River of Souls is my entry for the 48 hour Ludum Dare 29 Competition for the prompt "Beneath the Surface".
You play as the soul of a recently deceased person, dragged to the bottom of the River of Styx ("Beneath the Surface"). You must make your way back to the top (and to your eternal rest) by popping memory bubbles, releasing the memories which are weighing you down. The game is a window into the life of this lost soul, showing random vignette memories from their life.
Trigger warning: Abuse, alcoholism.
The lack of sound is totally an artistic choice and not at all because I ran out of time.
Tools used include:
- Unity 2D
- Inkscape
Like it? Follow me at @Jiyambi, and my indie team at @BounderGames.
Honestly, I'm surprised this game hasn't gotten more attention than it has. The art is the best of the 13 games I've looked at so far, and by such a huge margin that I doubt it'll get dislodged from that spot anytime soon. I just love the cohesion of the style. Pentagons! Hardly the most common of art styles either. It's a right shame about the lack of sound, because if you did have some nice sound design in there, the game would feel like such a captivating experience. I can't help but feel bad for how this game was robbed of such potentially moving sound design, by the ever powerful Ludum Dare deadline. The story is well written, you follow the "Show don't tell" rule very effectively, and can tell quite an extensive background in only the first few lines of the game. Overall, a really stunning entry. If not for the absence of sound, I would have confused it for a higher level jam entry. Already with what you have, I had to double check.
Crumpet - thank you very much! I know, the sound is such a shame :( I knew as soon as I came up with the idea that it was going to need really good atmospheric sound, and I knew I just wasn't up to the task, especially not in the time allotted. Luckily I know a great sound guy so I might add some one just for my own personal portfolio entry.
Anyway, thanks so much for the kinda comment Crumpet, makes me feel much better about this work, which is quite different from anything I've done before!
Great graphics. Lacking actual gameplay ,but pretty heavy stuff - contrasting the happiness of marriage and birth with the later destruction is saddening.
The art of this game is amazing. You worked really well in the effects and all, created a really nice atmosphere. I missed a start screen just so the game don't abruptly and a bit of gameplay, but overall it's one of the best entries I've seen.
Lighting was great and help set the mood (along with the dialogue). It could have used some music to really push the mood over the edge.
It was an interesting way to tell a story although somehow I didn't realize that collecting the objects progressed the story - it was just constantly progressing until near the end. That's when I realized I was actually in control the whole time.
The mouse was a little laggy although the trails were beautiful.
Excellent graphics and detail (like the skulls on the sides).
Comments11
The art is the best of the 13 games I've looked at so far, and by such a huge margin that I doubt it'll get dislodged from that spot anytime soon. I just love the cohesion of the style. Pentagons! Hardly the most common of art styles either.
It's a right shame about the lack of sound, because if you did have some nice sound design in there, the game would feel like such a captivating experience. I can't help but feel bad for how this game was robbed of such potentially moving sound design, by the ever powerful Ludum Dare deadline.
The story is well written, you follow the "Show don't tell" rule very effectively, and can tell quite an extensive background in only the first few lines of the game.
Overall, a really stunning entry. If not for the absence of sound, I would have confused it for a higher level jam entry. Already with what you have, I had to double check.
Anyway, thanks so much for the kinda comment Crumpet, makes me feel much better about this work, which is quite different from anything I've done before!
It was an interesting way to tell a story although somehow I didn't realize that collecting the objects progressed the story - it was just constantly progressing until near the end. That's when I realized I was actually in control the whole time.
The mouse was a little laggy although the trails were beautiful.
Excellent graphics and detail (like the skulls on the sides).