AI Browser Game Jam 5

Hosted by Focaccai · #AIGameJam

832

Ratings

Overview Submissions

Submission feed

A jam submission

Torch the SkyView game page

A sewer rat with a toy torch relights a dead world, one lamp at a time.

Submitted by Ssang2 — 8 days, 11 hours before the deadline

Rated by 17 people so far

Add to collection

Play game

Torch the Sky's itch.io page

Rate this game

In order to rate this submission you must be logged into itch.io and have submitted your own entry. Anyone with an account can leave a comment.

AI Tools Used
Claude (Anthropic, chat) — rewrote my playtest notes as specs and design documents, and kept the numbered feedback table.
Claude Code (Anthropic) — all the code: GDScript, the line-art shader, light and color-spread system, maze generator, shadow AI, tutorial, balance bots.
Music and sound — Claude Code wrote the music (notes, arrangement, instrument choice) and designed the sound effects as code; the result is rendered from CC0 instrument samples (VSCO-2, VCSL) and CC0 recordings. No audio generation model such as Suno was used — the AI wrote the score and the processing, not the waveform.
Google Gemini (Nano Banana) — character sheets, every cutscene illustration, and the six murals, from my prompts and reference images.
Real-ESRGAN — upscaling of the illustrations.

Human (Ssang2): the idea, every rule and number, art direction, prompts, and all playtesting. The build-test-play cycle ran 31 times in one week, with 89 automated tests. Details in the "How this was made" section on the game page.

Leave a comment

Log in with itch.io to leave a comment.

Comments

dportoSubmitted3 hours ago

The setting, the graphics, and the audio are phenomenal—my sincere compliments to you! The game is very intuitive and simple to play. I realize the difficulty level might need some balancing—I was already running into trouble by the third level—but regardless, excellent work!

Submitted

The Long Season

DenFinnSubmitted17 hours ago(+1)

I tried quite a few times, but I still couldn’t find the fourth light bulb on Floor 3. I also felt like there were a bit too many ghosts, but overall, this is a well-made game.

Submitted

Ssang2Developer12 hours ago

Thanks for sticking with it. The last-lamp hunt on floor 3 is something two people have mentioned now, so a hint when one lamp is left is going on the list. The ghost count I'll look at with that — if you can't find the lamp, more of them is just more frustration.

DenFinnSubmitted11 hours ago(+1)

One small suggestion: it would be nice if the right-click flash could briefly push ghosts back. Right now, it mostly just lights up the area for a moment, so it feels a bit underused. Having it create a little breathing room would give the player some way to escape instead of mostly just getting caught or running toward a light bulb.

Ssang2Developer11 hours ago

You're the third person to say this, so it's real. The flash does push them back, but only inside the beam and it gets weaker as the torch cracks — which is exactly when you need it most. So in practice it reads as "the room lit up for a second". Making it a proper breathing-room button is at the top of the post-jam list. Thanks for putting it so clearly.

StealthSubmitted18 hours ago(+1)

I really like the visuals and design. Even the main menu immediately hooked me, and teaches you a core mechanic before you even start the first level.

The said, the gameplay loop felt a little dull after a while, especially after you searched most of the maze and still haven't found the last lamp.

One of the more polished entries in this jam overall! The atmosphere was really well done.

Submitted

Ssang2Developer12 hours ago

Thank you — the title screen teaching the aim was a late idea, glad it landed. You're right about the search for the last lamp; that's where the loop sags, and it's the first thing I'll fix after the jam. Appreciate the honest read.

PhilipSubmitted20 hours ago(+1)

nice cute design! Also like the well done introduction at the start

Submitted

Ssang2Developer12 hours ago

Thanks! Glad the intro worked for you.

OXTAR DEVSubmitted1 day ago(+1)

I love the graphics❤️ very cool game, fun to play❤️ Very good concept, very well executed and… I am jealous 🤣 my games are tiny and bad compare to yours❤️ very good☺️☺️☺️

Submitted

HANDLIGHT: THREE ESCAPE WORLDS

Ssang2Developer22 hours ago(+1)

Thank you! Don't be — Handlight has three whole worlds in it, that's not tiny. Really glad you enjoyed it.

NEEDaFIXSubmitted1 day ago(+1)

Played on desktop and made it to floor 3, where the shadows were on me like syrup on pancakes :D

The art style is lovely, especially the little rat. Lighting a lamp and seeing the colour spread is a great reward.

A few things I noticed:

- At first I didn't know the shadows could go through walls, which caught me off guard.

- The page says nothing in the dark can enter lit places, but in my run the shadows did go into the light, and they seemed to hang around the middle of the map.

- The flash didn't seem to push them away for me.

- The minimap doesn't fully fill in when you look down a hallway.

One idea: have the shadows run away from the light, so lighting lamps feels like taking ground back. I'd play it again after a few of these mechanics get tuned. Is the walking-through-walls part intended?

Submitted

Ssang2Developer22 hours ago

Thank you, this is exactly the kind of note I was hoping for — and floor 3 is where I wanted people to end up.

Through walls: intended. They're shadows, so walls don't stop them, which is also why they can get behind you. I should say that on the page.

Lit places: they can't come inside the coloured area, but they do drift across its edge while they're floating around, and from the player's side that can look like they walked in. If you saw one sitting well inside the colour, that's something I'd want to reproduce — do you remember which floor?

Flash: when it didn't push them, do you remember where they were relative to you, and whether your torch was already cracked? The flash shrinks with the cracks right now, and I'm not sure that's the right call.

Minimap filling only where you've walked is intended, but you're not the first to say it, so I'll look at it. And "taking ground back" is exactly what lighting a lamp is supposed to feel like, so if it didn't, that's the note I'll build from. Thanks again.

NEEDaFIXSubmitted12 hours ago

Thanks for the detailed answer! Good to know the walls are on purpose. Saying it on the page would have helped me.

The shadow in the light was on floor 3. Its eyes moved over the lit area and just floated around me while I was standing in the light. For the flash, I honestly don't remember if the torch was already cracked, but if the flash shrinks with the cracks, that's probably what happened. A small hint when the flash gets weaker would make that clear.

Ssang2Developer12 hours ago

That helps a lot, thank you. Floor 3, eyes crossing the lit area while you stood in it — I'll try to reproduce exactly that. And a hint when the flash gets weaker is a good call; it's going in with the cooldown indicator I already had planned.

Purrfect Games StudioSubmitted1 day ago(+1)

Adorable game! I love animals so this was right up my alley! Great use of sound to add tension. Love the cute art style. Tense but also addictive and fun! Perfect score from me. Nice work! Made it to floor 3 before the monsters got me!

Submitted

What Are You Staring At?

Ssang2Developer1 day ago(+1)

Thank you! Floor 3 is exactly where I wanted people to get to — that's where it stops being a tutorial and starts being a game. Glad the sound did its job. Your cat games made my night too.

Purrfect Games StudioSubmitted1 day ago

Thanks really appreciate you!

seymour8glassSubmitted1 day ago(+1)

Great concept, and a really impressive use of Claude! The intro graphics are beautiful and the music is great. I had a hard time steering the rat on a trackpad, so a mouse or keyboard option (or a quick controls hint) might help laptop players. Lovely work.

I built mine with Claude too: AI WORMS, a one-button whack-a-mole: https://seymour8glass.itch.io/ai-worms. I'd love your honest rating if you get a minute.

Submitted

AI WORMS : They're Everywhere

Ssang2Developer1 day ago(+1)

Thank you! The trackpad point is fair — moving with one hand and aiming with the other is a lot on a laptop. I'm thinking of letting the torch follow your walking direction when the mouse isn't moving, so keyboard alone works. Going to play AI WORMS now.

CaCC-LabSubmitted1 day ago(+1)

The hand-drawn art and the little rat have so much charm! The intro is about two minutes before I could move, though — a skip button would help a lot.

Submitted

Torch Duck Parade

Ssang2Developer1 day ago

Thank you! You can skip the intro any time with a click or Enter — but you're right, nothing on screen says so. Adding a little "click to skip" line in the next update.