Collect orbs to recover essence. Avoid swirls that remove essence.
This is Essence... ...a race against time in a mysterious cavern where your soul is constantly being drain and trapped in the dark waters, as your reflection appears more and more clear. You lose by falling or if you become completely trapped in the mirror-like waters. Look in the reflection for dangers, avoid the swirls that further drain you, and use the orbs to restore your shattered being. A game made for Ludum Dare 26 by the Make a Game team.
I loved the mirrored level showing hazards on one side and health on the other. Getting the hang of collecting one and not the other was tricky. Awesome job!
Thank you so much for your feedback, it means a lot. Essence was by far our most difficult entry, after taking a break for two editions. Actualy we didn't even want to see the game again after submitting. This wasn't the game we started with, we changed entirely the game midway(48h left), we spent the 24h changing 3 times the engine (Haxe, Flashpunk, Flixel), we had loads of problems with motivation. We're working on our post mortem =).
Thank you again for helping us liking a little more our game: onzephyr ; matthias_zarzecki ; oatsbarley ; SuperlevelSebastian ; _Rilem ; MinionStudios ; hissssssssss ; WiseGAMER ; Kristofer Parsons
Very Cool Game! I like the mechanic a lot, though a small readme at the bottom of the webpage might be a good idea for anyone who Doesn't come via the LD post. ( Though it's still certainly much easier to understand than my own entry lol ) The visuals are pretty gorgeous for a weekend game! Very theme appropriate as well.
This is one of the most interesting setups I've seen in this LD, and it works well with the simple gameplay. A beautiful and poetic concept.
Unfortunately, the gameplay itself is a bit lacklustre: the controls aren't that great, and there's no way of telling when you'll just fall through the floor. Also, there are a couple of slight mistakes in the English ("that is how it lives" doesn't really work, for example). Which is a shame, because apart from those slight errors, the messages are beautifully written.
In short, there are some issues that could be fixed with more polish, but the concept and mood are excellent.
... and reading the other comments, I realised that I missed the fact that the reflection shows you false floors and other hazards. Sorry about that; will score up accordingly.
@CiderPunk I'm glad you liked the artistic vision. The collisions aren't perfect, but there are invisible barriers that can only be seen on the reflection. =P
Comments23
Essence was by far our most difficult entry, after taking a break for two editions.
Actualy we didn't even want to see the game again after submitting.
This wasn't the game we started with, we changed entirely the game midway(48h left), we spent the 24h changing 3 times the engine (Haxe, Flashpunk, Flixel), we had loads of problems with motivation.
We're working on our post mortem =).
Thank you again for helping us liking a little more our game:
onzephyr ; matthias_zarzecki ; oatsbarley ; SuperlevelSebastian ; _Rilem ; MinionStudios ; hissssssssss ; WiseGAMER ; Kristofer Parsons
I like the mechanic a lot, though a small readme at the bottom of the webpage might be a good idea for anyone who Doesn't come via the LD post. ( Though it's still certainly much easier to understand than my own entry lol )
The visuals are pretty gorgeous for a weekend game!
Very theme appropriate as well.
Congrats on an awesome LD entry!
Unfortunately i saw a game with a similar concept in this LD26 :/ but urs was better.
The ending was a bit too abrupt
Unfortunately, the gameplay itself is a bit lacklustre: the controls aren't that great, and there's no way of telling when you'll just fall through the floor. Also, there are a couple of slight mistakes in the English ("that is how it lives" doesn't really work, for example). Which is a shame, because apart from those slight errors, the messages are beautifully written.
In short, there are some issues that could be fixed with more polish, but the concept and mood are excellent.
Good mood.
The collisions aren't perfect, but there are invisible barriers that can only be seen on the reflection. =P
Great game :)