Further Below

by flaterectomy

Overall★★★★★★★★★★2.92

Fun★★★★★★★★★★2.55

Innovation★★★★★★★★★★2.63

Theme★★★★★★★★★★3.69

Graphics★★★★★★★★★★2.06

Audio★★★★★★★★★★3.34

Humor★★★★★★★★★★2.09

Mood★★★★★★★★★★3.58

Over a year spent in a deep sea base that's now being decommissioned, and you're the last one left. Surely the submarine that's due to arrive tomorrow will pick you up.

This is my 9th text adventure Ludum Dare entry after LD47 and LD50 through to LD56, created in Twine, and my 22nd consecutive Ludum Dare entry overall. Typo/grammar reports are always welcome.

:warning: I am hearing there are potentially some security warnings because my website is http instead of https. Apologies for that.

🎮 ➡ PLAY 'Further Below' (WEB)

---

:joystick: Controls/How To Play

* Things are pretty basic: you click on options, preferably if that option makes sense to you.
* Access audio volume options in the side-panel menu on the left.

---

:exclamation: Notes

* Created with Twine, using HAL v2.3.0., and audio made in FL Studio.

---

:family_mmb: Credits

- @flaterectomy | code, art, writing & audio | bluesky, YouTube, Spotify, Bandcamp, website, portfolio

---

:notebook_with_decorative_cover: Blog Posts

* Pre-LD: Wallpaper
* Post Mortem

---

Tools: FL Studio, Twine

Comments14

slow chaz8 Apr 2025, 18:48

wow fun to see a text game. the mood is set just right and the writing is really nice. I also appreciate how quick and smooth the new messages come in.

artemco8 Apr 2025, 18:55

Very good story, but no gameplay, good idea

frywarrior8 Apr 2025, 18:55

can't really rate the graphics, but the audio and story were really good

Stronf8 Apr 2025, 19:01

a bit complicated to navigate in the beginning (was a bit hard to track in which rooms you have been and where you have not), but the story picks up and gets more interesting in the end, so nice job!

LDJam user 3368518 Apr 2025, 19:02

Very nice and immersive experience! I did find a few minor spelling mistakes:
one one > on one.

Funky punctuation at the end.

complelled > compelled.
I really liked the colors used and the ambience as well!

LDJam user 20240810 Apr 2025, 16:22

This was surprisingly immersive for a text based experience. Your writing is pretty good I found myself imagining every scene based on your description which helped me navigate better and feel more immersed. I wish there was more to it as I feel like there are many questions left unanswered which I understand creates mystery but by the end(s) I found myself wanting more. Regardless, I had a lot of fun and I thinking you're writing skills are impressive. Good game!

Simon Rahnasto14 Apr 2025, 08:46

I love your text based adventure games, sadly I didn't play the one you made in LD56 since I had to skip that myself (though I will play it soon :smile:), but otherwise I have played all of them! This was a cool one, I really liked how you manage to build up the atmosphere so well using mainly text. There's a lot of small tricks you use to enchance the experience (like using real time in the elevator, adding new text saying "still going down" etc).

Overall a great job as always!

And yes I did have a time, a great one in fact :v:

LeReveur14 Apr 2025, 19:55

Another of these fine text adventures you have the secret for. I still love those, please, never stop! I think I've checked all the possibilities, but could have missed one. I liked the cosmic horror fealing of these one, good job!

Wuk21 Apr 2025, 20:55

Great concept but a few images or some graphics would make a big difference. I like the atmosphere though.

Knatt21 Apr 2025, 21:28

Very moody. I had a time :>

JumbocactuarX2722 Apr 2025, 01:11

Very nice! I'm always happy to see a well crafted twine game. I enjoyed playing it.

JAMESDEV22 Apr 2025, 02:00

Very cool to see a text adventure game! Loved the atmosphere

Roitchie22 Apr 2025, 20:52

Very unique take on the theme. It's been so long since I've played a text based adventure and with the music it feels quite moody and tense. Great job!

ZungryWare26 Apr 2025, 00:27

At this point it really feels like you'd rather be writing a short story than making a video game. And reading your post-mortem it seems like you came to mostly the same conclusion. The search mechanic and navigation were the only things that give the player agency. But you can't actually control the events, just unlock more of the story by searching the right rooms in the right order. I enjoyed the atmosphere and music. It matched well with the story of being left behind in an environment you know but don't fully understand.

Other games by @flaterectomy

Infestation Eradication

LD56

jam

The Summoning at River's Edge

★3.45

LD55