Shadow's Edge by octahedron
Player Input
- W: Jump
- A/D: Directions
Mind the darkness and gravity
Description
You are an astronaut lost in space, armed with a mysterious orb that can both * illuminate the darkness and manipulate gravity! *
Remember, stepping into the darkness will lead to immediate loss of life. The level will be completed only if you successfully reach the exit. Stay within the light and find your way out.
This is actually my first Ludum Dare. Not good as I expected since I was running out of time, but here's how far I got.
All assets and code were created by me during the event.

Updates
2023-10-20 (1.1)
- Slightly decreased level 2 difficulty.
- Modified platform color.
- Modified player controls when gravity is pointing upward.
- Fixed bugs.
| Link | https://github.com/nancysun0415/LD54 |
| GamePlay(itch.io) | https://regoctahedron.itch.io/shadows-edge |
| Original URL | https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/54/shadows-edge |
Ratings
| Overall | 274th | 3.238⭐ | 23🧑⚖️ |
| Fun | 271th | 3.119⭐ | 23🧑⚖️ |
| Innovation | 179th | 3.405⭐ | 23🧑⚖️ |
| Theme | 206th | 3.548⭐ | 23🧑⚖️ |
| Graphics | 144th | 3.667⭐ | 23🧑⚖️ |
| Audio | 253th | 2.786⭐ | 23🧑⚖️ |
| Humor | 232th | 2.278⭐ | 20🧑⚖️ |
| Mood | 189th | 3.286⭐ | 23🧑⚖️ |
| Given | 23🗳️ | 13🗨️ |
The mechanics of the game are interesting, the colors and textures within the game are also quiet and elegant (I can't think of another good word).
PS: The braziers look like spikes. Since spikes are such a common obstacle in platformers, you might want to make them look more inviting.

Good luck for your 20 votes.
The game itself can get quite challenging, the mechanic is nice but I am also thinking that if you replicated jump/left/right controls to always work like you are in regular position (does that make sense?) it would be a bit more intuitive.
Final note: sound effects are ok but a bit harsh on the ear, I'd prefer a bit softer ones.
After some tries (there is this tricky part, nice :P ) I got to the end of the 2nd level.. touched the exit spiral but nothing happened? Are there more levels?
Overall, it's a nice game and a solid core : ))
I like the art style but some platforms are nearly impossible to see as they are too dark , making them fade in the background .
It's a solid entry for your first time, we all know how running out of time happens. Would gladly have played many levels more.
The gravity transition when touching the light beacons is a bit jarring and difficult to predict, some animation there would help a lot for gaining intuition. I kinda felt like I beat the levels by accident instead of thinking through.
I like that you prioritized sfx over bg music, makes things feel more responsive.
@novicedevgames Modified the collision boxes for both the astronaut and the torches. Should be better now. Thanks for mentioning.
@beeb-gamecodecompany Yay I'm so happy you found the second way! It's meant to be a challenging shortcut.
@ty-victorson @novicedevgames Yes, something was wrong with the exit spiral. It's now fixed and should lead you to a thank-you note and the exit screen.
@madbarron @snesgaard Thanks for mentioning the platform texture. I was way too familiar with the game to notice it. Should be much easier now to tell them apart from the bg/darkness.
@tomatolamp @leritrea @jk5000 @tomatolamp Thanks for the suggestion on player control! I swapped left/right input when the astronaut is up on the ceiling and it should be less confusing now.
@bliny-lynx I guess that's the downside of lowering the difficulty of level 2. Wish I could have more challenging levels for you...
Thank you so much for the feedback everyone!
The visuals are very nice, I like the thye choice of a cold palette as it helps selling the whole space alien look!
it would be nice if there was some music too tho
the integration of the theme is pretty creative, I like the whole trying to stay in the light thing. It would be helpful if the player had a light circle around them that would fade the more you go in the darkness, I think it could help with some of that visibility issue with some of the platforms
the controls are a little confusing, I recommend trying to make them match the angle of the player, especially on vertical surfaces. I was always always subconciously trying to match the facing angle and it kinda confused me.
this could be a really cool little puzzle game if you would expand more on the gimmick! Pretty good!