Leviathan by PopDaddyGames
Leviathan
Plunge into the abyssal depths where sunlight fears to tread. Pilot your fragile vessel deeper and deeper into the crushing darkness, guided only by echoes of something immense, something ancient. The pressure mounts, resources dwindle, and the shadows writhe with unseen terrors.
You are hunted. A relentless presence descends from above, a colossal shadow chasing you down into the unknown. Push deeper, faster, using your wits and limited boost to stay ahead. Every meter gained is a desperate victory against the crushing weight of the ocean and the inevitable pursuit.
What secrets lie hidden in the crushing black? What price must be paid to escape the abyss? Face the vast, somber terror that hunts you and discover the chilling truth lurking in the heart of the ocean.
Screenshots
Instructions
- Move Mouse Left/Right: Steer your vessel through the depths.
- Click Mouse: Activate a short boost to gain speed. Use it wisely to escape danger and navigate tight passages.
Goal
- Descend as deep as possible, constantly outrunning the pursuing Leviathan chasing you from above. Manage your boost and navigate hazards to survive the descent.
Notes
- This game was created for Ludum Dare 57. Theme: DEPTHS.
- Atmosphere and the feeling of pressure are key components of the experience. Good luck!
Development Notes
- Time Spent: Roughly 45 hours over the jam weekend.
- Tech: Built with plain HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Kept it simple to focus on the core mechanic and atmosphere within the time limit. No engines or complex libraries.
- Thoughts: The core idea was to invert the usual 'climbing' escape and make it about descending away from a threat above. Getting the feel of the controls and the pressure of the chase was the main focus. Balancing the boost and the Leviathan's speed took a bit of iteration. Hope you enjoy the dive!
Feedback Welcome!
Seriously, all feedback is incredibly welcome and appreciated! Whether you loved it, hated it, found a weird bug, or have ideas for how it could be better – I want to hear it all. Game jams are about learning and growing, and your thoughts are super valuable for that. Don't hold back!
Let's Connect & Play!
Leave a comment below! I'd love to know:
- What was your deepest point?
- Did the controls feel right?
- Any glitches or weirdness happen?
- What's one thing you'd add or change?
Also, drop a link to your game! I promise to play and rate every single game left in the comments here. Let's check out each other's creations!
| Source | http://github.com/korzewarrior/ldjam57-leviathan |
| Playable (Web) | http://leviathan.korze.org |
| Original URL | https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/57/leviathan |
Ratings
| Overall | 450th | 3.544⭐ | 36🧑⚖️ |
| Fun | 417th | 3.412⭐ | 36🧑⚖️ |
| Innovation | 783th | 2.603⭐ | 36🧑⚖️ |
| Theme | 266th | 3.956⭐ | 36🧑⚖️ |
| Graphics | 518th | 3.485⭐ | 36🧑⚖️ |
| Audio | 552th | 2.35⭐ | 32🧑⚖️ |
| Humor | 679th | 1.981⭐ | 28🧑⚖️ |
| Mood | 721th | 3.03⭐ | 35🧑⚖️ |
| Given | 19🗳️ | 64🗨️ |
Gameplay is smooth and I'm a big fan of the UI details/aesthetics, so I enjoyed it a lot ^^ The one thing I'd suggest is that there's little tension in the early game, a few peeks at the Leviathan chasing you would've been a great way to get me to lock in haha
Overall awesome work on the whole project!
If there's any suggestions I can give you, it would be the difficulties.It seems that the difficulty is placid, maybe you can add a dynamic difficulty I think?
In a word it is a nice game!!!The gameplay is easy but interesting!
Anyways, great job!
I am still not 100% sure how it works exactly in the end.
The game idea reminds me the alto adventure but in vertical design
Had great fun playing this! The challenge and overall gameplay feel very nice, the ship controls smoothly yet responsively to the mouse, the speed-up gives a few moments to breath and satisfying overall in escaping the leviathan in last moments. The only complaint I have is that the obstacles appear a bit too suddenly, making it sometimes feel rather unfair that you hit something, I feel like either they should start with a bit slower speed or we should have a bit more FOV. But other than that, a really fun game ^^
I might come back to add the sfx back if I can come up with a non-performance-affecting method.
Thanks!
Overall fun arcade game! Besides the refresh issue, I found the start of the game could be difficult as the mouse movement wouldn't make the player move. Maybe a bit more time between start and first obstacle :)
Also, I think I found that `d` is your debug key? :)
As for starting the game- because of the nature of the mouse capture you have to click into the frame to start the game then the mouse works correctly. I don't know a quick workaround given that players seem to prefer having the mouse locked during play