LudumData

Recursive Depths by mao

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

cover.png

Collect as many gems as you can within 1000 moves!

Known issue: Controller bindings may be incorrect on Firefox.

Controls

  • Arrows/WASD/Left stick/Tap: Move
  • Enter/A/Tap player: Descend (only to already visited tiles)
  • Backspace/B/Tap "Ascend": Ascend
  • Escape/Start/Tap "Menu": Open menu

Tips

  • Deeper layers have more gems, but also more enemies and fewer descent points.
  • Tiles you can descend on are highlighted orange.
  • You can also ascend by moving into a larger tile.
  • Tiles with enemies or locked doors are more likely to contain useful items.
  • Look for descents on the layer below you before descending to it.

Changelog

Hotfix 1: Fixed a bug where restarting wouldn't work if you ran out of health

Hotfix 2: Fixed a bug causing gems to be 10x rarer than intended

Hotfix 3: ​Fixed score not being reset when restarting, and mouse/touch movement still being possible during death cutscene

Link https://woofmao.itch.io/recursive-depths
Android (APK) https://woofmao.itch.io/recursive-depths
Link https://woofmao.itch.io/recursive-depths
Link https://woofmao.itch.io/recursive-depths
Link https://woofmao.itch.io/recursive-depths
Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/57/recursive-depths

Ratings

Overall 340th 3.675⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Fun 404th 3.425⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 17th 4.325⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Theme 26th 4.4⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 630th 3.225⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Mood 751th 2.947⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Given 21🗳️ 17🗨️

Feedback

ZettaSimp
08. Apr 2025 · 01:57 UTC
I enjoyed this. Despite playing it a couple of times I was never able to get more than 2 gems in a single run. I like how which tiles you can descend in are highlighted, but it took me a bit to realize that that's how it works. Keep up the good work.
🎤 mao
08. Apr 2025 · 04:16 UTC
@zettasimp Thank you! Turns out I mixed up the order of an if statement, causing gems to be about 10x rarer than they were supposed to be... Whoops lol
leorean
08. Apr 2025 · 06:05 UTC
The idea is really great! With that idea, you could make a full game!

It would be great if I can somehow see on which tiles I have already descended, but overall amazing entry!
gemcc
09. Apr 2025 · 00:22 UTC
Really cool game! I was hoping someone made a recursive game, given the theme. Loved how simple the mechanics were, but complex the gameplay was.
bravelytyped
09. Apr 2025 · 02:37 UTC
i really liked the descent/ascent mechanic!
mollusk
09. Apr 2025 · 02:38 UTC
Very cool idea that deserves more development! Very cool, nice work
khaotom
09. Apr 2025 · 02:39 UTC
Awesome concept! Well done indeed. I think it's a keeper of an idea to build upon.
Defrag
09. Apr 2025 · 02:51 UTC
I was a little befuddled by my first couple playthroughs, but then it started to click. Like someone else mentioned, I didn't understand how to ascend or descend freely until I recognized that some tiles were highlighted and others weren't. I couldn't come up with any strategies that seemed particularly helpful, but I was really impressed by the innovation with the recursion. Is there any limit to how deep you can go?

![snip5.PNG](///raw/7bd/83/z/6b9dd.png)
Jahwffrey
09. Apr 2025 · 02:52 UTC
Super cool! It was *very* unclear when I could and could not descend until I read comments before posting here that explained it was only on highlighted tiles. I went back and tried again and did really well after that! The maze is almost 3d in a way and it's semi-controlled procedural generation kinds. Good job and very solidly implemented!
BatTheCat
09. Apr 2025 · 03:01 UTC
wow, when I saw it, about 40 minutes had already passed, moving an @... I really liked it, simple idea, but it really caught my attention
khaotom
09. Apr 2025 · 04:07 UTC
I'm back with a small bug report: Noticed an issue where your score carries over into the next game after restarting. It looks zeroed out in the ui, but as soon as i collect another gem, my score jumps to to the previous run's total + 1.
🎤 mao
09. Apr 2025 · 14:06 UTC
@defrag Layer 10 is the deepest (because floating point precision issues crop up if you go much deeper). There's a significant boost to the gem spawn rate, but it's pretty difficult to find enough descents to get that deep. I'd love to make a post-jam version with unlimited recursion at some point.

@jahwffrey Yeah, I had meant to change the highlight colors to be a bit clearer but didn't get the chance before the deadline came. If I make a post-jam version, that'll definitely be one of the first things to change.

@khaotom Thanks for the report! I'll fix this when I get the chance.
ScoobySnacks
12. Apr 2025 · 11:57 UTC
i like how you can see the whole game on you screen when you zoom out. Wish there was more sound.
Sam Minh
13. Apr 2025 · 11:30 UTC
This is a really cool idea! It is mind bending and hard tot rack for me but that is part of the charm. I got 12 points in the end.
BinarySpark
13. Apr 2025 · 11:40 UTC
What an awesome entry! This is a really interesting game concept, and it was so cool to zoom out all the way at the end and realize how little I actually explored. I'm kind of curious how you store the quad-tree of tiles: do you allocate each node separately as soon as it's generated, or is there a fancier data structure at work?
CharlieTU
13. Apr 2025 · 13:56 UTC
Now that's a neat idea! Well made, that definetly a concept that could be pushed further ;)
Eugenik
14. Apr 2025 · 12:55 UTC
Great music a gameplay.
Jhonny111
14. Apr 2025 · 15:10 UTC
What in the brainteaser was that. Really nice game.
Empyreans
16. Apr 2025 · 15:38 UTC
Nice minimalistic game with an interesting mechanic. I liked the idea of going lower and lower as you zoom in on the cells and discover that there's a whole world underneath. It was nice later to ascend and appreciate the depth :smiley:

Great job!

~Xp
🎤 mao
17. Apr 2025 · 03:31 UTC
@binaryspark Well... It's stored in Godot's scene tree, mainly XD

Each tile keeps a reference to its 4 children to keep track of which corner they're in, and there's a helper function that walks up and down the tree to determine the adjacent tiles for player movement. Tiles split by hiding their sprite, adding scaled down copies of their prefab as children, and giving them appropriate loot or obstacles. So it's basically just a pile of nodes pretending to be a quad-tree.

Honestly, I'm astonished that it performs as well as it does. I suspect that the tiles not moving helps, only the player and the camera actually move around.
lilyspren
26. Apr 2025 · 00:04 UTC
This is a really cool idea. I had a little trouble figuring out what the rules were for when you can go down etc, but once I had figured out the game I had a lot of fun. Some audio / animations would be nice to make it clearer when you take damage or use a key etc but obviously you can't get to everything in a game jam :)