Angler by Robean

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

2 days ago all contact with a local mine went dark. It is your job to venture into the inky depths of the cave and find out what happened to the workers, in hopes of finding survivors.

To fit the theme I decided to go with the player having a limited space of visibility. The deeper you delve into the mine the darker it gets.

Ratings

Given 18🗳️ 1🗨️

Feedback

AdamsMcCall
03. Oct 2023 · 01:55 UTC
This game made me fear for my life lol

I couldn't get past a corridor with a note on the ground talking about something with the light trying to lure him in. Everytime I went to the right I ended up back at the beginning of the room, I don't know if thats on purpose or not but going back on the left make me clip out of the map.

But what a creepy ambiance, a simple narrative but really immersive, well done :)
Christian Witt Martin
03. Oct 2023 · 16:00 UTC
I was severely underestimating the game's ability to be scary and it made me jump, so that alone deserves some props lol. Very cool and spooky vibe particularly after falling down the mine shaft, I really enjoyed how the lights look a bit like giant eyes in the dark.
Mooptychunk
05. Oct 2023 · 22:19 UTC
You got me...

Scary game with a lot of story. Nice!
cronch
06. Oct 2023 · 02:09 UTC
you got a real good scare out of me there in that first bit, but just like AdamsMcCall i wasnt really able to progresss past that area... i wish i got to see the rest of the game!
DrumGadget_433
11. Oct 2023 · 23:13 UTC
Alright, you got me good. I jumped in my chair. I think you did a nice job building suspense with the atmosphere, sounds, and story. I especially like that you introduced the 'SHIFT to RUN' control later in the game. The implication of this was an adrenaline spike all of it's own - genius idea. I also like that this interpretation of the theme was applied to both the player's visibility, and natural feature of caves. Nice job!
Redoxeide
11. Oct 2023 · 23:32 UTC
Nice job on the atmosphere! Good jumpscare with the thing in the dark.

I feel the controls were intuitive, but I wish there was a tutorial or a sign explaining the controls for people that are not used to them.
It was also not very obvious that I could interact with stuff at first. Maybe a highlight on the object or a sign with the interact key when the player approaches it would help.
I would suggest making the sprite for the box where the key is different from every other box.
There could also be a sound effect and a pause to the text box when the player takes the key so they can tell that what is happening if they are spamming the interact key.

@adamsmccall @cronch I was able to find (an/the?) ending to the game by waiting under the last light to the right in that last map. I don't know if @robean can confirm if that is the only ending to the game?