Share your best score in the comments — screenshot or just the number. Let’s see who’s the strongest jumper.And remember: *the darkness forgives nothing.*
Devs personal best depth: ~~–457 920.~~ ~~-409 769~~ ~~-365 256~~ -343 407
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Changelog: - Fixed screen shake causing camera flick to start screen - Fixed purple slow platforms causing permanent game slow effect - Fixed issue where game speed was calculated incorrectly on game start - Fixed mushrooms wasn't correctly giving you invincibility during jump boost - Fixed volume of some sounds that was too loud. Now your ears should be fine (mostly) - Fixel spike platform could break jumps if you jump on spikes while shield is active ___
Really nice! I think the inspirations are pretty clear, but it still works very well and the art and music are terrific. Nicely done and congrats on finishing your first game AND your first jam!
@shadow64 Thanks so much for the heartwarming words. Really means a lot. Especially the words about the art, we put a lot of love into it! Hoping to keep leveling up from here
Okay I had a blast with this one -- the music's great, the retro vibes are _spot on_, and it's really satisfying to play. I'd play the crap out of that on an arcade cabinet. No notes, y'all, great job!
Wow, I loved your game. I'm definitely going to spend hours playing it. I thought it was really cool and the interpretation of the theme is perfect. Is the character a kitten? If so, you've won my heart, lol. I love cats. I showed the game to my boyfriend and he remembered a really cool game that yours reminds me of (Monster Probably Stole My Princess). Anyway, I really loved your game! Thanks for making it.
@glaupe-cabral Thank you for your feedback! It's a very cute and funny assumption that the character is a kitten. I think he can be a kitten if you want :)
Hi! I played your game and really enjoyed the visual style. The soundtrack and sound effects create a great atmosphere. It's cool how different bonuses and new types of platforms appear as you play. The game is very well made.
I was especially impressed by the start screen, the explosion is super epic :)
Wilhelm scream = +1 humor! But seriously, I love this entry so much, it is actually my favorite. So simple, so effective and so hard to put down. I love the retro vibe and the replayability is so high. Not a single thing to comment here, well done !
Great pixel art. Combined with the postFX (bloom, maybe chromatic aberration? Unless that is baked into the art) it makes for an awesome aesthetic. Chiptunes sound great as well, sound effects are punchy. Excellently polished tower climb game, great jam entry!
It's a typical mechanic, but the visuals were quite beautiful. Maybe to improve the feel, there could have been various effects when we fall to the ground. Well done!
I spent way longer than I thought playing this one! It speaks for itself to how much fun it is. Voted! Not much else to say other than I absolutely loved it, thank you for the fantastic game ♥
Got pulled in by the fun gif and played for a bit. Only 2 negatives I felt were the character feels a bit slidey and there are situations where you can use up a temporary platform, fall, and end up in an awkward state where you can't go further up so you have to willingly reset. Otherwise, I very much enjoyed the graphics, I like the tune, and I do like the overall idea. Game's got a lot of good juice too between the screenshaking, shaders, and text effects. Overall, very nicely done
Hey! Your concept is great. I was rubbish at Doodle Jump so I don't see how I could have scored well here :D (I didn't get over -481926). The visual universe is cleanand it works really well. The 8-bit vibe music works great too, and the difficulty is balanced enough to feel like you can go higher and do it again and again - I'm still having a bit of trouble remembering the exact distance I'm moving horizontally by clicking on the keys, despite several attempts - maybe I have a shorter movement when I press? Well done in any case, it's very accomplished!
I love the vibe and aesthetic of this game. The colors POP, the song is bangin' and the movement is good. The gameplay immediately threw me back to Doodle Jump. Sometimes the enemies were in spots that made it really hard to traverse, but overall this was a straight vibe. ++
Wow, you all seriously made our day with these comments! Huge thanks to everyone who took the time to play and share your thoughts — it really means a lot. We’re stoked that so many of you vibed with the visuals, the music, and the overall feel. Loved reading about the “one more try” moments, the flow, the fun, and even the bits of constructive feedback (we’re noting all of it!).
This was our first jam project — actually, our first game ever. Seeing it resonate like this honestly warms our hearts.
Thanks again. Drop your highscore in the comments so we can all compare!
We actually wanted to add a global leaderboard, but sadly didn’t have time during the jam. Adding it now would break the rules, so… maybe next time
Really liked the music most of all, catchy. I thought it was kinda fun, I didn't like how you only get 1 try and that the monster could instantly kill you if you got a bigger jump, no time to react. It would've been cool to have power-ups and extra lives, but perhaps that's not the type of game you want this to be.
I like the visual style - the glow is a neat effect. As for the gameplay... well, it's Doodle Jump, it's fine enough. It's well-put-together, at the very least. Good work overall :)
@beeb-gamecodecompany Yeah, I agree — the enemies turned out pretty challenging. We probably should’ve added some kind of warning sound or screen cue before you actually run into them.
Great game, really fun to replay over and over. Great to try and beat that high score and a lot of fun chaining multiple good jumps together. Great entry.
Playing this makes me feel like a kid again playing doodle jump :D The crazy part is that this game feels more professional than the actual doodle jump. Everything from gamefeel to art is super polished and there's a serious amount of progression mechanics and level design variety. The soundtrack is a banger too.
You could take this as it is, slap on tilt controls and put it on the android play store. I'd download it =)
@jona-scheidig Yeah, originally the depth started around -50,000 and was supposed to transition into positive numbers after reaching 0. The plan was to shift the game to a surface area with a bright daytime palette — kind of a payoff moment. The art for that part is actually done, but we ran out of time technically. Honestly, if we had just 30 more minutes, it probably would've made it in.
In the end, we decided to extend the depth much further down instead. I might update the game post-jam to include it, since it wasn’t possible within the jam’s time constraints — and uploading a separate version with that feature would’ve felt a bit unfair.
Reached -458280 I really like how many different platforms are there. The music doesn't get boring and both enemies and powerups are fun addition to the jumping expierience
Interesting iteration of doodle jump, i like the aesthetics and music/sfx. Orange platforms shine bright and literally asking you to jump on them despite being the ones you should'nt jump on, which is a little annoying. Obviously game is not very high on the innovation scale, but otherwise pretty fun and goodlooking
@mr-mesmer Hahaha, yeah — we actually left in the possibility to die on the start screen on purpose. Thought it’d be a fun little surprise for anyone curious enough to try moving right away
@velis69 Yeah, we definitely took inspiration from it — but we wanted to give it our own style. With procedural generation and a wider variety of platforms, we’re already shaping it into something more original. Definitely planning to keep working on it and push it further!
@euler-moises Unfortunately, there’s no proper ending yet — but something was supposed to happen once you reach 0. We talk a bit about that idea in our devlog post, if you're curious! Sadly, we didn’t manage to implement it in time for the jam.
Of course, we *could* put up a page with an updated version now — but we don’t really want to be unfair about it. Even if we’re transparent, it would still affect the ratings, and I’m pretty sure it would push the score higher. Feels more honest to wait until after the jam wraps up
What is it with simple game mechanics making for the most addicted games 😄
I had to stop myself from doing "one last try" again and again, the difficulty scales really well and the overall game is fun and satisfying, I got 3 boots in a row at some point and my brain was on fireworks lol. The music is really nice and the graphics are simple but clear which is very important for a game like this.
All in all, this is a solid game, pure addiction. My only complain is that it doesn't have an online leaderboard.
Wait this is so polished ! Animations are fluid, the pace is so good, graphisms are beautiful and music slaps ! I don't know what to say it's great ! =D
The visuals are fun, despite being simple and I dig the speed of resets! :D The game says GOGOGO! My score is too embarrassing to post, so I won't XD But good entry!
Really nice game, I love how much variety you were able to get into such a simple concept. It feels super satisfying hitting a mushroom or getting the rocket boots. Only complaint is that I got softlocked a couple times where there just wasn't a platform high enough to reach, but that was very rare. I could 100% see this as a real game on the app store! Here's my score:
@nuin wow you really get very high score. Not even sure if can beat it myself haha. I really thought i fixed the problem with unreachable platform. Played a bit and did't catch it for in like 10-15 sessions. Okay, thanks, i'll check it again. Also you a the leader of the table now. Congrats!
immortal mechanics, which everyone has already played, but the graphic execution is the best I've ever come across! the picture quality is the only thing for which you can forgive the lack of any twists in the game play
Cute game! It's simple, but I was pleasantly surprised as it kept introducing new mechanics. The jump shoes were super fun! The glowy pixel art aesthetic was also pretty cool, and the music was an absolute banger. All in all, a very solid little game! Nice work.
The game is fun! The pixel aesthetic is swell, I actually think that was this game released in the coin-op arcades era you guys would have made a fortune! Simple and addictive. The pixel aesthetic works super duper well and it sells exactly the action it should.
Also it gets trippy as soon as the music starts to shift. Last long enough and get ready for the surprise!
Bloody well done. Really addicting and fun. Don't have anything much more to say honestly. It's short and sweet, replayable and simple to learn. The perfect game jam game.
Reminds me of good ol' Doodle jump =) Pixel art graphics were pretty good! The reverse approach on the depth is kind of cheap, but I'll allow it haha!
I'm not sure I'm getting the point of the orange/red platforms, are they just there to try to screw you by making you forget you can't use them? In that case, that's cruel 😄!
@510 If we break it down to the basics — yeah, they’re there for that purpose. But really, they’re meant to create an extra layer of danger. Because if you only leave the enemies, it ends up being way too easy.
What surprises me is how many people say they don’t like the red platforms — that really caught me off guard, since similar ones were in Doodle and no one seemed to mind back then.
A fun homage to Doodle Jump! I loved the graphics and sound design, and while I wasn't good enough to get very far, I _really wanted_ to keep going to see what lies at depth 0...
At first I thought "Oh, did he seriously just take the Doodle Jump mechanic?" But after playing longer, I felt SOMETHING. There's definitely game design here! Good, responsive controls make you think that the previous fall was just a fluke and creates a desire to play again.
The music is upbeat and doesn't get annoying (!) even though I heard the beginning of this track too many times... It works great for the atmosphere!
IMO - I don't think any additional buttons besides the spacebar were needed here (I'm talking about R for reload). And I wish the breakable platforms gave something when destroyed. Right now they just provide a "coolness" factor when you manage to fly through them and land on a platform. But they could definitely be something that players might decide to risk going for.
@nnmbzr Thank you so much for such a detailed review — really appreciate it! The feedback is super helpful, and that idea with the breakable platforms is actually great — we’ll definitely give it some serious thought.
I'm not very good at games like this, but this is definitely one of the "one more round!" titles :D Great job with graphics and audio, music was super fun! My only feedback is to maybe move the "best" sign to the wall, because in the midst of the game I was sure it's something I can jump on and I died to it :D
Cool game! The art and sound are really awesome. The enemies look great. The air control felt a bit lacking. The character’s inertia is a bit frustrating. Although I guess it’s done to make the game more challenging =) Great job!
Bad combination, i believe - procedural generation & punishment for mistakes which are requiring high accuracy, and, in case with procedural generation, luck yet. It is not the best solution.
@oeuegha Thanks for the thoughtful feedback! You're totally right that procedural generation + precision mechanics is a risky combo — and yeah, sometimes luck plays a bigger role than intended. I’ll definitely be thinking about how to reduce that friction if I keep working on the project. Didn't have much time to balance it perfectly. Appreciate you taking the time to point it out!
@flinge It's not dead idea at all. If you want to develop this project further, I'd recommend u to see the Rogue Legacy 2 (it's not the genre like ur game, ofc, but there is some similar platformer's segments with gud solutions). Hope, it'll be some useful for u.
@outstar That’s actually a great tip — thanks! I’ve heard of Rogue Legacy 2 but never looked into its platforming side specifically. I’ll check it out for sure
Awesome entry. Impeccable visuals, and very well complimented by audio. It was a good choice to have powerups boosting you up also give you temporary invulnerability. I think I'd actually make enemies a bit less deadly still - by reducing their hurtbox, or giving the player a couple of lives. Anyway, here's my best attempt
Comments108
I was especially impressed by the start screen, the explosion is super epic :)
Excellently polished tower climb game, great jam entry!
Otherwise, I very much enjoyed the graphics, I like the tune, and I do like the overall idea. Game's got a lot of good juice too between the screenshaking, shaders, and text effects. Overall, very nicely done
This was our first jam project — actually, our first game ever. Seeing it resonate like this honestly warms our hearts.
Thanks again. Drop your highscore in the comments so we can all compare!
We actually wanted to add a global leaderboard, but sadly didn’t have time during the jam. Adding it now would break the rules, so… maybe next time
Its fun and well done, and I love the music !
We probably should’ve added some kind of warning sound or screen cue before you actually run into them.
Very juicy, cool. I like it.
Now I do wonder, if there's anything at 0.
Does it just continue to +1?
Anyways, the movement is really clean and there's alot of work to make it feel as polished and fair as possible.
Also, the 8-bit tune is a banger, love it!
The crazy part is that this game feels more professional than the actual doodle jump. Everything from gamefeel to art is super polished and there's a serious amount of progression mechanics and level design variety. The soundtrack is a banger too.
You could take this as it is, slap on tilt controls and put it on the android play store. I'd download it =)
Yeah, originally the depth started around -50,000 and was supposed to transition into positive numbers after reaching 0. The plan was to shift the game to a surface area with a bright daytime palette — kind of a payoff moment. The art for that part is actually done, but we ran out of time technically. Honestly, if we had just 30 more minutes, it probably would've made it in.
In the end, we decided to extend the depth much further down instead. I might update the game post-jam to include it, since it wasn’t possible within the jam’s time constraints — and uploading a separate version with that feature would’ve felt a bit unfair.
I really like how many different platforms are there. The music doesn't get boring and both enemies and powerups are fun addition to the jumping expierience
Your art is beautiful! And your music is WOW. It makes me want to dance. I'm pretty bad at this kind of game, so I didn't get very far.
Is there an end or not?
Congratulations!
Thought it’d be a fun little surprise for anyone curious enough to try moving right away
The post: https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/57/cave-escape/development-process-cave-escape-from-darkness-to-light-that-never-came
Of course, we *could* put up a page with an updated version now — but we don’t really want to be unfair about it.
Even if we’re transparent, it would still affect the ratings, and I’m pretty sure it would push the score higher.
Feels more honest to wait until after the jam wraps up
I had to stop myself from doing "one last try" again and again, the difficulty scales really well and the overall game is fun and satisfying, I got 3 boots in a row at some point and my brain was on fireworks lol. The music is really nice and the graphics are simple but clear which is very important for a game like this.
All in all, this is a solid game, pure addiction. My only complain is that it doesn't have an online leaderboard.
BTW, my best was -477034
Also it gets trippy as soon as the music starts to shift. Last long enough and get ready for the surprise!
https://ibb.co/tMd38QSS
-453138 with proof image. Fun game!
Sans titre.png
I'm not sure I'm getting the point of the orange/red platforms, are they just there to try to screw you by making you forget you can't use them? In that case, that's cruel 😄!
What surprises me is how many people say they don’t like the red platforms — that really caught me off guard, since similar ones were in Doodle and no one seemed to mind back then.
The music is upbeat and doesn't get annoying (!) even though I heard the beginning of this track too many times... It works great for the atmosphere!
IMO - I don't think any additional buttons besides the spacebar were needed here (I'm talking about R for reload). And I wish the breakable platforms gave something when destroyed. Right now they just provide a "coolness" factor when you manage to fly through them and land on a platform. But they could definitely be something that players might decide to risk going for.
The feedback is super helpful, and that idea with the breakable platforms is actually great — we’ll definitely give it some serious thought.
Great job!
You're totally right that procedural generation + precision mechanics is a risky combo — and yeah, sometimes luck plays a bigger role than intended. I’ll definitely be thinking about how to reduce that friction if I keep working on the project. Didn't have much time to balance it perfectly. Appreciate you taking the time to point it out!
I especially love the visuals - Everything is super readable, super clean, and super vibe-y