LudumData

When it Sinks by jeremyfa

[raw]
made by jeremyfa for Ludum Dare 57 (COMPO)

When It Sinks is a minimalist, introspective narrative game about experiencing and recovering from a neurological condition that causes cognitive impairment. This is a very personal take on the Depths theme, where depths is seen as where you land when you are in this situation. This game is based on actual experiences I've had in recent years.

Despite the subject, I hope you will appreciate this game authenticity.

when-it-sinks-demo.gif

How to play

The game can be played in French or English, using mouse controls.

Only a prototype

Couldn't go as far as I wished for the COMPO entry. Didn't have time to add audio either, but I may continue working on it post-LDJAM to make a more complete experience.

Tech used

The game was created with two of my open-source projects: Ceramic, an open-source 2d game engine written in Haxe, and Loreline, a narrative scripting language.

Link https://github.com/jeremyfa/ld57
Link https://apps.jeremyfa.com/ld57
Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/57/when-it-sinks

Ratings

Overall 123th 3.536⭐ 30🧑‍⚖️
Fun 263th 2.759⭐ 29🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 122th 3.446⭐ 30🧑‍⚖️
Theme 117th 3.714⭐ 30🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 216th 3.125⭐ 30🧑‍⚖️
Humor 212th 2.292⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Mood 23th 4.143⭐ 30🧑‍⚖️
Given 23🗳️ 25🗨️

Feedback

BadPinkChicken
07. Apr 2025 · 13:26 UTC
Had fun playing it. Great vibe and great concept!
Bien joué
grid96
07. Apr 2025 · 23:01 UTC
I love the simplistic approach and how much you were able to accomplish with it just by the movement and coloring. The circle kind of reminded me of ChatGPT voice mode though xD

I hope you have been doing better lately and this game helped expressing how you felt.
Sevatoxin
08. Apr 2025 · 19:27 UTC
Saw your game on the haxe discord and decided to try it out to see how a haxe game performs! I really like this visual novel approach, quite pleasent to play if you don't look at the meaning of it. Really well done and quite unpleasent (content wise) which is good just to make it clear.
DzejPi
09. Apr 2025 · 16:38 UTC
I absolutely loved this, I love games that explore the more unpleasant things in our lives. And it is very obvious that it was very personal for you. What you have accomplished just with one circle, triangle, and dialogs is incredible. Let me know if you ever have a full version, because I would definitely love to play it. Too bad (but completely understandable) you didn't have time to add some simple sounds, I think that would elevate it to another level. But besides that, this is awesome!
🎤 jeremyfa
09. Apr 2025 · 18:34 UTC
@grid96 My wife just told me the same thing about ChatGPT. I didn't think at all about this when doing it actually. Just went for the most simple shape (and I'd argue 2001 A Space Odyssey's HAL takes precedence on "round shape talking to you" anyway :D). And luckily, I'm feeling much better those days. Maybe I'll take the time to include that part in a more complete version of the game later :)

@sevatoxin @badpinkchicken Thank you!

@dzejpi Sure, I'll ping here if I make a more complete version of it! (I'd like to eventually). And you're right, audio would make a big difference for that kind of game I totally agree. Wanted to include some already, but ran out of time unfortunately...
FrauKauz
09. Apr 2025 · 22:30 UTC
The game felt really smooth for me, and nice pleasing animations. Although you used only simple elements and texts, the shapes, colors and animations were well picked. All in all very athmospheric and it matches the theme. I have to admin that I liked that it is a short game, since I don't like to read long shaky texts on screen (lol).
bentglasstube
09. Apr 2025 · 23:42 UTC
Really great work with the writing and the way the text was presented. I loved the shapes and colors used to represent different characters/moods. Sorry to hear you had such a rough time with covid, and glad to hear things are better. Thanks for sharing your story in such a cool way.
xpoho
10. Apr 2025 · 12:31 UTC
My friend, it is a good narrative story! I also hope that you feel better now!


And i should say, your simptoms are really not that rare in our days. Honestly, i felt myself the same for some period. SO I can only wish you a good luck in your fight! Be strong ^_^
LDJam user 384191
10. Apr 2025 · 12:47 UTC
Great narrative game. The writing is very good, and you managed to convey a lot through the simple shapes and animations (especially the way you chose to represent the doctor). J'espère que ça va, et en tout cas bravo pour ce jeu !
🎤 jeremyfa
10. Apr 2025 · 14:08 UTC
@xpoho yes, unfortunately my case is not really an isolated one. I heard there are different degrees to it. For me, the first months did hit really hard, which was pretty disturbing, but I consider myself lucky to feel better now!
Helagos
10. Apr 2025 · 18:27 UTC
Very simple graphics but i loved your little animations, it make the shapes alive.
And the story starts well.
Bravo !
CaptAndrey
10. Apr 2025 · 21:14 UTC
Interesting interpretation of the theme! I instinctively ignored the symptoms and just googled them — and honestly thought the game was going to punish me for that 😅 One thing I noticed: some of the text lines occasionally overlap, which looked unintentional.
🎤 jeremyfa
10. Apr 2025 · 21:19 UTC
@captandrey Actually the overlap is somewhat intentional: it fits well with the described situation of having difficulty to have clear ideas and thoughts, although it could probably be improved visually to make it feel less like a bug maybe
rack47
11. Apr 2025 · 01:50 UTC
I'm impressed how you made the minimalist graphics work so well, especially how the doctor feels so imposing despite only being a triangle. I like it!
LDJam user 371030
11. Apr 2025 · 04:31 UTC
I had a few min (not even on a comp) and was able to play your game. This is very much thought provoking. It's a good creation. And I kind of believe many people may have been in similar situations where they have no idea what to do exactly. There is subtle detail to each piece.

Very very good atmosphere, even without sound.

NB: it's actually the lack of elements like vitamin D, B complex, Magnesium, Iron missing in the body that cause a lot of this. I've had lack-of-energy for years myself. Also coffee to coffee differs like Js to Java.
🎤 jeremyfa
11. Apr 2025 · 06:15 UTC
@aweskybear yeah there can be a good load of reasons that lead to these symptoms. In my case, I know for a fact that it’s directly linked to covid (and it didn’t happen the first time I had it, but the second time). Another disturbing fact was that all the tests I did were literally not showing any problem: perfect blood pressure, perfect blood test, MRI of brain just fine… regarding coffee, didn’t have time to go far enough in the story, but it happens to be one of the key elements that helped me recover. Too bad I was avoiding it « just to be safe » during the first month 🙃
LDJam user 371030
11. Apr 2025 · 07:16 UTC
@jeremyfa Great you found a way out! BTW the experience with the doctor is also a common one. And also those levels that are always ok.. aaahh, also a known feeling. Thanks for sharing.
🎤 jeremyfa
11. Apr 2025 · 12:10 UTC
@rack47 Ah ah yes, pretty happy with how the doctor-triangle ended up!
knarf
11. Apr 2025 · 13:01 UTC
Nice conceptual short narrative game ! C'est sûrement un des premiers jeux que je vois ici qui propose une traduction en Français, bravo et merci pour ça ^^ ! Also it's one of these rare LD games that reflects some real feelings and thoughts from the dev, that always something I'm sensitive to. I hope you're feeling better.

I loved the minimalist, sober yet very juicy style and interface, I wish there was a few more different "path" to explore according to dialog choices. Also could you detail about coffee ? I drink a lot, well maybe a bit too much of it, I'm interested your thougts about it and how it relates. Well done, cheers!
🎤 jeremyfa
11. Apr 2025 · 13:39 UTC
@knarf I’m not a coffee expert and it probably varies between persons, but as far as I’m concerned, in 2021 I stopped coffee for a while because I had stomach issues at the time, and got back to it after one month of post-covid symptoms in 2022, and it contributed a lot to recovery (among other actions taken), despite initial clues and assumptions that it would make things worse (which is reflected in the compo entry here). Didn’t stop coffee ever since, but the quantity is reasonable (2-3 cups a day). I wouldn’t share this as medical advice though, as each situation is different. It’s just what worked out for me. Also, I like coffee in general :)
vidarn
12. Apr 2025 · 11:09 UTC
This was a great game. You're brave for sharing such a personal experience. Playing the game was very moving, especially knowing that it came from personal experience. You did a great job conveying emotion and desperation. It was easy to imagine oneself in the same situation, and how terrifying it must have felt. Glad to know that you're feeling better.

Congratulations on a very meaningful game and managing to tackle the topic of mental health in such a tasteful and dignified manner.
LDJam user 352490
13. Apr 2025 · 03:21 UTC
The way the text skews is really effective at creating that wrenching feeling -- it actually feels like I have to skew my eyes to see correctly. And I've had my share of medical visits where I go away feeling like something's wrong but nothing's been solved, so I feel some part of what it's trying to say (even if I've never had the exact symptoms).

Only critique I can think of: sometimes text buttons would randomly get placed behind other text buttons, so I couldn't read what it said. Not sure if that's intentional, but maybe hovering over an option could bring it to the front?

Otherwise it was a pretty interesting experience. Thanks for sharing your story like this.
atsh
13. Apr 2025 · 18:49 UTC
Nice work conveying complex emotions with minimal graphics - the skewd texts and doctor were especially effective
designernap
24. Apr 2025 · 07:54 UTC
Really well done, meaningful and personal. Really impressed there are language options too.
Great entry.