The Nowhere Place by saralizzieb

[raw]
made by saralizzieb for Ludum Dare 54 (JAM)

We’re taking a quiet night ride, as we often do. It’s pitch black and snowing. The perfect weather to drive around aimlessly.

Mom texts to remind me to set an alarm to take my meds, because I've been forgetting to do it. She also asks me to be careful not to wake the dog when I come in. Orla is humming under her breath as she drives. The world outside is still and muffled. It is unrecognizable under this blanket of white.

My eyelids feel weighted down and a wave of unnatural tiredness washes over me. I don’t remember falling asleep or getting out of the car.

Ratings

Overall 758th 3.375⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Fun 942th 2.921⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 788th 3.075⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Theme 1056th 2.737⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Audio 455th 3.375⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Humor 746th 2.526⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Mood 438th 3.675⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Given 23🗳️ 17🗨️

Feedback

Depression
03. Oct 2023 · 20:02 UTC
Bro, why you bully me? ![Безымянный.png](///raw/cb6/e4/z/5f63e.png)
🎤 saralizzieb
10. Oct 2023 · 21:18 UTC
@depression sorry about that :)
Fernofai
10. Oct 2023 · 22:07 UTC
The atmosphere is great and I love the idea of these popping up messages. I only didn't really understand why Orla also heard stuff (which I didn't heard btw - were there actual sounds at these points?) and talked like she was walking together with Maisy? The end was a bit abrupt too, but other than that I really enjoyed the writing and felt like I really get to know these two characters.
fatEmperor
11. Oct 2023 · 06:53 UTC
The team has a very good narrative designer. The gaps between large messages at the beginning can be increased. Those who read slowly have to stop. Great project, I like it.
LDJam user 318832
11. Oct 2023 · 09:22 UTC
I like the story and atmosphere of this game, I really like the idea of messages and walking on the road, good job!
🎤 saralizzieb
12. Oct 2023 · 22:46 UTC
@fernofai thank you for your feedback! there are sound cues in the game for whenever they reference hearing something and Orla mentions in a text that she's on the other side of the river but it's easy to miss. thanks for playing!!
allov
12. Oct 2023 · 23:44 UTC
Anxiety simulator.

While it's very real that I felt really anxious during this, the atmosphere, sounds and story was really immersive. Really reminiscent of games like Gone Home and the likes, the walking speed and limited actions (well, move and look) are effective.

I liked how the messages were delivered, and I agree with the other commenter about the pacing; it helps selling the narrative.

Great job overall, I'll admit I was afraid of a jump scare the whole time, but it wasn't that bad, a really soft alarm sound.
adhesion
13. Oct 2023 · 00:34 UTC
Wow - awesome experience. Super creepy and evocative and I loved the overall narrative and characters. Great use of sound as well. Only issue I can think of is that it felt like there was a bit of a disconnect in the narrative between the intro text and the beginning of the gameplay. Super glad I found this one - amazing work!
BorderDestroyer
13. Oct 2023 · 03:00 UTC
Incredibly earie game! Absolutely loved playing this! The story was a little confusing, but overall it was super fun to play through!
DeadByDeath
13. Oct 2023 · 12:01 UTC
The nice thing about this game was the fact that it gave you the opportunity to think while you were walking. At first I was afraid that it will have some kind of jump scares or whatever that could potentially ruin the experience for me, but the fact that it just created the right amount of anxiety to the player made it beautiful and deep! The story was a bit confusing for me as well, but in general very nice little game! Keep up!
Steampowered85
13. Oct 2023 · 12:23 UTC
Yo, creeepy little game! Love the atmosphere! And the Sounds where great! One thing tho, you can see the messages for miles back, was a little funny looking haha! But Overall nice work, had me on the edge of my seat!
Dan Str
17. Oct 2023 · 19:53 UTC
the game is very interesting, I liked it, the idea is good, continue at the same pace and you will become more professional
Le Don
18. Oct 2023 · 15:11 UTC
This is a great game! Really liked the sound design and how some of the later messages in some way sounded creepier. At the earlier messages I had to pause sometimes to read them, as I felt they spawned a bit too close and I (also not a native speaker) couldn't read them fast enough (come to think of it, I also couldn't finish reading the intro text), so I spent some time walking backwards, so I could read the messages without pausing. But I also liked how the creepier messages were also right in my face - that felt appropiate for them. Again, overall I think this is great game!
Lone_Wolf
18. Oct 2023 · 16:37 UTC
My internet isn't the best with large downloads, but since you only need one more rating I'll try. Is there anything unnecessary adding to the file size that you could remove? Or is the game actually 0.7GB?
LDJam user 380019
21. Oct 2023 · 11:50 UTC
overall very good, the sound is exciting, I like it