Disembodied

Overall★★★★★★★★★★4.02
Fun★★★★★★★★★★3.45
Innovation★★★★★★★★★★4.00
Theme★★★★★★★★★★3.70
Graphics★★★★★★★★★★3.55
Audio★★★★★★★★★★4.22
Humor★★★★★★★★★★3.12
Mood★★★★★★★★★★4.39
title.png

Disembodied explores one of human kind's *deepest and darkest* places.




The game's story is inspired by Harlan Ellison's I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream.

And yes, there really was a rainy thunderstorm during the last day, so I quickly recorded it and put it into the game.

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How to Play

- The controls are keyboard only (mainly the space-bar), so no mouse is involved.
- Make sure you play with sound.

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WARNING!

- game contains explicit display of violence and gore unsuitable for children
- and a short flickering screen
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Problems starting the game?

- If nothings happens when you try to run it, make sure you have a Java Runtime Environment (JRE) x64 installed. For Windows use the jre-8u181-windows-x64.exe file.
- If you only hear sound but don't see anything, plz try to run the windowed game version (which is included in the .zip)
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screenshot

Comments22

Plukers14 Aug 2018, 19:08
Very original and captivating. Your game is a very special kind of game, which is entertaining with a simple gameplay.
The mood your game creates is threating and interesting, I really enjoyed the... experience is the right word. I enjoyed the expirience!
Thanks for the great submission, had a lot of fun!
Iluvatar
Iluvatar14 Aug 2018, 19:15
That was really something! When I saw the gif I was like "Awww what a cute game", but then I was really surprised. I totally love the idea of the gameplay. So cool, and the story behind is well thought as well. Great game! But I saw said when that evil virus (or whoever that was) killed those innocent little bubblies.
Rafael Endo
Rafael Endo14 Aug 2018, 19:20
Nice game.

The end of the game became a little boring, because take much time between phrases.

PS: Just for joke, This game could call "If "I have no mouth and i must scream" was written in XXI" the game!
AFlatThrasher14 Aug 2018, 19:21
Totally not what I was expecting. Loved it. Great job getting this done in 3 days.
heidelbert14 Aug 2018, 19:23
Wow this was a surprising ride. This is more an experience than a game but a really nice one I think. Love the concept and story behind it. I just wanted to get disembodies myself when the non-fast-forwardable outro sequence played. It felt like the slowest experience I ever had :-D Other than that, really cool achievement! And in Java, yeah!
Joedb10014 Aug 2018, 19:23
Very original, I enjoyed unfolding the story and finding out what "Abaal" wants! Really fun and interesting thank you for releasing this!
guin3614 Aug 2018, 19:23
What a fantastic game! I love the idea behind the story and the dual meaning used for approaching the theme "running out of space". The atmosphere was excellent, the story progressed really smoothly and the resolution was very impactful. My only complaint is that the final scene in order to sync with the music the text scrolling was slowed down very much and I grew bored and impatient waiting for the text to come. I would love it if that part was sped up. Everything else I felt was superb.

I highly recommend this game, it is certainly more than meets the eye!

To other commenters: please do not spoil the story in your comment.

To new players: the other commenters may have given away the story, please play the game anyways to experience the story as intended by the developer.
cheetah
cheetah14 Aug 2018, 19:24
Outstanding story and audio. Really great work.
Ben Penwell14 Aug 2018, 19:30
This game has amazing mood/theme/audio. The audio tied with the dark and mysterious storyline made this game significantly more captivating. The gameplay itself was interesting, took me a couple tries to figue it out :P
Great job, I'm thoroughly impressed that this entire experience was made in 3 days by yourself.
abhimonk
abhimonk14 Aug 2018, 23:44
Fantastic work! As someone who enjoyed "I have no mouth and I must scream", I loved this.

The pacing was very well done, and I was very glad to hear the "Main character's" motivation by the end of the story. I also loved the tie-in to the theme at the very end of the gameplay section ("Running out of space" ended up being very creative and very dark).

In my opinion, the audio was the star of the show here. The angry typing sounds, the low unnerving hum during the middle section of the game, and the voices helped set the mood so incredibly well. The music at the end was perfect, and the synchronization with the text made it feel like the character was talking to me using the music.

I love games like this. Games that start off with a premise, and then reveal something completely different underneath. I wish I hadn't button-mashed at the start of the game so I could have seen what the password to the system was.

Awesome game! One of my favorites so far!
fullmontis
fullmontis15 Aug 2018, 12:37
Well things took an unexpected turn rather quickly! I really liked the whole experience, especially the audio, very immersive. The typing sounds that really gave a strong mood in a simple way. I think that the game was a little heavy on taking control away from the player, which made me feel a little detached from what was happening on the screen, but that is probably just me. I also think the use of the theme was very original and well implemented. Good Job!
Yetman
Yetman15 Aug 2018, 17:54
Nice game. I also thought that space can mean the space bar but I had no idea how to build a game around it so I am really impressed with your implementation. The sound and music are absolutely awesome (I love the voice acting a lot) and while the visual side can still be improved, the keyboard and console effects looks really good. The only problem I faced was the slight differences between my keyboard and on-screen keyboard but I don't think this problem can be fixed. Overall, the experience was really great. Well done.
sdrrv
sdrrv16 Aug 2018, 21:24
Loved The sounds and music!!! Loved it overall!
James Dunlap
James Dunlap16 Aug 2018, 21:53
Very interesting take on the theme and quite a different story. The sound and music were well done, but at times the deeper voice was hard to understand, but still workable.

I enjoyed this entry quite a bit. Thanks for sharing.
Aszu
Aszu17 Aug 2018, 00:07
What is this game _abaal_ t? (get it? "about".. ok bye)

Jk, great game. Got disappointed because there's no happy ending. I tried every key _but_ space, to no avail. Maybe you didn't had the time to make another ending? Or, maybe, that's just how evil it is.
Megalink
Megalink17 Aug 2018, 01:13
This is incredible, I am truly blown away by what you put together in just three days. Music, sound, art, story, are all phenomenal. Brilliant work! Best LD42 game I've played yet.
pickens-inc
pickens-inc17 Aug 2018, 16:34
Realy incredible experience, probably one of the best narrative experiences I've played in a Ludum Dare, and the simple graphics go hand in hand with the gorgeous music making the entire experience creepy and dripping with atmosphere. Loved playing it on stream.
dietzribi
dietzribi18 Aug 2018, 01:55
This is amazing, my favorite!!! It was short and on point! You made it really special with the music and voice overs. I will be disappointed if it doesn't get a few medals!!! 5/5
smbe19
smbe1918 Aug 2018, 19:09
Beautiful ending with very nice music. Really enjoyed the experience.
MZA
MZA18 Aug 2018, 19:58
One of the more surreal LD experiences. You are very good at keeping the player intrigued.
KapiteinKoekwous18 Aug 2018, 21:54
Hey there! This game was played on www.twitch.tv/arjendesign just now! Amazing work!

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