for submitting your game to stream!
It took me a while to really learn the rules about what was happening in the game, but once I managed to figure it out, it was pretty fun! I was a bit bummed that the game ended after the Leash puzzle, because I was super excited to see what y'all would do with that mechanic! I definitely think this would be a great project to expand on in the future. :slight_smile:
Was hang up in the control room level, because I found out what you have to do in the leash level way to early by accident xD