Back to the Boat! by jelch

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

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Julian: Programming, sound effects

Quinn: Character art, music

Coleman: Environment art, level design

Ratings

Overall 255th 3.771⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Fun 490th 3.313⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 261th 3.542⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Theme 41th 4.354⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 114th 4.333⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Audio 24th 4.271⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Mood 50th 4.292⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Given 24🗳️ 26🗨️

Feedback

SiilicaC
08. Apr 2025 · 04:39 UTC
well, underwater physics to be slightly expected it made the game challenging but very interesting as well. i find the theme to be really unique in design and execution. and the sound super creepy i fear the ocean alrdy so this was spot on. my only thing was that it felt incredibly hard to control and i would have likes it to be a little more possible to guide the ship. going sideways was super hard after having just gone up or down. over all though good game and great theme implementation!
LDJam user 0
08. Apr 2025 · 04:45 UTC
There is an unknown fun!please forgive me for my poor english,but it's really interesting
realwangziyang
08. Apr 2025 · 05:53 UTC
It's a fun challenge to get the hang of the control. The gameplay fits perfectly with the environment's theme. Nice work!
cdupe
08. Apr 2025 · 05:56 UTC
Awesome theming! I especially liked the sonar system; seeing red dots for the first time was a great "what is that?!" moment!
coyotethursday
08. Apr 2025 · 07:03 UTC
I really liked the sound design in this one, especially the way the music changed when the creature was nearby. I think the controls were a bit too heavy for me. Especially when I was being chased, it was very difficult for me to change directions fast enough to navigate the narrow passageways. I don't think it would have been as much of a problem for me if the level was shorter, but since the level is so long and you move so slowly it can be hard to stay methodical about it. The sonar mechanic was really interesting--I always love games that have unique vision mechanics.
peppersalt07
08. Apr 2025 · 07:05 UTC
"hmm why do i hear boss music"
"oh"

this is really fun, yall should upload a thumbnail for the submission so more people can see it
🎤 jelch
08. Apr 2025 · 15:35 UTC
@peppersalt07 thank you for pointing out the missing thumbnail!
Ricesteam
09. Apr 2025 · 22:22 UTC
I love this retro art style. Reminds me of all those CD-ROM DOS game days. I love that we both had the same but interpreted it differently. Very cool to see another game about submarines and sonars.
ruruie
09. Apr 2025 · 23:41 UTC
The aesthetics and audio are bang on.
Anton Florey
12. Apr 2025 · 11:41 UTC
Everything is great except the gameplay. It just made me ragequit after the third attempt. If you can go up its fine but if you suddenly have to take a turn to the left or right its already to late and the monster catches up with you. Since you have a lot of inertia, you are just screwed when making one wrong move. This combined with the insane depth you are starting at makes this really frustrating!
AthosPap
12. Apr 2025 · 11:53 UTC
Love the aesthetic, and the sonar mechanic! I felt the controls were a bit difficult. Overall very good job guys
daniel
12. Apr 2025 · 15:38 UTC
Sonar is a great mechanic to go with the theme, and I like how you implemented it! Audio for getting chased was a clear indicator and good for building tension.
Linky439
12. Apr 2025 · 15:44 UTC
Fantastic entry. The graphics are really good and oppressing as you can't see very far in front of you, and the audio is insanely good.

I couldn't get to the boat, I crashed too much on the walls of that underwater cave trying to escape the creepy fish but that's life :D Congrats on making this, very impressive!
Wuppos
12. Apr 2025 · 20:52 UTC
Wow, what a mood! This game created a perfect spooky underwater feel. With the sonar, the flashlight and the slow movement. The art and sounds/music also all came together very well too. The only thing I was missing was a sense of progress. I did not really know what my aim was, besides just randomly moving through the caves until I got eaten. All in all, really well done though! This was great :D
Skyeward
12. Apr 2025 · 21:16 UTC
Very nice spooky mood, the lack of vision and slow movement work really well here! I liked the design of the fish-monster who kept getting me too. It was a little difficult to work out how I was doing, so maybe showing distance from the ship would be helpful so that people could see their progress? Overall really well done!
jtap
12. Apr 2025 · 23:27 UTC
Very deep atmosphere, great attractive graphics, sound adds immersion to the game. It was a pleasure to play, thank you
krakadushka
12. Apr 2025 · 23:31 UTC
Nice and scary. Nice work, guys! I really like the art and sounds, but gameplay was so difficult for me. First, idk how to swim away from monster. Second, the submarine is so deep, that I haven't enough health and can't understand how to get that high. But in overall it is a very good game! Good luck!
Heretic
14. Apr 2025 · 19:33 UTC
Very cool atmosphere and soundtrack, deep immersion experience even better than baratrauma
TurboLaser
16. Apr 2025 · 13:41 UTC
Awesome art style and game feel — seriously impressive work there. Gives me some Xenon 2: Megablast and Gods (platformer) vibes. But the gameplay feels too punishing for my taste. Twice I got stuck with a monster and just waited to die.
Roroto Sic
20. Apr 2025 · 20:12 UTC
Very challenging! The abyss is beautifully staged (visuqal and sound design), and the idea of ​​echo localization (for fish 0.0!!) is really well thought out. Great game !!