Ludum Dare #48compo

Meditation Journey

by schwede

Overall★★★★★★★★★★3.56

Fun★★★★★★★★★★2.66

Innovation★★★★★★★★★★4.06

Theme★★★★★★★★★★3.85

Graphics★★★★★★★★★★3.40

Audio★★★★★★★★★★3.65

Mood★★★★★★★★★★4.40

Welcome to the world of meditation!

Meditation is easier to do than you maybe think. It’s a great journey to go deeper into yourself and clear your mind with a portion of emptiness. In your first step, we will just practice the breathing. Doing regular meditation can have a wonderful improvement on a healthy and less stressful live.

This game is an attempt to give some advice on how you can meditate.

Controls (Are explained in the tutorial)

#### Breathing
Press and hold SPACEBAR for BREATH IN until you hear the SOUND.
Then release SPACEBAR for EXHALE until you hear the second SOUND.
Your BREATHING should stay synchronized with SPACEBAR.

#### Handle thoughts
Use the MOUSE and SPACEBAR to grab a THOUGHT.
On EXHALE bring the THOUGHT into the clouds.

Development details

- Unity
- Aseprite
- Audacity
- MIDI Keyboard
- The ambient bird sound where recorded at 05:00 in the backyard garden

Tags: #meditation, #pixel art, #relaxing

Tools: Aseprite, Audacity

Comments19

pdotjpg26 Apr 2021, 06:17

Really charming! Cool that you didn't just slap on the theme of meditation, but actually focused on the crucial element – breathing.

Ariorick26 Apr 2021, 10:41

Interesting! I had an urge to breathe with the game

FussenKuh26 Apr 2021, 21:10

Kudos for thinking outside the box on this game! It's quite refreshing to try something well out of my normal gaming comfort zone. I know nothing about meditation, so I honestly can't say if you've just B.S.'ed your way through this advice ;) But, with the pleasant birds chirping and the breathing the game did make me feel more relaxed. Well done.

Jinny Kang26 Apr 2021, 21:21

I actually ended up closing my eyes and meditating with the first set of breathing! It was really calming and I enjoyed it :)

yulotomorrow27 Apr 2021, 02:48

Quite self-explained game and really brings that calm and peaceful feeling, the tutorial is well done!

Purrseus27 Apr 2021, 12:19

I closed my eyes, too! You did a really great translating the concept into a game. And it even worked! I breathed to the sound and my button push and that was all that was needed to bring me into the zone. Actually the words were kinda irritating in the way that I instantly thought about the stuff mentioned, but it's a great tool to teach meditation principles! Well done!

goodwincek27 Apr 2021, 15:28

Deeper and Deeper into meditation was one of the ideas I played around with for this jam too! I really loved the atmosphere and calm you pulled off.

I would have liked there to be a better indication of the breath durations, as opacity is really hard to tell a difference between 80% and 100% so sometimes I let go too early and had a harder time syncing my breath (imagine an inner and outer ring indicator like wii fit trainer)

LALAKI728 Apr 2021, 19:21

This was a really great take on the theme and it's a very educational little game and a rather relaxing experience. Very simple concept, but it just works! I had a similar take on the theme, but mine focused more on the chaotic nature thoughts can take on sometimes.

Great job! :smile:

Samdwester29 Apr 2021, 04:32

I really liked this, very innovative and great fit for the theme. I should do meditation more because that felt pretty good

Adil29 Apr 2021, 19:01

That's great one, really love graphics and sound, overall it fits for the theme too

dans1729 Apr 2021, 20:35

This was a really interesting idea! I've always had trouble being able to medidate so this was actually quite helpful.

rawbits2 May 2021, 21:01

That high pitched boing sound isn't fitting. But otherwise a solid entry. I have never saw a meditation game before. It seems to be not so meditation inducing for the player.

PerfectSquare2 May 2021, 21:21

That was a really relaxing experience, well done! My favourite part was how calming the background sounds were.

LeviDSmith3 May 2021, 02:11

Great idea. I've never seen a meditation game before. It took me a little while to get the hang of grabbing the thoughts (just need to hover mouse over and press space). The tutorial was a nice touch and helped a lot.

VeryGenuineCraze3 May 2021, 07:44

What a game! I meditate from time to time this game is a really nice way to show how to.
The sound design is perfect and the colors are well picked.
The tutorial is nicely done (maybe too long knowing the duration a the breath).

Nothing to say, good job :clap:

notanimposter16 May 2021, 04:49

This is awesome. Very calming/relaxing. You could hook this up to a huge dictionary file of anxieties and just go forever. It's so satisfying seeing the words disappear into the sky.

Tim7718 May 2021, 10:50

Interesting idea. How could it be made into a game? (I don't think it is one yet.) Perhaps you have to breath and catch thoughts at the same time - that way introducing an element of skill! Or perhaps you have to remain focused on breathing while being distracted by thoughts? Cool idea. Good luck for the jam!

abwzyadalmtyry3 Feb 2023, 22:22

Meditation is a fantastic way to focus on the present and connect with your inner self.

Lalafantiz13 Feb 2023, 15:39

Meditation is a fantastic way to focus on the present and connect with your inner self.