Hadopelagia

by sirplop
Overall★★★★★★★★★★3.48
Fun★★★★★★★★★★2.95
Innovation★★★★★★★★★★3.38
Theme★★★★★★★★★★4.30
Graphics★★★★★★★★★★3.38
Audio★★★★★★★★★★4.30
Humor★★★★★★★★★★2.38
Mood★★★★★★★★★★3.88
A mysterious signal has been detected in the depths of the Mariana Trench. You're to go down there and find the source of it.

CONTROLS:

E for sonar

Q for lifeform scanner

WASD for movement

I wanted to focus on something not very programming-related (since that's my usual role), so I mainly focused on creating an audio-narrative experience. The game is very light on mechanics, and if I had had more time (I only spent 29 hours on this lmao), I would've greatly expanded the lifeform scanner and had proper fish AI. I hope you enjoy my first attempt at a horror game!

Comments16

Shernik20 Apr 2026, 16:01
The game is atmospheric and immersive, but I still haven't figured out if I've reached the end or just couldn't find a way on.
richjbaron
richjbaron20 Apr 2026, 19:42
We used a similar radar mechanic! That's fun.
I really liked this except for the sub is so damn slow lol. Not sure why you'd want it to be so slow... I gave up after a few minutes because I couldn't tolerate the speed lol.
The audio was awesome too
hby20 Apr 2026, 19:52
Awesome! The only thing is it's kinda unclear how big my sub is, so I keep scraping to the side sometimes. Also this little fish got lodged in the sub and I took him all the way to the end hahaha
Sirplopauthor20 Apr 2026, 22:24
The submarine might have the wrong hitbox - I updated the texture for it pretty late and I don't know if its collider updated to match. Thankfully there's no penalty for running into things!
Helagos
Helagos21 Apr 2026, 15:25
I love the atmosphere of the game ! Navigating with the sonar is very immersive.
The voice over is something i do not see a lot, but it add more to the immersion.
Well done !
Pavel Goncharov
Pavel Goncharov22 Apr 2026, 02:20
Hi! I like the sonar idea. It looks like real thing and it's definitely meets the jame gam theme goal!
cogcomp
cogcomp22 Apr 2026, 20:44
Very nice atmosphere. The graphics when showing the sonar image could not a bit of polish but are fully functional. Really great job on the audio effects. They really captured the atmosphere. Well done!
kkritselis
kkritselis24 Apr 2026, 04:43
An atmospheric prototype that leans on audio-driven atmosphere over mechanics, \strong mood and direction despite limited systems and development time. Thanks!
nikitose24 Apr 2026, 04:59
wow cool narration!!!
baknik25 Apr 2026, 21:51
Moody and great use of voice acting and sound! It was terrifying.
bentglasstube
bentglasstube25 Apr 2026, 22:00
As others have said the atmosphere of this is really well done. One complaint is that the sonar has a long cooldown without any real indicator that is shared between both types of scan. That combined with the lack of any mechanics early on mean I spent a lot of time just waiting for the cooldown to come back before proceeding. A minimap of what you have seen already would also help perhaps so you don't just feel like you are wandering aimlessly, but maybe that was the goal. In any case this was an interesting entry I spent a good amount of time on.
exofrenon25 Apr 2026, 22:04
A simple and straightforward implementation of the "Signal" theme. Well-polished and very tightly scoped for a Compo game.

Graphics are servicable, and smartly designed so that you didn't have to do a lot of drawing. I also liked the soundwork of the game, it really made you feel like you were in a submarine.
Yanato
Yanato30 Apr 2026, 02:16
To be honest, I don't like horrors, but I'm grateful there wasn't a jump scare at the end :P Great job!
auxiliarymoose
auxiliarymoose3 May 2026, 08:41
Very strong sense of underwaterness and spooky feelings. Loved the concept! Though the rate limit on pinging/observation felt a little restrictive, in the sense that you can (1) charge ahead without seeing things (without much penalty) or (2) go quite slowly without much change over a long period of time. I think this could have been remedied by either allowing more frequent pinging or by compressing the size of the level. It was also tricky to get a sense of how large the craft is and how close I can cut it to walls without colliding. In any case, very cool concept, and I especially loved the sonar returns coming from both living things and static walls, and the shadows cast by life forms. Great interpretation of the theme and execution on a novel concept!
sinemual
sinemual7 May 2026, 06:32
Great sound design! I kind of understood the controls and that the goal is to find a certain place, but the lack of a map and directions makes navigating back and forth a bit frustrating. In any case, it's a great project and fits the theme well!
LDJam user 4286408 May 2026, 13:10
The theme is applied in a really clever way. I also really liked the sonar mechanic. Overall, well done!

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