Monster Lake

by ghost-in-the-toast

co-authored: @conduit

Overall★★★★★★★★★★4.08

Fun★★★★★★★★★★4.11

Innovation★★★★★★★★★★3.32

Theme★★★★★★★★★★3.77

Graphics★★★★★★★★★★4.03

Audio★★★★★★★★★★4.03

Humor★★★★★★★★★★3.92

Mood★★★★★★★★★★4.00

Welcome to Monster Lake!

You are an East London native who spent their formative years in Australia named Jim living out your days in Monster Lake, Alaska. Your life goal is to collect fish in order to become the best fisherman.

But there's dark secrets in them waters...
Can you collect them all?

CONTROLS

- Cast your lure with Space Bar
- Reel your lure as well with Space Bar
- Use the mouse to interact with the game UI
- Wiggle your lure left and right with A/D or Left and Right arrow keys
- Drop your lure faster with S or the Down arrow key

TIPS

- The tackle box is where you'll find all of your purchased lures, be sure to check them out!
- Click the hint button next to the tackle box for specific information on how to play.
- Talk to the Shopkeeper for important (and sometimes not) information!
- Visit the Shop and come back to the lake after the Sun begins to set to change music.
- The lake closes at midnight so be sure to reel in those last minute fish after nightfall!
- Be careful not to snag your lure under anything or else you're have to recast!

CREDITS

Programming/Artwork - Avery Ruth (GhostintheToast)

Voice of Jim - Scott Roberts

Music/SFX/Voice of Shopkeeper - Conduit

Thank you for playing our game!

Comments35

bearcage7 Oct 2025, 06:31

I had a fun time with this one! The cursor moves a little quick for me to track it (I might've had an easier time with a slower cursor and proportionally smaller target areas), but once I got the hang of the timing I was able to make steady progress each day. I kept trying to fish up the trash on the seafloor, too, might be a cute way to hide an easter-egg or two :-)

rhewid7 Oct 2025, 11:58

Very cute game, loved the graphics. The reeling was very fun. The bait would be cool if it was use based but nevertheless had lots of fun. Was also cool to get the letters and get some backstory told. Great entry!

Wakobu7 Oct 2025, 12:20

The game is really addictive! The musics and graphics are cool, and the gameplay is well built. I catched the 2 yellow fishes :smile:

Antarktis7 Oct 2025, 12:32

cooooolll

AQtun7 Oct 2025, 13:28

Very well made game! Everything fits together and it's very easy to understand.
The only thing I found slightly annoying is that end of the day pulls you out of the fishing mini-game and stops you from catching a fish.
Also, I have to ask, is this made in a custom engine?

Conduit8 Oct 2025, 21:56

@bearcage thanks for playing! There is a way to catch the garbage btw! :smirk:

Conduit8 Oct 2025, 21:57

@aqtun LOL I had the same issue when I was playtesting. It was made in GameMaker!

Conduit8 Oct 2025, 21:57

@wakobu I hope you liked the boss music! :sunglasses:

T C9 Oct 2025, 00:18

Nice game! I played all the way through, even tried to catch all the *things* in one day to make sure it didn't trigger some kind of ending. I like the game and mechanics, and the bit of worldbuilding with the paper was a fun time. Good stuff!

zircon1239 Oct 2025, 00:43

Amazing, is there a way to win? Is the orange fish the monster?

Albinobat9 Oct 2025, 01:28

Really fun combination of strategy and skill! feels really satisfying to get those harder catches and the voice acting is super charming

seel9 Oct 2025, 01:40

Ah, nothing like pond scum in the morning. This was an extremely enjoyable game with music that had no right going as hard as it did. I did come across a bug, by opening the shop it would reset the fish sandwich (with a slice of cheese too) and allow the player to cheese money gain. Additionally it seems opening the shop resets the timer on time passing, I sat at 10PM for a long time. Outside of that hiccup this was a fantastic game and I really enjoyed playing it!

einfach9 Oct 2025, 04:41

game is really fun，well done@@@

ryusui9 Oct 2025, 05:13

Caught the big yellow guy at the bottom of the lake. A little disappointed there doesn't seem to be a proper ending condition. Very, very, *very* polished overall - also a huge fan of how the fish sprites seem to be based off the ones in Link's Awakening.

That said, I don't know if it's a bit or a genuine mistake but "lure's" shouldn't have an apostrophe in it, and I'm not sure how you turned "maneuverability" into "manvervability" ^_^;

starduster9 Oct 2025, 05:37

Great game! The boss music was fantastic. Fishing up the notes and the fish sandwich was great. I wish there was a collection screen so I could see what fish and incriminating items I fished up.

TheParticularPixel9 Oct 2025, 09:59

i had fun with this one! really like the music and the pixel art is great too. the notes was a nice addition. quality little fishing game, nice jam!

Eugenik9 Oct 2025, 14:16

Nice entry with great graphics

ghost-in-the-toastauthor9 Oct 2025, 14:21

@ryusui Aha! I'm terrible at spelling...
Nice catch on the inspiration for the fish too btw ;p

ghost-in-the-toastauthor9 Oct 2025, 14:25

@starduster I really wanted to add that, but unfortunately we ran out of time :(

ghost-in-the-toastauthor9 Oct 2025, 14:27

@zircon123 Yeah your main goal is to catch the yellow fish (the monster), unfortunately there's no "win state", we ran out of time to add one. I spent most of it polishing the heck out of the game to make it as fun as possible to play. To that end, we had to cut a few things.

LDJam user 4104929 Oct 2025, 20:53

Spent a lot of time playing this one, great job!

Archaeognathus9 Oct 2025, 20:56

Very polished and a lot of playtime for a jam game :o
Kept me busy for 40 minutes, chilling and catching fish, until I saw the big one *when the doom music hits* xD
I caught the tape recording, and you get a comment (great voice acting btw) that you need something to play it. I saw the radio at the end, but I could not catch it :( Is this a bug or did I do something wrong?

Conduit10 Oct 2025, 00:03

@archarognathus it isn't a bug, it is possible to play the tape! You have to look around to find the way to play it, I won't say more as to not spoil :p

ghost-in-the-toastauthor10 Oct 2025, 05:04

@archaeognathus Hmmm I wonder if there's a way to get that cassette to the radio...

magnapanther10 Oct 2025, 05:54

played this one a bunch, it's a lot of fun! awesome job i really liked this entry :)

WilloXs10 Oct 2025, 13:24

The game loop worked really well on its own, with all the upgrades being worthwhile and the little "sidequests" are also a great addition. Though im not a fan of rotated pixel art - it didn't bother me in this case as it didn't feel like it clashes with the artstyle overall. Also the shopkeep has an awesome look.

My only critiques really are that after all that attention to detail and quality, the missing ending really catches (pun hehe) you off guard (i didn't have time for an ending either xP) and that the collectibles respawn (which slightly annoys the completionist in me).

Finally i wanna really commend you for putting yourself out there with the voice acting! Its so rough and clunky but that's what makes it so charming. And i actually burst when i heard the fishing song (looping it afterwards was also definitely a bold choice xD) - for sure the funniest moment for me this LD so far.

Archaeognathus11 Oct 2025, 07:48

@ghost-in-the-toast & @conduit Woooow, I did not think that far, but I tried it now! Next great hit xD
Thanks for the hint ;)

Euler Moises11 Oct 2025, 12:56

What cute pixel art. I really liked it.
Definitely a game to play on a rainy afternoon with a delicious, warm cup of coffee.
To sum up your game in one word: cozy.

Congratulations!

Loulou12 Oct 2025, 14:54

I really love this game ! The art and the audio it's very good

Samuli13 Oct 2025, 18:04

Very fishy game.

drikdrok14 Oct 2025, 02:49

AMAZING entry!! This is genuinely a solid fishing game, and the fact that it's Ludum Dare entry is so awesome! Love the graphics and the audio, bravo!

Energon14 Oct 2025, 04:29

Very catchy game, want to spend time in here and look for more secrets.
Sound and voice acting is cool as well.

Fun bug - when you 'catch' fish or item, it goes directly to you, and if you fail when fish/item in the wall, they stuck here)
I guess that's why everything respawns during next day)

An1s15 Oct 2025, 16:25

A quite complete game, the gameplay makes me feel very comfortable, and the fishing feature is always really fun！

xpoho16 Oct 2025, 08:43

Very addictive gave with a great visual style! Also thanks for resolution change, it helps me a lot. Too bad there is no ending, but but despite this this is a really good game ^_^

NBumgardner22 Oct 2025, 02:50

The mood from art style, audio, and backstory ties well together. The fishing mini-game was hard at first, but since the timing movement is always the same speed I got better at it in maybe a dozen minutes. Given more time, I think trying to open the shop should close the tackle box screen, instead of needing to manually close it the tackle box first.

Some of the Easter eggs made me laugh out loud, so I'd say it was a good time.

Other games by @ghost-in-the-toast

★3.55

★3.72

★4.10