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A jam submission

Into The VoidView game page

Dungeon exploration with hidden threats!
Submitted by Tempo Goat — 13 minutes, 39 seconds before the deadline
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Play void

Into The Void's itch.io page

Results

CriteriaRankScore*Raw Score
Visuals(Graphics)#73.5784.000
Sound/Audio#93.3543.750
User Interface (UI/UX)#122.6833.000
Overall#132.6833.000
Fun#162.4602.750

Ranked from 4 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.

DevLog Link
https://devexperience.itch.io/into-the-void/devlog/364215/finish-your-game-jam-20-devlog

Developer Feedback Questions
Was it easy to defend from enemies? Are the controls responsive enough?

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Comments

Submitted(+1)

This was pretty cool, I loved how the game centers around the use of the flashlight and its batteries. Needing it for being able to navigate, open doors and fend off enemies makes you mindful not only of how many enemies there are, but how far you've gone into a level. The loss of battery power on death magnified the importance quite nicely as well, I think you nailed making large parts of the game center around simple mechanics.

The visuals are simple but nice, I think it works especially well for not being able to tell exactly what the enemies are. The music fit the game quite nicely.

Also I do appreciate the little collision indicator when running up against an invisible wall, a very nice simple touch.

The game was a bit confusing at first as I wasn't sure what I was supposed to do. The first time I got the little black ball to feed the void, I assumed I had to collect more of them in the level rather than bring it back to the void. I didn't read the games actual page before starting, so that may very well be on me.

One bug I encountered was after having died with no battery left, I was respawned back at the start with a full battery. From reading the devlog it seems like the player goes back up one level if they die without any batter left (?), can't confirm as I stopped after I died on the third level. But even though I had the full battery, I was unable to use the flashlight, and so got softlocked. Exiting back to the menu and starting a new game fixed this, and since I was at the start anyways it wasn't too bad. It might be an issue in further levels though.

Also I agree with Not Jam's suggestion of a minimap of some sort, the third level for me was starting to get a bit big for navigating by memory. But you already mentioned it being included in the next build so I imagine this will be fixed soon enough.

For the feedback questions:

  • It was easy to defend against enemies, the times I died it was because I either ran out of batteries or I forgot to check with my flashlight if the room was clear.
  • The controls feel responsive enough, I don't have any specific suggestions or complaints either way.

Overall I think you just need to focus on a couple quality of life features like the minimap, a bit more of an in-game tutorial, and you're good. Great work!

Submitted(+1)

This is fantastic! I love the visual style and the music, it reminded me of Little Nightmares and Limbo but with it's own unique take. The design of the void in particular stood out to me.

I liked the economy of design you had, with the batteries being used for health in addition to their primary use for navigation and enemy avoidance. I would always feel a rush of relief when I entered a room and found batteries.

I'd love a minimap if you start increasing the size of the dungeons in the future, but as the game currently stands finding my way around by memory worked just fine. 

With regards to your feedback questions: 

  • Defending from enemies felt really good, particularly when they dashed away from the light when I caught them at the last possible moment. 
  • Controls feel really responsive. I found that the movement speed combined with the really short range of the flashlight worked well together - it was fast enough that I was never frustrated when trying to travel long distances, but slow enough that moving through a dangerous room was possible so long as I was careful.
Developer

Thank you! Yes, i was inspired by Limbo and Death's Door when doing this :D 

It's good to know that you liked the batteries economy, I'm still finding balance so it doesn't feel unfair to play. Right now, the issue i need to solve is that the player can get softlocked if it doesn't have enough batteries to open a door. Aside from that, players can refill if they lose all batteries when dying, but they get demoted.

What do you think about the revealing mechanic?  Was it difficult to navigate the hidden platforms with enemies in the room?

Yep! A minimap is a must  so I'll include it in the next build.

Submitted(+1)

Sorry, but I never figured out how to get past the first area. And I found no explanation for controls. Only thing I manage to figure out is that WASD moves and rightclick use flashlight.

Developer

Sorry to hear that :(. I released a new build with tutorial messages included, hope this makes the controls clearer.  Anyway, if you have other suggestions, don't be afraid to ask me.

Fragsoft