Chthonic Cacophony by PureGarlic

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

Dig deep into the dictionary to help these philosophers sustain their dialogue for as long as possible. Connect their thoughts with the conversation and see how profound their rhetoric can get!

This game is playable in your browser, but we highly recommend downloading and playing the Windows build instead for better visuals and performance.

Content Warning!

  1. If you are sensitive to motion or flashing lights, please proceed with caution. The movement of the pillars in the background can be overwhelming for some.
  2. Our dictionary is taken from a GitHub repository​, and has not been vetted for appropriateness. Please be aware you may see some words that could be considered inappropriate.

Controls

This game is controlled entirely with the mouse. Left-click on the words coming out of a philosopher's head that match with the ones in the dialogue box to progress.

Credits

  • Game design and core gameplay programming by puregarlic
  • Environment art and visual processing by hextraza
  • Character art and additional programming by tepichord
  • Music and sound design by Holofoil

Attributions

  • Fonts used are Redacted Script, Kalam, Flow Block, and Yatra One through the Open Font License
  • Roman Marble Column model provided by Ergin ERYILDIR on SketchFab through the CC Attribution 4.0 License Textures used from Material Pack Stone And Bricks -01 provided by Julio Sillet 3D Art through the CC Attribution 4.0 License
  • Julius Ceasar bust​ image provided by Following Hadrian on Openverse through the CC BY-SA 2.0 License
  • Marble bust of Emperor Antonius Pius image provided by Snapshooter46 on Openverse through the CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 License

Built using Godot Engine, ProCreate Dreams, Inkscape, GIMP, Affinity Photo, Blender, Openverse, and Ableton Live.

Ratings

Overall 520th 3.442⭐ 28🧑‍⚖️
Fun 494th 3.308⭐ 28🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 192th 3.692⭐ 28🧑‍⚖️
Theme 533th 3.5⭐ 28🧑‍⚖️
Audio 354th 3.404⭐ 28🧑‍⚖️
Humor 81th 3.904⭐ 28🧑‍⚖️
Mood 313th 3.769⭐ 28🧑‍⚖️
Given 22🗳️ 39🗨️

Feedback

JulioCezar
08. Apr 2025 · 00:53 UTC
I feel really good playing this game, funny moment! Nice job friends!
Velis69
08. Apr 2025 · 08:48 UTC
Philosophy top, very fun, comrades. Check our game with black humor about mind diver in cyberpunk!
jddoesdev
08. Apr 2025 · 23:51 UTC
Interesting game, but the background made gameplay extremely difficult for me and with all the assets on a web build it was slow to be able to pick up or grab words. Slightly choppy. I like the concept though. Good work.
xorfe
08. Apr 2025 · 23:51 UTC
When I first tried it, I couldn't understand it but figured out in second run. The music, SFX, and visual effects were really good. Overall, I liked it.
speedcuber25
08. Apr 2025 · 23:58 UTC
Very impressive, those background visuals look amazing! Super creative take on the theme. Especially loved the animations for the talking heads. Nice work!
nojoule
09. Apr 2025 · 11:49 UTC
I like the vibe and visuals of the game a lot! Sometimes i felt like i clicked a word when it was falling fast, but it did not register (maybe adding a slightly larger hitbox makes it feel a bit nicer). Also the game stopped, because i clicked outside the game on a link at one time lol, so mouse capture would be good.
MatthewDrake
09. Apr 2025 · 15:42 UTC
Visuals are totally insane which the audio bolsters perfectly. Very impressive stuff, really cool mood and fun gameplay too!
jnur
09. Apr 2025 · 19:41 UTC
The vibes and weird vaporwave aesthetics were so fun, made the otherwise very dry concept of clicking on big words into a fun little game.

Also big props for being so dilligent in listing where you got the assets, and what you used to create the game. It's a shame that we can't rank the game's graphics
braktheman
10. Apr 2025 · 17:12 UTC
I can't tell if I'm smarter or not after playing this, but I successfully clicked on a lot of big words I can't pronounce so maybe I am a philosopher now?

Great job love the vaporwave vibes!
LDJam user 387005
10. Apr 2025 · 17:47 UTC
I became a scholar, yay : )
Only thing I that could be improved is: more gameplay. Like, add more mechanics and funny things that could happen. Everything else is really fine.
I really never have seen a game like this before, so :thumbsup:
mgear
10. Apr 2025 · 19:24 UTC
nice visuals! definitely unique game idea : D
DazyLude
11. Apr 2025 · 14:18 UTC
I absolutely love the absurdity of what's going here, it's amazing. Thank you for making this! Couldn't get a better title than the Orator, sadly, but will try to :)
IDos
11. Apr 2025 · 20:38 UTC
Overall the game is pretty cool, the music and overall visuals are strange but that's even a plus
LDJam user 287424
12. Apr 2025 · 00:14 UTC
Very cool game. The gameplay was interesting. It was challenging to remember, identify, and quickly click on the words. And the challenge felt like it ramped up pretty well as the game went on, although I felt like I was burnt more often than not by the words I needed not showing up in time. To me the real strength of this game is the aesthetic and the audio. I'm a big fan of these vapourwave visuals. The little animations on the statues are great, and the kinetic backgrounds you're flying through are sublime. This game oozes style. Great work!
SurWeaver
12. Apr 2025 · 07:12 UTC
I still can't get past the eighth dialogue, but I'm sooooo curious about what's in the depths :D Even though it's a background cutscene, the depth and difficulty increase are felt pretty good!

The game has a fun and simple dialogue mechanic, addictive as a clicker game :D

Although I would like the "hitboxes" of the words to be a little bigger in size, so that I can hit them normally when the dialogues are already 4-5 words long, otherwise I don't have time to read them, and I don't have time to hit them with the cursor :D

The animations, sounds, and appearance of the game (and the cursor too) are very well suited to each other and everything looks very stylish! Gorgeous entry!
Borabee
15. Apr 2025 · 02:28 UTC
Very original take on the theme! I love the psychodelic vibes you went for with the visuals and audio. My brain is in a knot now after reading and trying to memorise so many big words XD
Hypersomnia
17. Apr 2025 · 22:45 UTC
Omg I loooooooove your art style and how you match with the theme!!!!!!Merging philosophy with gameplay is so cooooool!!!!