Crypt Caper by Asieke

* Summary *
Crypt Caper is a 2d Maze Platformer where Light is a resource to be Planted, Harvested, and Consumed.
It also implements a World Clock based turn system. With each tile the Player traverses, the World Clock ticks. With each tick, time progresses and the entities and objects in the world take their next action.
(Player's Guide Below)
Goal: Escape the Crypt - Gate needs Light 8 to open - You start with Light 2
Gain More Light - PLANT a flame on a Pedestal - GROW the flame with each tick of the World Clock (The World Clock ticks with each tile you traverse) - HARVEST the flame
Consuming Light - You consume a portion of the light you carry with each tick of the World Clock (The World Clock ticks with each tile you traverse)
The Challenge - Plant, Grow, and Harvest flames at the pedestals to gain more light - Use the Harvested light to - explore the map - find the Gate - discover more Pedestals - plan and set up your route - Path efficiently as you Harvest the light you Planted so you reach the Gate with at least Light 8
Obstacles - Wandering Ghosts that move with each tick of the World Clock (The World Clock ticks with each tile you traverse) - Skeletal Hands sprouting from the terrain - Navigating/Traversing the terrain

| Link | https://asieke.itch.io/crypt-caper |
| Link | https://asieke.itch.io/crypt-caper |
| Original URL | https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/52/crypt-caper |
Ratings
| Overall | 203th | 3.342⭐ | 21🧑⚖️ |
| Fun | 280th | 2.875⭐ | 22🧑⚖️ |
| Innovation | 113th | 3.526⭐ | 21🧑⚖️ |
| Theme | 268th | 3.105⭐ | 21🧑⚖️ |
| Graphics | 24th | 4.25⭐ | 22🧑⚖️ |
| Audio | 97th | 3.525⭐ | 22🧑⚖️ |
| Humor | 246th | 2.133⭐ | 17🧑⚖️ |
| Mood | 27th | 4.053⭐ | 21🧑⚖️ |
| Given | 46🗳️ | 10🗨️ |
It's kinda unfortunate that I got stuck after a few screens. It's not clear to me which of the paths I'm supposed to go; I can't make either of them work!
I'm also not sure how the whole real-time harvesting mechanic fits in with the platformer. It feels a bit like it's added on top rather than fully integrated. Still, very nice work!
The controls seem very innovative and for me personally a bit too complicated. For example, you can't turn around on the spot, so if you're right on top of a flame, then to harvest or plant it you need to move two steps away and one back - so, often you will need to drop down a ledge in the process - which is kinda wild.
It also took a little while to figure out what I had to do, which wasn't helped by the slightly hard-to-read font. I did manage to finish in the end after trying to get to the door a few times but failing to reach it in time cause I didn't have a good enough grasp of the controls.
Overall an impressive effort for sure.
Had similar harvesting trouble as @mihkelroomet - My solution was to jump straight up with no directional input and then turn in the air since you get no lateral motion with such a jump. Worked without needing to grab ledges.
- The graphics are quite good! The 1-bit palette really fits with the game's aesthetic of being a dark place. The text is a little bit difficult to read, personally I had to focus on it(and thus stop playing) to make things out, and there's text in every room I've visited!
- The music is alright. It's well-made, but to me it doesn't feel like a good fit for what I had in mind when playing. I'd associate it with something like a lullaby rather than running around in what is supposedly a crypt.
- I like the idea of having to move efficiently to keep the lights on! That said, I had quite a bit of trouble getting to grips with the controls. A single arrow key press, in my experience, could put me on the next tile, or it could propel me 4 tiles in a direction and off a ledge, or past a torch(the shift button helps, though!). Perhaps I'm simply not very good at precise input, and I know that I can move slowly by holding down, but more controlled movement in general would be preferable(maybe even make larger tiles with free movement within them? Not sure what effect it could have on the game).
- Jumping also feels rather sluggish. My take on it is that there's _too much_ animation in it. The animation itself is nice, but responsive controls are simply more important to me in a platformer.
- The game's premise can definitely make for an interesting challenge! That said, I hope there are more levels in the post-jam version. As it stands right now, I don't think the level on display plays to the strengths of the concept very well, but that's understandable given the time constraints. A good smattering of mechanics to encourage either rushing through a level before the light goes out or wandering around before backtracking to a well-lit room can surely do a lot of good here.
- I wish there was some sort of indicator for when the light meter will go down. My understanding is that it's rounded down to the nearest integer, but I wish I had more details on how much ticks I have left before it goes down again.
All in all, it's evident that a lot of work went into the game, but the game can absolutely go much further. I think the foundation here is solid, the only question is how far you're going to take the idea. Good luck!
