I've Seen This Room Before

by gelisam
Overall★★★★★★★★★★3.63
Fun★★★★★★★★★★3.67
Innovation★★★★★★★★★★4.08
Theme★★★★★★★★★★4.04
Graphics★★★★★★★★★★2.76
Humor★★★★★★★★★★3.16
Coolness★★★★★★★★★★96%
You are in a room. The only room in the game. There are stairways going up and down, but somehow they lead back to this same room. The architect must have been a fan of Escher paintings.

As you walk up and down the stairs, you start to notice strange details. Was this wall here before? How come I've never noticed this shiny golden key, lying there on the floor, begging to be picked up?

It's a mystery. I suggest you continue going up. Or down; they both lead to the same room anyway.

screenshot

Comments39

Mokosha
Mokosha8 Dec 2014, 05:33
Good job, fellow Haskeller! It's nice to see people trying to bring Haskell to mainstream game development!

I couldn't figure out how to get past level five, but otherwise you had the right idea.
Drtizzle
Drtizzle8 Dec 2014, 23:00
Very good job! Reminded me of The Stanley Parable for some reason
mrhill9 Dec 2014, 03:01
Clever puzzles, got to use the brainmachine on this one
ruthiepee
ruthiepee9 Dec 2014, 03:02
Great execution of the theme. It's clever that the same level changes to become a new level. I liked the simplicity of the game a lot. I tested the Mac version and unfortunately I think the textures don't load? They're just primitive black and white shapes. Or is that on purpose? OK, clearly I didn't make it past level 5 either but I did enjoy the concept a lot.
TheMonsterFromTheDeep
TheMonsterFromTheDeep9 Dec 2014, 03:06
This is a great game - I really love the interesting puzzles (although I couldn't get past the second puzzle)
madcapacity9 Dec 2014, 03:17
Nice concept - I really liked how you could step back through levels. I couldn't get passed level 5.

Graphics did not load for me on OSX, all the bmps in /images were not found.
cxsquared
cxsquared9 Dec 2014, 03:26
I really loved the puzzle design. Really nice work.
gelisam
gelisamauthor9 Dec 2014, 04:49
@ruthiepee, the black-and-white images are a fallback version in case the textures aren't found. Since you saw them instead of seeing a crash, I'm glad I put them in :)

For the textures to be found, the working directory must be the same as the executable's. Try opening Terminal.app, navigating to the folder and running it there using "./ludum-dare31".
ruthiepee
ruthiepee9 Dec 2014, 14:48
Just FYI gelisam, running it from Terminal worked for some reason. Thanks. Game was still fun without the graphics though. :D
dorkster
dorkster9 Dec 2014, 20:40
Great job. It took me a bit to understand what was going on, but it was a nice "ah-ha" moment when I figured it out.

I couldn't get the Linux version to run, but the Windows build worked just fine in Wine. Below is the error I got on Linux:

./ludum-dare31: : ATUSHûHìH-Ó : Error 43356896
gelisam
gelisamauthor10 Dec 2014, 02:49
@dorkster: Wow, that's quite an incomprehensible error message! I suspect I might have packaged too many .so files with the executable, causing some interoperability issue with the so files on your system. Deleting the duplicate .so file should help, but this message doesn't help us very much in figuring out which.
gelisam
gelisamauthor10 Dec 2014, 03:08
To those who gave up because the puzzles were too hard: here's a walkthrough.

Azlen10 Dec 2014, 04:24
Love it! Could not get past level 12 though... tough!
rjhelms10 Dec 2014, 04:30
Really innovative use of the theme. Good puzzles!
max_peabody10 Dec 2014, 04:31
Around level 12 it broke and wouldn't let me move up anymore :(

Great level design, though, and I loved how you made use of the theme.
rjhunter10 Dec 2014, 04:35
I (eventually!) made it to the end. I kept getting stuck with not *quite* enough keys, but I persevered until I figured it out.

Great level design!

One suggestion I would make is to make the transitions between "rooms" feel a bit more... transitional? Right now it feels like the player is transported to the top, rather than walking down stairs to the same room. If that makes sense.

Good job, overall!
hundredhundred12 Dec 2014, 15:13
Lovely game i enjoyed this one, This was very innovative and i loved the puzzle idea! Great entry! gave me a good laugh with my friends!
Cosine
Cosine12 Dec 2014, 15:18
Clever take on the theme. I'd like to see more done with the concept, with more than just doors and keys (possibly boxes that you can push around?)
ibilon13 Dec 2014, 13:13
Great level/puzzle design!
Managed to go to level 12 before getting stuck and having to watch your walkthrough.
01rafael14 Dec 2014, 20:13
Character is great! ))
I'm not sure that I've dig in gameplay
BoxedMeatRevolution
BoxedMeatRevolution14 Dec 2014, 20:50
Great innovation and very good puzzles. I don't think I've played a puzzle game with this mechanic before, and it was fun figuring out how to get past the tough levels. I have no complaints, other than the fact that you've made me crave more puzzles!
sorlok
sorlok15 Dec 2014, 01:59
Very cool game! Loved the balance between "rewinding" to exploit duplicates and accidentally undoing your own progress. Cool ending idea. Would love to see more!
rantt
rantt15 Dec 2014, 02:03
Fun puzzle game, took me a while to solve it. I enjoyed it, great job :)
RyanNielson
RyanNielson15 Dec 2014, 03:02
Fantastic game, and great use of the theme. Going back in a time is a fantastic way to solve puzzles or just fix mistakes. Well done!
Grindstorm16 Dec 2014, 02:53
Interesting idea, but didn't get how to go past level 5 :(
sP0CkEr216 Dec 2014, 03:36
i see what you did here - very clever - awesome game
benmcnelly
benmcnelly16 Dec 2014, 05:17
I would love to see you draw this idea out more! Did someone say Haskell? :D
iShadow16 Dec 2014, 14:54
Very good game! Very unique and fun to play.
vicious_br16 Dec 2014, 17:09
the penalty is harsh, greate game!
Raxsus
Raxsus16 Dec 2014, 18:46
Pretty fun, funny, and interesting. I don't think I finished it though.
dunin
dunin19 Dec 2014, 18:16
that is a clever game! Second puzzle took me a while.
I like the end too.
alyphen
alyphen21 Dec 2014, 00:10
Some really clever puzzles - loved the mechanic of being able to move back and forward between the different levels. Would be great to see more levels and a visual makeover, and some audio.
RockhopperGames
RockhopperGames28 Dec 2014, 04:43
Great idea! The puzzles were interesting, from a conceptual level, and didn't outstay their welcome. A very nice use of the theme!
Kuality Games29 Dec 2014, 20:58
Really challenging game! Graphics really do fit the game. Good job, especially for a compo. You must be a very smart guy to be able to design these levels.
The Number Guy29 Dec 2014, 22:54
Love the idea of going back in time to complete future levels! You should definitely expand on this one.

Other games by @gelisam

Found a bug?
Tell us on Discord