FoonLudum Dare ExplorerLD58 → §hadows

§hadows

By gamebuilder, genie, bcav, AnatolyKarpov and CritterCipher

View on ldjam.com

CategoryRankScoreCount
Overall5443.3033
Fun5703.0532
Innovation4093.2231
Theme5573.3731
Graphics4253.5830
Audio2873.4332
Mood1463.9632

Comments

zexurge 2025-10-07 02:40

i bet if someone types fast enough they can speedrun this :laughing:

hexela 2025-10-07 17:54

The vibe is very cool.

ranarh 2025-10-07 18:00

I like the "classic" look of the game. I died before I found all the heads, but the different worlds are an intersting idea and underlines the spirit mystery well.

ultraviolet 2025-10-07 20:53

A very unusual and interesting setting! I like it

naru 2025-10-07 22:12

This game gives me creepypasta vibes. I like the mood!

lerkadverka 2025-10-07 22:25

Восхитительный арт-стиль! Очень круто, не знаю как вы этого добились, но минимализм вашей игры отличный, люблю такое. Да и музыка+звук хорошо сделаны, выдерживают настроение и усиливают атмосферу. Интересно, что концепция исходит из метафоры. Однако, lvl-design слабоват и довольно не очевиден, лично для меня это послужило большим минусом. Но в любом случае вы молодцы, отличная работа!

faust-mi 2025-10-07 22:26

The game's style and atmosphere are incredibly cool! The music, sounds, and visuals create a truly soulful gaming experience!

Thank you so much for playing. Amazing game!

duvdvan 2025-10-08 01:49

As someone wrote above, the game gave me creepypasta vibes! Despite its minimalism, I really liked the visual style - there is something about it that particularly catches the eye. Even though I couldn't make it to the end, it was quite interesting to play. Thank you, and good luck!

megalukes 2025-10-08 02:21

I found the game quite bizarre and intriguing and I wasn’t expecting that kind of game. It took me a while to understand how it worked. The atmosphere was great, really well done and scary.

deruitda 2025-10-08 02:40

So unsettling, the art and SFX are top notch I love it all!!

yibirabbit007 2025-10-08 03:45

Hmm, maybe I'm not clear on how to play the game. How should I operate to leave?

custodi 2025-10-08 04:17

Very authentic game, it's cool that you made it on your own engine.

mi-s 2025-10-08 09:05

The vibe is so unsettling I loved it! The spell mechanics was also very cool like detaching the head, and visually very cool its giving miexed media its a banger

soleil 2025-10-08 13:17

It took me a while to figure out how to play, but I don’t regret it! The art style is really unique, and it was intriguing to look at the sources of the derivatives, it all adds to the overall unsettling atmosphere

gamebuilder 2025-10-08 17:36

@yibirabbit007 if you're asking about the controls, you can use WASD or the arrow keys to move, and use the space key to pick up and place items, etc. Press 's' to cast a spell. I hope this answers your question.

eugenik 2025-10-09 07:27

Very stylish.

kr4ft3r 2025-10-09 12:40

As with your previous games, along with being a piece of art it is also a very hard game of memory and optimization. Though I think this is the first one I could not solve (or at least wasn't up to keep trying past several deaths). The best I could do is die while on my way with 5th head. Still, it was fun figuring out how the world works, while soaking in the psychological and mysterious vibes. Seems graphics is larger than usual which I liked, and music is perfect mood setter.

infernalwolf08 2025-10-09 23:48

love the creepy vibe!

tyminix 2025-10-10 10:51

Great vibe made by music and art style. Unhinged. I love it. Puzzles are a bit simple though. Overall good jam game.

gamebuilder 2025-10-10 16:15

@lerkadverka thank you for your comments. I found them encouraging, but I was wondering if you could elaborate on your remarks about level design ("Однако, lvl-design слабоват и довольно не очевиден, лично для меня это послужило большим минусом."). I would be grateful if you could provide specifics so the next game can be improved.

gamebuilder 2025-10-10 16:19

@kr4ft3r if you were able to collect five heads, that in itself is an achievement. The instructions aren't very clear, but that's part of the game. Anyway, you got much further than most I suspect.

@soleil the sources for the derivatives are indeed important, good to see that some folks have noticed them. We here in the "United States" should remember who came before us.

wallted 2025-10-12 22:18

Playing this game this was deeply intriguing for me, visually. I really love the mix of this soundtrack and the look of main character, you can soak in the atmosphere. The puzzle itself was nice, I could not get this first try and took reasonable amount of time to solve :) Interesting entry!

shadows.PNG

x2shadow 2025-10-13 12:02

Very unique and stylish. Unfortunately, I couldn't figure out how to complete the game. game10.jpg

ginger-kyoko 2025-10-13 12:19

Wow! I loved your game! It's so experimental, in the spirit of '00s games. The atmosphere is reminiscent of the hippie era, and the music is captivating. It's really cool. I'll definitely play it again.

gamebuilder 2025-10-14 21:08

@x2shadow thank you for the screenshot, you captured a beautifully surreal moment. Well done.

gamebuilder 2025-10-14 21:14

@wallted thank you for the encouraging comments. You are one of the few to play this to the end — no mean feat by any stretch of the imagination. Good to see the game is not too difficult.

helen 2025-10-18 13:31

Sadly I decided to take the spell to get small. Then I died of hunger because I couldn't do anything :D

lereveur 2025-10-18 14:54

It was not as easy as I expected, and so I had to lose several times, but I finally managed to finish! Though I didn't understood what gives sorrow points (but only died once from this). Mood and arts are as special as every time I play your entries, and if now I'm used of those, they're still unique. Good job again!

rogaven 2025-10-19 10:08

I love the game's mood, but I’d like to see more audiovisual feedback from actions. Also I think it’s worth mentioning the control buttons in the itch/LD description so players don’t have to restart the game to figure them out. Casting spells from the menu feels a bit inconvenient. And I suppose non-default font would work better - the current one looks out of place with the game’s style.

ophiene 2025-10-22 00:57

Amazing work! It’s super interesting and has a vert unique way to paraphrase the theme, good job! And welcome to give our game a try! :)

sarah 2025-10-23 01:50

The atmosphere was super creepy, and it was a bit weird moving around but overall it fits the vibe. Well done!

ava-skoog 2025-10-23 14:01

Another good puzzle in your usual style, very nice :) Almost a roguelike, having to start over and over and do better on each run with more information. Good music and visuals.

Pondering connections between mechanics and theme, given the inspirations and what you've mentioned in the comments. Have some ideas. But from a purely mechanical perspective I wasn't really sure when, for example, sorrow set in, or how it differs from hunger. Felt random. But maybe that was precisely the point!

The five or so areas were easy enough to keep track of, so I didn't have to draw up a map this time. Enjoyed trying various methods, like trying to get all the heads in one go before returning, or returning after each one to heal up. I liked figuring out the spells and when to use them; the green level with the water especially. I never figured out what I could do with the effigy, so I hope I didn't finish the game in an unintended way, because I didn't use it.

Again, another good one, well done :)

gamebuilder 2025-10-24 16:48

@ava-skoog **sorrow** kicks in when wounds and hunger are both relatively high. Otherwise, it was too easy to die of sorrow. Sadly I didn't have time to fine tune it. The tears (**sorrow** = 25+) were meant to serve a purpose as well, but here too I ran out of time. Perhaps there will be another version of this game.

As for the effigies, they are useful for gaining stars (perhaps too useful) — I didn't want to make that too clear, otherwise the game would be too easy.

Anyway, thank you for your comments, your input is always insightful.