abyss by A0405u
A game about a man who has fallen into the deep hollow. Now he needs to climb back up.
Use WASD to move, Space to jump and Мouse to build. Press R to restart the game.
Made from scratch with LÖVE. Thank @onhore for the gorgeous art. Sounds are generated with sfxr.
Colors on Web are broken, so if you are determined to get the best experience, use binary or .love directly.
Postrelease changelog:
1.0.1 - 08.04.2025 - Fixed volume - Fixed build deny sound absence on some tools - Fixed Infinite jump bug - Fixed web build - Added binaries for multiple platforms
1.0.2 - 09.04.2025 - Fixed buildings collision and destruction - Fixed crash on ESC press - Fixed crash on placing small planks - Added building cost info
1.0.3 - 09.04.2025 - Fixed Windmill animation won't playing - Fixed buildings got stuck inside blocks - Fixed nail positions when blocks are placed on top of planks - Fixed unbreakable gibs - Fixed web build image filtering - Added little hints at the top of the screen
1.0.4 - 10.04.2025 - Fixed Block cost applied to Soil - Fixed Web version physics miscalculation when tab is not active - Fixed Planks not freezing properly when built - Fixed Tile placement rules to prohibit the Blocks abuse - Fixed steep Platforms - Fixed Buildings destruction on near Tile placement - Fixed Nails drawing over blocks - Changed initial Player position
| Link | https://github.com/a0405u/abyss/tree/ld |
| Web | https://0x405.ru/abyss/ |
| Itch.io | https://a0405u.itch.io/abyss |
| Link | https://0x405.ru/abyss/abyss_win.zip |
| Link | https://0x405.ru/abyss/abyss_macos.zip |
| Link | https://0x405.ru/abyss/abyss.love |
| Original (with bugs) | https://0x405.ru/abyss/initial/ |
| Original URL | https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/57/abyss |
Ratings
| Overall | 171th | 3.897⭐ | 65🧑⚖️ |
| Fun | 371th | 3.468⭐ | 65🧑⚖️ |
| Innovation | 103th | 3.927⭐ | 64🧑⚖️ |
| Theme | 103th | 4.218⭐ | 64🧑⚖️ |
| Graphics | 34th | 4.587⭐ | 65🧑⚖️ |
| Audio | 428th | 3.189⭐ | 63🧑⚖️ |
| Humor | 502th | 2.65⭐ | 52🧑⚖️ |
| Mood | 255th | 3.865⭐ | 65🧑⚖️ |
| Given | 93🗳️ | 112🗨️ |
maybe a little more of a description ?
Sound, graphics, idea and, for sure, ending, which I won't make any spoilers about, letting other gamers make their own way out of it pit. Bravo!
Contrary to some other commenters I appreciate the lack of overly explicit tutorialization. The fundamental systems are intuitive enough to quickly figure out just by observation which ultimately leads to a more satisfying experience.
There's definitely some "UX barriers" with actually utilizing said systems (like buildings instantly breaking for no apparent reason) but the overall vibes manage to make even the jank feel charming :D
That being said, I made my way through the game by shamelessly bug abusing and superjumping off the windmill which probably shouldn't allow for infinite jumps while in collision :P
Minor thing, there seems to be a bug when pressing the ESC key, at least for me, I tried to cancel building but it "paused" the game with no way of returning.
I also appreciate the hands off approach to showing the player what to do and gently hinting with the text on the right , although there are some things that would be nice like seeing the cost associated with each of the structures, as when I couldn't place a structure I wasn't 100% sure if it was because of the cost or I wasn't meeting a placement restriction.
I definitely want to come back to it though and can see it being a bit of a time sink - it seems like the kind of game where patience is rewarded. Really well done!
I couldn't figure out the goal, sadly. I know it's there somewhere and I'll keep coming back to it until I do!
The art is *spectacular* and I did NOT expect things to break from falling on them too hard. That was amazing.
Definitely agree with the comment above mine: this is such a potential time sink!
UPDATE: I managed to get out! Had to take a peek at the GitHub repo. METAGAME!
I think my only nitpick for this would be to have a little bit of audio balancing options, but outside of that I really enjoyed my time! Thanks for sharing your work!
Good thing I'm your subscriber. Wonderful pixel art! I'm glad I managed to understand what needed to be done - it completely changed my first impression of the game.
The lack of any explanation is a double-edged sword: on one hand, it can provide a sense of discovery and a feeling that there is always more to the game's systems than you think (it was surprising (and pretty cool) to see that the wooden structures could collapse); on the other hand, the gameplay ends up being too confusing (Honestly, I couldn't get very far because there wasn't enough feedback on block placement requirements.). As others have said, perhaps with more work on the UX you could solve some of the issues without compromising that sense of discovery.
Overall a very well done entry. Would be happy to see it expanded post-jam if you decide to do so!
P.S. онхор какой же вкусный у тебя пиксель арт, хрустит на зубах 🙏🙏🙏
Would be interesting to see how this could be expanded - maybe a darker twist on Lemmings or something.
I enjoyed the game quite a lot, and the only piece of feedback that I've got is I think there should be a lot more starting resources in order for the first time players to mess around and experiment and not immediately lose.
P.s. The treasure island reference in the character bio was neat! :skull_crossbones:
Thank you for your warm feedback and for noticing the reference!!!
A little frustrating, but impressive none-the-less.
To build blocks taller you need to provide more support, the game tells you explicitly. So your "tower" shouldn't look like one but more like a hill. It is possible to win using only planks, without even placing a single block. To connect plank with two nails you should start building a plank on another plank and end it on the second plank, it's pretty straightforward.
Honestly, I think you could make a workable game out of just the plank-building mechanics, no resource collection required. I struggled a bit making stable platforms (an ability to make planks "snap" to horizontal or vertical a la conveyor building in Satisfactory would've been appreciated!), but the click-and-drag to build was neat. It took me a bit to notice that there were distinct "pillar" and "platform" planks depending on the angle!
Its a really cool idea and I wish I could have experienced it more.
moments before desaster...
I tried to do the minecraft trick, with the big difference, that here my woodwork crumbled into pieces.
The result? I was stuck in this hole forever.
A really really cool idea, with fun physics and a super cool artstyle!
Dunno what else to say than: Banger
The thing that I personally found lacking is player onboarding, while all the information is onscreen it's a bit unclear what to do and how in the first minutes of the game. But it's fun once you you understand and keep going!
Would absolutely love to see the team expanding on this concept.
I struggled greatly! Love the art and the physics are really well done. Overall this game is super well put together, seriously impressive.
Here's my first strategy from before I knew what was going on which did not work at all
Annnd here's the winner
