FoonLudum Dare ExplorerLD34 → Eldritch Trance

Eldritch Trance

By thewzzard

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CategoryRankScoreCount
Overall254.12
Audio214.10
Mood114.31
Coolness1100
Theme264.40
Innovation324.12
Graphics774.12
Fun1433.65
Humor4232.49

Comments

kapura 2015-12-14 03:11

Excellent little rhythm game. Making the most out of those two buttons!

mdelally 2015-12-14 18:03

Really good use of the theme. Music was really trippy!

aamatniekss 2015-12-14 18:04

Real trippy, but real good! :) Wanted it to be a bit faster maybe.

sadsmile 2015-12-14 18:10

Very interesting game! Good job

chriiis88 2015-12-14 18:21

This is one of the best entries I've played so far, great job. Fantastic atmosphere. If there's one thing missing it's a little better user feedback when the correct symbol was held.

gkxd 2015-12-14 18:22

Interesting game. The progression was a bit slow, so early on the game was really repetitive.

I did like seeing the different summons.

pkenney 2015-12-14 18:29

Cool, I don't usually go for rhythm games but the Lovecraft theme and graphics sucked me in. The creepy vibe is there, with the arcane symbols, the slowly growing monster/portal approaching in space, and the music.

Also you had me restart on the current monster in a failure rather than crushing my soul by sending me back to the start of the game, which would have been a ragequit moment.

At first I was sad that I had to focus on the symbols instead of watching the growing monster, but eventually I learned to unfocus my gaze and accept both into my mind simultaneously.

Well done!

submundo-games 2015-12-14 18:34

nice game dude.

rhythmlynx 2015-12-14 18:47

Really excellent combination of gameplay, art and sound. Very nice!

boonearth 2015-12-14 18:47

I liked the game it was very nice and quick at the controls kinda like really fun keep up the good work

lafunk 2015-12-14 18:48

My favourite game so far, perfect score from me. Super cool mechanics, fun, engaging and challenging; perfect theme fitting; well crafted aesthetics; lovely sound design; atmospheric and super interesting mood. Loved it!

kiyaku 2015-12-14 18:49

It's like a Simon says game but with higher stakes (you know, the eldritch gods kinda stakes).

During the tutorial i was like "ah okay, yeah, cool, oh i see, i get it".
Then the game started and i was like "WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING?!?"

Love it, very nice idea, love the visuals, made me want to play Loom.

danielsann7 2015-12-14 18:53

Awesome! the graphics and sound are incredible, love it! lovecraft rules!

almightytuna 2015-12-14 21:01

Awesome, awesome game. Great music, great art, super intuitive, there's a pretty sharp difficulty spike though

atollett100 2015-12-14 21:03

Really got me going. I know it's good when i've played long enough to be frustrated but keep going

reggianito 2015-12-14 21:18

Graphically impressive. But too slow to not become tedious after a while.
Still loved it.

jupiter_hadley 2015-12-15 20:54

Really unique, fun game! I included it in my Ludum Dare 34 compilation video series, if you’d like to check it out :) https://youtu.be/HyS0oGo3sGY

fluidvolt 2015-12-16 11:14

Love the aesthetic: the symbol design, monster design, the otherworldly sounds of summoning. Hell, even the health icon -- that jittery, Geiger-counter of a heart is resonant and deep in a way. The human heart is irrational and fragile but can be forceful and unflinching in the face of a monstrosity -- I'm overthinking things. But that's what I loved about this game: it left so much to the imagination while seeding it with well-chosen details and LET me overthink it. Lovely.

jakecarewickgmail-com 2015-12-17 02:47

The audio is amazing! It's really remarkable what you've done with just two buttons. The theme was super eerie. Always a big fan of rhythm games and great audio!

lukezaz 2015-12-17 03:16

Fun game! I enjoyed figuring out the combos, though there were a couple levels where the difficulty spiked unexpectedly (namely where the speed increased). The audio definitely set a fitting mood and I found winning each stage quite rewarding.

robber 2015-12-17 03:28

great game, pretty sick mood. the audio is excellent, so dark..love it

drfallos 2015-12-17 10:31

This was a really amazing experience!
Game reminds me how strong is my love with H.P. Lovecraft)
Nice art and mood is far beyond 5 stars, great work!

crowbeak 2015-12-18 12:35

Such an interesting graphical style, but everything is crystal clear. The sound is good, the game is fun. My one criticism, I think, is that the difficulty jumps when it starts rising; could use a smoother curve. Haven't played post-compo yet, though.

thetenthsicarius 2015-12-18 13:28

This was super fun, and I enjoyed it thoroughly. Maybe in the future more story stuff with each summon and a bit more gradual on the acceleration of pace, so that it's not suddenly way harder.

stevenjmiller 2015-12-18 20:31

Really amazing game!

eingya 2015-12-19 01:48

Nice entrancing little game! Maybe the symbols should match somewhat in shape the direction you are pressing, but the nice curve with which the content is presented doesn't make this much of a problem.

Well done!

trasevol_dog 2015-12-21 13:52

That difficulty curve is WAY too steep when the summonings get faster! The game is very very nice in almost of all the ways!! Just that difficulty curve... Still, very good job!

nassi 2015-12-27 13:10

Didn't manage to summon them all, but it was still a nice experience. The aesthetic and the gameplay worked together incredibly well. Like some have already mentioned, the feedback could have been clearer.

synthetic-entropy 2015-12-27 20:43

Excellent. I was terrified, amused, and somewhat disturbed. The only light quibble we ran into was just just after a summon, it was too easy to advance and miss the summoning animation; a brief period of no input would solve this nicely.

Great entry!

lythom 2015-12-27 21:12

Hi !

What I liked :
- Great mood and atmoshpere, very unique feelings while playing this game
- Fit the theme perfectly with original approach

What imo could be improved :
- I didn't understand why I failed :( (heart fading out while the symboles were corrects in the 5th or 6th level)
- Sounds gets annoying in the long run
- A beautiful stellar background would have give the game even more magic

Overrall I enjoyed my time, thanks for the game !

xanjos 2015-12-27 21:48

Gets really hard during the later levels but this was a really fun entry to play.

loneshark 2015-12-28 06:37

I could only summon up to Ph-ph(?) The Terror
I guess I make a pretty lousy cultist

Sweet game, though!

ludipe 2015-12-30 22:56

Simple yet fun, liked your use of the lovecraftian themes :)

ddrkirbyisq 2015-12-31 18:42

Oh man, haha. Good job :)

oparisy 2016-01-02 13:39

Very nice audio and visual cues, helped in "getting in" the game fast. Kind of hypnotizing, but got boring after a time: it was not clear I was on the verge of losing. Nice realization of the theme.

chuigum 2016-01-02 23:08

Nice audio and cool graphics, very nice concept and could see more! Great arcade game!

radmars 2016-01-03 03:53

Combining lovecraftian vibes with rhythm games, two of my favorite things, may be the fastest way into the grotesque multi-chambered eldritch horror of my heart :D It took me some time to figure out how the gameplay related to the rhythm, but once I got it I was hooked. I love how games like this can make you feel like you've learned some bizarre language. Great sound design & graphics too. My main issue with it is that it seemed really difficult to avoid taking damage on certain transitions (left to right for example), so the later levels just felt like a war of attrition rather than an accurate test of skill. (this was using the mouse btw) Also I wish there was some more variety in the audio, like if it progressed over time, and I might prefer some sort of interaction on the beat itself rather than doing something then waiting for the beat, but that's just my preference. Still this was an awesome experience and really fun. Excellent, excellent work. I WANT MORE! /|\( ;,;)/|\

amras0000 2016-01-04 21:05

Nice work, great atmosphere. Main issue is just the lack of difficulty. If you'd matched the changes of symbols to the audio pulses you could force the player to have much tighter timing on their changes. Maybe start with two training rounds of each pattern without losing health, then force the player to match the timing tightly not to lose health.
It feels really odd for a summoning ritual of ancient gods to be this trivial is all >_>

amras0000 2016-01-04 21:08

Should be noted, I didn't notice the post-LD version until after I commented. Forcing the player to hit the start as well as the end of each rune would still improve the game, though, I feel.