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A jam submission

Escape the CaveView game page

Team up with your ghost and escape the cave before the time runs out
Submitted by mr.jyotirmoy — 3 hours, 57 minutes before the deadline
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Escape the Cave's itch.io page

Results

CriteriaRankScore*Raw Score
Artwork#16663.8003.800
Enjoyment#17613.5503.550
Creativity#18673.8253.825
Audio#19483.3253.325
Narrative#39902.5502.550

Ranked from 40 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.

How does your game fit the theme?
My game uses countdowns in two separate systems. First, you have an overall timer within which you must complete the level and escape the cave. The other mechanic involves replaying your past actions. You can record up to X seconds of your actions, and during the replay, the playback timer counts down from X to 0, showing you how much time the ghost has left before it disappears. You can use this timer to keep track of the ghost’s actions and plan your own. For example, if you know the ghost presses a button when the timer reaches 3 seconds, you can time your next action around that. The twist is that while you replay your actions, the main game timer runs 2x faster, so you’re penalised for taking multiple retries. Overall, the countdown isn’t just a time limit, it also becomes something you need to track and plan around to escape the cave.

(Optional) Please credit all assets you've used
Asset Credits

Player - https://penzilla.itch.io/free-animated-protagonist

Cave Tilset - https://maaot.itch.io/2d-browncave-assets
Cave decoration - https://maaot.itch.io/fungal-grotto

Forest Tileset & Decor - https://maaot.itch.io/mossy-cavern

Lever assets - https://maaot.itch.io/fungal-grotto

All Interactables, are from the cave tileset - https://maaot.itch.io/2d-browncave-assets
- Gate
- Moving Platform
- Rock
- Pressure Plate

Skeleton Archer, Arrow - https://craftpix.net/product/skeleton-archer-tiny-style-2d-sprites/

CRT Monitor Effect Shader - https://godotshaders.com/shader/vhs-and-crt-monitor-effect/

Fonts
1. Oxanium - https://fonts.google.com/specimen/Oxanium
2. Mali - https://fonts.google.com/specimen/Mali

Icons are from FontAwesomeIcons (free) - https://fontawesome.com/

BGM
1. Cave ambience - https://freesound.org/people/Kinoton/sounds/516566
2. Forest ambience - https://freesound.org/people/Mjeno/sounds/405140/

SFX
1. Footsteps on Stone - https://jochi.bandcamp.com/track/footsteps-on-stone
2. Footsteps on Grass - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFxq3btKPdY
3. Player
1. Player effort - https://freesound.org/people/Keskaowl/sounds/507730/
2. Player effort end - https://freesound.org/people/K1m218/sounds/60669/
3. Player jump - https://freesound.org/people/maxmakessounds/sounds/353542/
4. Player die - https://freesound.org/people/maxmakessounds/sounds/353541/
5. Player land - https://freesound.org/people/EskimoNeil/sounds/404394/
6. Die at death zone - https://freesound.org/people/Mateusz_Chenc/sounds/512217/
4. enemy
1. Bow pulling back - https://freesound.org/people/cmusounddesign/sounds/119878/
2. Arrow Leaving - https://freesound.org/people/EverHeat/sounds/205563/
3. Arrow travelling - https://freesound.org/people/michaelkoehler/sounds/273756/
4. Enemy Land - same as Player land
5. Arrow hit - https://freesound.org/people/cyoung510/sounds/521242/
6. Taunt - https://pixabay.com/sound-effects/film-special-effects-rpg-female-attack-grunt-no-ai-481720/
5. Gate
1. Operation - https://freesound.org/people/j1987/sounds/95000/
2. Closing / Opening Thud - https://freesound.org/people/NeoSpica/sounds/512241/
6. Moving Platform
1. Moving - https://freesound.org/people/Zeraora/sounds/434736/
2. Hit - Kenny Impact Sounds - https://kenney.nl/assets/impact-sounds
7. Pressure plate - https://pixabay.com/sound-effects/film-special-effects-lightclunk1-107615/
8. Rock dragging - https://freesound.org/people/FreqMan/sounds/25846/
9. Lever
1. https://freesound.org/people/Anthousai/sounds/398761/
2. https://freesound.org/people/Anthousai/sounds/398760/
3. https://freesound.org/people/Anthousai/sounds/398759/
4. https://freesound.org/people/Anthousai/sounds/398758/
5. https://freesound.org/people/Anthousai/sounds/398763/
10. UI
1. Button tap - https://pixabay.com/sound-effects/film-special-effects-soft-app-button-tap-sound-5-547873/
2. Game won dialog - https://pixabay.com/sound-effects/film-special-effects-level-up-02-528919/
4. Game lost dialog - https://pixabay.com/sound-effects/film-special-effects-low-battery-329310/
5.
11. Recorder
1. Equip - https://pixabay.com/sound-effects/film-special-effects-item-equip-6904/
2. Unequip - https://pixabay.com/sound-effects/film-special-effects-holster-pistol-7132/
3. Operation - https://pixabay.com/sound-effects/technology-8mm-film-camera-6446/
4. Turn off - https://pixabay.com/sound-effects/film-special-effects-light-switch-81967/
6. Unequip start - https://pixabay.com/sound-effects/film-special-effects-woosh-260275/
12. Ghost
1. Appear - https://pixabay.com/sound-effects/film-special-effects-appear-2-88047/
2. Whispers
1. https://freesound.org/people/rafaelzimrp/sounds/570847/
2. https://freesound.org/people/rafaelzimrp/sounds/570848/
3. https://freesound.org/people/rafaelzimrp/sounds/570849/
4. https://freesound.org/people/rafaelzimrp/sounds/570850/
5. https://freesound.org/people/rafaelzimrp/sounds/570851/
3. Disappear - https://pixabay.com/sound-effects/film-special-effects-soft-subtle-ui-pop-sfx-348820/
13. Crusher
1. Sliding - https://freesound.org/people/j1987/sounds/95007/
2. Stopped - https://freesound.org/people/Werra/sounds/338287/
2. Rumbling down - https://freesound.org/people/Reitanna/sounds/217657/
3. Rumbling stop - Same as door thud

(Optional) What would you like to be called if GMTK features your game?
Jyotirmoy

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Comments

Viewing comments 32 to 13 of 32 · Next page · Last page
Submitted(+1)

Fun core mechanic and a high level of polish! Amazing job!

Developer

thanks :D glad you liked it

Submitted(+1)

It's excellent ! That level of polish in a game jam is very impressive. The puzzles, the camera movements, the effects when you record, everything is good. The only thing I could say would be the jump that is a bit rigid, but it's not even a real problem during the game.

I'm impressed, good job !

Developer

Hey, thanks for such a nice feedback :D Appreciate your kind words. You are right, I could improve the jumping behaviour, I will work on that and fix it :D

Submitted(+1)

Very well made puzzle/platformer and brilliant take on the theme! The recording mechanic to help solve the puzzles was innovative (loved the shader work!), the platforming wasn't too difficult, but was balanced quite nicely with the more difficult puzzles (I couldn't get past the archer skellys however). The puzzles were challenging but not frustrating, it was rewarding solving them, and I like the checkpoints you placed if you ended up dying. The sound design was very well done; the realistic sounds however didn't quite match the more cartoon visuals, but that's just a small detail I noticed. Overall this is a fantastic entry and a very well polished game!

Developer

thank you so much for such a nice feedback :D

you are right, sound design should have been more towards cartoonish side, but it’s hard to find SFXs quickly, I struggled with the current ones itself, so kept that :D

And, thanks for playing the game!

Submitted

Very cool !! Just a fun lil puzzle game with cool countdown elements, I like it! :D

Developer

thanks! glad you enjoyed :D

Submitted(+1)

Nice concept ! Reminds me of Ratchet and Clank - A Crack in time x) love the graphics and sound as well, the atmosphere is really great ! I ran into a bug where my ghost didn't manage a jump that I managed and so couldn't help me, and I couldn't continue my playthrough, but maybe I'll give it another try later

Developer

thanks for playing the game :)

I’m sorry you could not continue the play, i will try to replicate the bug

Submitted

It was in an area north east of the first position where there's a row of spiles and pressing the button raises half and releasing it raises the other half. I wanted to solve it by making loops around the area but my clone couldn't to it. Weeeeel writing that made be realise that it might have work with just back and forths and not making my clone do elaborate loops ahah I'll try again

Submitted(+1)

Appreciate the continue feature by the way, quite rare in a jam x) 

Developer

Ah yes, just back and forth works :D by looping you were essentially doing the back and forth but a longer one, those gaps exists in case you get stuck in between the space, say both side gates closed, just so that you can get out and retry the level

Submitted(+1)

Grate Game!

Developer

thanks :)

Submitted(+1)

The art + sound design for this was super crisp! I also loved the recording element, that felt unique + on brand for the theme, well done! :)

Developer

thanks! glad you enjoyed the recording mechanic :D

Submitted (1 edit) (+1)

Nice take on the theme

Developer

thanks for playing :)

Submitted(+1)

Seriously so well done! Love the ramp up of difficulty and the time doubling down when recording is such a great use of the theme :chef-kiss:

And wow has everything come together so well! There is nothing I can fault with this entry, great job.

Developer(+1)

thanks for your nice words :) happy that you enjoyed the game

Submitted(+1)

Really nice puzzle platformer, I really like how responsive and satisfying the recording and playback is, I just hoped there was a way to discard the current recording, maybe there was if so ignore my comment haha. Great Game! :D

Developer

thanks for the feedback :)

and indeed there is a way to discard the recording, by pressing [C] C meaning Cancel :D

Submitted

oh that was on me then haha <3

Submitted(+1)

I love the art in this game. The puzzles require you to use your brain, but not so much that it becomes stressful. Great game!

Developer(+1)

thanks :D I’m happy you find the levels are balanced and don’t feel stressful, thanks for trying the game, appreciate it

Submitted(+1)

Great game idea and a beautiful world you created, I really liked the cave atmosphere! :D The level design was great and I liked that you could escape and return to the start when you failed a puzzle instead of just pressing restart.

The puzzles with the enemies were quite stressful for me (especially the one with the two enemies and the rock). I’m not sure if I missed something or if it was intended to be that challenging. After some tries I escaped the cave and really enjoyed the overall experience. Well done! :)

Developer(+1)

thanks for playing the game!

you are right, the level with 2 enemies and a rock is tricky, specially because you have to think of a way to make the ghost push the rock :D

and, for a level sometimes, there are multiple ways to solve, happy that you enjoyed the overall game :)

Submitted(+1)

Really really cool concept!! It reminded me a lot of Hollow Knight, the puzzles are well design and the art is so cool. Great game :)

Developer

thanks :) happy that you enjoyed the game!

Submitted(+1)

Nice idea, and the 30mins is always appreciated for these jams. My biggest issue was the delay when jumping and trying to dodge the skeleton arrows. But the puzzles were fun and the recording is very cool!

Developer

thanks for the feedback :D yes I will have to fix the jump delay, I wait for the jump build up animation to finish before launching the player upwards, lol wrong judgment from my side

Submitted (1 edit) (+1)

Interesting concept, I also had similar idea but didn't implement lol. I like speeding time while replaying to avoiding the misuse of this mechanic and to really make the player think. Usually I do not like game with time limits (this is why I went with step count instead of regular time in my game) as it makes me stress, but you had generous 30 min time limit, so that was fine with me. Also I always appreciate when game uses up arrow for jump too, which your game had :)

Brilliant game.

Developer

thanks :) glad you liked the game. The up arrow was not there for jump earlier, it was added as a feedback from my lil brother :D And now I know others appreciate it as well, thanks for pointing it out.

Submitted

Very cool!

Submitted(+1)

very good game, interesting ghost mechanics and good level design. my only problem are with the jump, it feel a bit too much out of sync with my input, and the timer give you to much time, i finished my first run in roughly  half the time. overall for a jam game its done incredibly well, good job!

Developer

thanks for playing :) yes the time was bit too much, i realise now, when I play tested myself and with my fiancee, we felt 30 mins is good enough time to not stress about it, so kept it that :D

Submitted

wow, this is really good

Developer

thanks :D

Submitted

Very unique concept and well executed!

Developer

thank you for playing the game :D

Submitted(+1)

Really well put together. I think one of the other issues with the timer being so long is that at 30 mins it's totally abstract. You have no idea how long the game is or how much record you need. So if you finish a level only burning 30 seconds you don't really get a feel of is that a good thing or not. I'm definitely on the side of make jam games easy so people can get to the core of the thing, so it being on the long side is way better compared to accidentally making it too short. 

Developer

yeah agreed, that’s what I was fearful about, but looks like players can escape the cave much faster than the 30 mins limit :D

Viewing comments 32 to 13 of 32 · Next page · Last page