Nine to Five Nightmare by RelicTooth

[raw]
made by RelicTooth for Ludum Dare 57 (JAM)

A short game about falling deeper into a dream while asleep at your corporate desk job. Dodge annoying emails and collect some extra cash, the longer you last the darker and more difficult it becomes.

@relictooth - Design - Art - Programming - Audio

@siilicac - Design - Art

ld57ss1.pngld57ss3.png

Tools used in this Jam:

Engine: Gamemaker Studio

Audio: Reaper

Art: Aseprite

feel free to share screenshots of your highscores!

Ratings

Overall 223th 3.818⭐ 46🧑‍⚖️
Fun 151th 3.83⭐ 46🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 441th 3.239⭐ 46🧑‍⚖️
Theme 273th 3.942⭐ 45🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 368th 3.818⭐ 46🧑‍⚖️
Audio 382th 3.349⭐ 45🧑‍⚖️
Mood 271th 3.841⭐ 46🧑‍⚖️
Given 39🗳️ 74🗨️

Feedback

LDJam user 410492
08. Apr 2025 · 03:44 UTC
Love the character, gameplay reminds me of those old flash games I loved
Jon Wake
08. Apr 2025 · 03:54 UTC
This was fun! The graphics, especially the UI are great and the music is perfectly late-stage capitalistic dystopian! For future builds it would be nice to have a smoother difficulty curve and an easier way to distinguish enemies from collectables. Great submission!
Salaro
08. Apr 2025 · 04:16 UTC
This reminds me of a flash version of DownWell! Good job!
jelch
08. Apr 2025 · 04:34 UTC
Super cute! Reminds me of my 9 to 5... only change I would make would be to outline all the hazards in pink/red.
Notredamstra
08. Apr 2025 · 06:34 UTC
It’s simple and fun, just what I like for a short playthrough
infecsean
08. Apr 2025 · 07:50 UTC
HA yeah go to hell emails!
BalimaarTheBassFish
08. Apr 2025 · 09:23 UTC
Thanks for playing Dive into the Hive Mind!

This was a short and very fun experience (its one of the few games that has had me spend more than 15 minutes on). Your squad has done very well! Congrats!
gold.daniel
08. Apr 2025 · 20:54 UTC
I like the main menu art, almost feels too real haha. The poster in the back is a good tutorial, very simple and gets the information across. I really like the cartoony aesthetic of the gameplay, very cutesy. Good short game, great job!
JamesGames1000
08. Apr 2025 · 23:03 UTC
This is so fun!!! Would play again.
bene-labs
08. Apr 2025 · 23:14 UTC
Simple but fun game with a funny setting. Well done!

I'm suprised you opted out of humor, I think you would have gotten a really good rating for it
Rachenite
08. Apr 2025 · 23:15 UTC
I liked how you had to keep track of above and below you. Seems well balanced. I also think its cool how the clouds become harder to see on the last stage making you have to focus on them more.
She Wrote
08. Apr 2025 · 23:16 UTC
The cuteness contrasts really well with the corporate feel it's trying to avoid. I had fun, well done!
Marcos Tulio Cavalcante
08. Apr 2025 · 23:59 UTC
I found it very fun to play, quite complete for a jam game.
Lucas Verardino
09. Apr 2025 · 00:01 UTC
Simple but very fun, and I liked the art style! This game reminded me of Downwheel, which is a game that I like very much. Great submission!
Jordanfb
09. Apr 2025 · 00:05 UTC
Great vibes, loved the graphics, I thought it was gonna be basic and simple and then whoah it took a turn that was wild. Nice game!
Keith Wang
09. Apr 2025 · 00:07 UTC
Super adorable game. Love the idea of using a parachute to move in y direction.
DarkLumo
09. Apr 2025 · 00:12 UTC
Not much to say, only refinements in UI (If the game is played with keyboard the menu should be controlled by it too)

Maybe add tweaking the spawn of collectables could help, some watches (required to survive) were on impossible locations on the second part of the game (almost inside spiky cloud).

But in general I loved the game, theme, idea and aesthetics. Awesome job :smile: :thumbsup:
Monogatari
09. Apr 2025 · 00:23 UTC
Really cute graphics ! the gameplay is simple but effective, the piano notes feels a little too much répétitive, but the full audio ambiance is nice =)
Dandee
09. Apr 2025 · 08:36 UTC
This game is so real... Liked it allot, short simple and sweet!
FancyReckless
09. Apr 2025 · 10:37 UTC
Lovely game, good obstacle and powerup variety and great rising difficulty. A bit depressing, but I guess that's the intention. I thought the angry balloon is something you have to avoid at first.
resty
09. Apr 2025 · 13:01 UTC
Art is cool, fun to play.
And, glad to see other reaper user :)
LDJam user 248799
09. Apr 2025 · 13:23 UTC
![2025-04-09_15-02.png](///raw/fdb/c3/z/6bb73.png)

Wah such a great simple game, SFX, music and gameplay are really fine! I'm just frustated not being able to reach the end after many attempts, I always die by the timer 😢

But very pleasant game, I really enjoyed retrying it a lot!
cursewurm
09. Apr 2025 · 15:04 UTC
love the style its super cute! but also love how the music and screen getting darker remind you of the impending doom of a 9-5
floppynub
09. Apr 2025 · 18:26 UTC
Really great game, lots of fun to play, controlled super well which is highly important for this genre. Every death was my own fault. I loved the cute little rabbit dude and would give my life to protect them from emails. Especially work emails..... disgusting. That motivated me to beat it lol great work, impressively polished entry, plays incredibly well!
Trevor Lentz
10. Apr 2025 · 05:45 UTC
The controls and concept are really cool. I wish the music was slowed down and reversed to really sell the dreamlike atmosphere. Well done.
leparlon
12. Apr 2025 · 17:49 UTC
Super cute and fun! Loved the art style and how the theme mixes corporate grind with chaos. The music fits perfectly
SurWeaver
13. Apr 2025 · 08:29 UTC
That's a really cute game! Visuals create a good style for the game.

I like those smooth animations and the whole game cycle, pretty good!
Cresceda
13. Apr 2025 · 13:19 UTC
At the end of my vacation...

Cute game! It gets quite difficult later one. Controls feel well put in place too!