Subterranean by PatUwU

[raw]
made by PatUwU for Ludum Dare 58 (JAM)

You play as a small mole digging through dirt to find and collect food and materials.
 Food goes to your hungry mother, and materials are used to craft better tools that help you dig faster and deeper. You better feed your mother...

Controls:
Mouse + W

mainmenu.png

Screenshot 2025-10-07 014244.png

upgr.png

Screenshot 2025-10-07 012147.png

Ratings

Overall 434th 3.463⭐ 42🧑‍⚖️
Fun 427th 3.288⭐ 42🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 209th 3.577⭐ 41🧑‍⚖️
Theme 307th 3.8⭐ 42🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 370th 3.725⭐ 42🧑‍⚖️
Audio 332th 3.333⭐ 41🧑‍⚖️
Humor 338th 3.135⭐ 39🧑‍⚖️
Mood 401th 3.526⭐ 41🧑‍⚖️
Given 74🗳️ 93🗨️

Feedback

Wishes
Oct 07th · 00:00 UTC
Very entertaining game
I love it.
naru
Oct 07th · 07:49 UTC
Good game concept, feels fun to play
Semenchk
Oct 07th · 12:47 UTC
Very nice menu, well done by the artist.
tercs
Oct 07th · 12:51 UTC
Good game concept, But it would be nice if the character moved faster in open areas
yness
Oct 07th · 13:11 UTC
Interesting take on the theme! A fun little game to play for 5–10 minutes.
Artificer
Oct 07th · 13:17 UTC
Once I got a boots upgrade and got used to the look mouse it was pretty fun. I like the upgrades and the animation of mother rushing at you is spooky. It would be nice if looking around was supported on just keyboard and it auto paused when you opened the upgrade menu but overall I quite like this one! Diamond boots rock
Ntimi
Oct 07th · 13:51 UTC
Nice entry! Thanks for the game. I enjoyed digging through the earth and feeding mother. I just thought to myself - is that everything there is? So I upgraded every item to diamond level, overfed her with the juiciest bugs I could find and ran for my life. I'm a bit disappointed that there was still no escape in the end. 😄
The graphics are well done and fit the mood. There's a bit of a mood-disconnect between the calming music in contrast with the monstrous screams of hunger rage from big mother, but I feel that might have been a choice. ^^
Took me a while to understand the upgrade system - I first thought that the upgrade menu icon was for leaving the game and didn't want to click it. And I'd have loved it if there was some way to feed her using the keyboard only - clicking menu items while the camera rotates left me a little dizzy. Other than that, solid entry!
Transkuja
Oct 07th · 18:24 UTC
I tried the avoid motion sickness by trying to move the mouse very slowly ^^' interesting idea, I love the mother scream, bit scary tho xD
Derek Glennon
Oct 07th · 18:30 UTC
Wow mother is needy haha fun game! Took a bit for me to realize that bashing into the wood/rocks a few times would break them and let me collect them. Gameplay was fun and upgrades were neat. Genuinely scared me the first time mother screamed too! Well done
naru
Oct 07th · 21:09 UTC
Great concept, the gameplay is very engaging!
Daniella
Oct 08th · 15:58 UTC
Now after gaming i want to be a mouse.
LDJam user 235915
Oct 08th · 16:50 UTC
A fun game! At the first time, I was even a little scared at the end)
stefaink
Oct 08th · 17:31 UTC
my dream work
10/10
Ira Baciu
Oct 08th · 18:08 UTC
Ohh, a smart use of the theme! I didn’t even think about a mole
Eugenik
Oct 09th · 07:47 UTC
Great atmosphere
skale
Oct 09th · 13:24 UTC
Oh hell, that mother is scary! I really like the concept, and the gameplay feels great
Rinzu
Oct 09th · 19:13 UTC
I couldn't find any food for the mother mole :'/ (she's so scary).
MistaGiggles
Oct 09th · 19:41 UTC
Interesting take on the theme, but it wasn't super obvious what the goal was. I fed mother, but couldn't use the roots or rocks up. After 4 minutes I couldn't find enough food. I like the art!
6Knowledge
Oct 10th · 13:59 UTC
What an interesting take on the theme. At around 5 minutes I was starting think that I would run out of food soon near by and the game probably could've used an upgrade system. And that is when I found the upgrade menu and realized why the wood was needed alongside iron (which is not a food). Mother was quite hungry even after feeding her, maybe a short countdown after feeding would've sufficed for that. Job well done.
X2SHADOW
Oct 11th · 12:20 UTC
The gameplay cycle is not bad, but character is so hard to control, even at the lowest sensitivity on my mouse. The camera is still very fast, which made it difficult to play and make me dizzy. But I managed to get through a couple of tries, and overall it was fun.
JB Rock
Oct 16th · 00:42 UTC
Cool game! I like the theme of bring back food to Mother. The control took a little to get used to, due to the sensitivity. I had difficulty finding some of the items to begin crafting. Not sure if I needed to venture further out. The black to gray areas was unclear if end of map or another sort of biome. The music and audio matched the art style well. Overall enjoyable though, good work!
Rol
Oct 16th · 17:50 UTC
Really interesting concept and gameplay is solid. It might be better if the camera rotates a bit slower to make the control feels better
xpoho
Oct 17th · 06:16 UTC
![изображение_2025-10-17_131555728.png](///raw/d14/a3/z/6f715.png)

Well, this mother is really scary ^_^
anima_animus049
Oct 17th · 08:04 UTC
great concept and very cute! the mother is a little bit scary though
🎤 PatUwU
Oct 17th · 22:32 UTC
@ntimi Thanks for your big review, we liked reading it and learn new things, it was my first experience in ludum dare and game jam but I will continue to participate and gain experince!
🎤 PatUwU
Oct 17th · 22:33 UTC
@anima-animus049 It was planed like this, he-he. In conclusion, never make your mom angry :D
Deive_Ex
Oct 18th · 14:49 UTC
Pretty nice game. The mouse controls are relly sensitive so it was kinda hard to play, but I really liked the graphics and the digging effect
thegrottman
Oct 21st · 17:30 UTC
Scary mother, cute mole, and collecting - that's a combination I did not expect. Nonetheless, it's a lovely game <3
Franciscorp
Oct 21st · 22:47 UTC
Sooo fun! The mouse is hard to control because of the tendency to be on top of the mole, I feel like the upgrades should be a little more balanced, but the fact that is one of the few games i Have played where there is actually progression, in such a short amount of time. Congratulations!
Kit Gorn
Oct 22nd · 13:09 UTC
Interesting game. I liked the digging and leveling mechanics. The narrative is strange. Usually mothers feed their children, but here it's the opposite—the mother is a tyrant. The controls are awkward, made me sick. Fix the controls. Revise the narrative. Add some variety to the bugs' behavior. And it will be a great game.
darianifakina
Oct 23rd · 15:50 UTC
I like it!!!
WeirdBitGames
Oct 23rd · 16:08 UTC
Okay wow, this is really addictive! I kinda want to invest a lot of time into crafting and upgrading but so far Mother seems to get hungry real fast and I can't really explore to far and end up dying 'cos she gets fully starved. A really cool concept though, I like it a lot! The camera movement is a little jarring though.
WormKingBoo
Oct 23rd · 16:28 UTC
Love the graphics for this game! I got a little motion sick with the quick turns, but it was still easy to navigate. I like the way the game forces you to balance exploring for resources and staying home to feed the mother mole - adds a nice amount of tension.