Ignorance is Death
Developed for Snappy Gurus 5 day Game Jam with the theme "Ignorance is Bliss".
Credits:
BrandonN - Lead Designer & Programmer
JustLuke - Programmer
Eldritchhorror - 2D Artist
Controls:
Move - WASD/Arrows or Click Screen
Interact (Door, WIndows, Light Switch, Interactables) - E or Click Object/Lock
Force quit - Esc
Tasks:
Recommended: Use Stereo Headphones
- Listen for sound cues to locate open windows and doors easier
- Lock doors and windows to keep the monster out
- Stand underneath powered lights and interact with various objects to decrease anxiety (Computers, Kitchen Sink, Bed)
- Avoid increasing anxiety
- Don't let it get you
Story:
A boy wakes in the middle of the night to the sound of lightning. Upon opening their eyes, they spot a ghostly figure staring through the window. The boy turns the light on, and it is gone. Is he imagining things? Suddenly, a window opens in the living room. But the boy chooses to ignore it, for he is too scared to look. A decision which would prove dangerous...
Third-Party Audio Attributions:
Licenced Music
Dark Fantasy Studio (Haunted (Horror))- The attic (seamless)
The Indie Devs Nation (Colossal Game Music Collection) - RetroMusic_LastoftheBits
All other audio is sourced through the public domain on freesounds.org or produced by the team.
ChangeLog:
V1.2.0
- Full Mobile Support! Players can interact with everything by touch (keyboard still available)
- Added interaction duration bar
- UI Improvements and small visual improvements
V1.1.0
- Added the ability to move by holding the mouse cursor in the direction you want to go
- Added glow on interactable objects
- Improved audio slider UI
- Fixed audio saving
- Fixed time lasted not resetting
- Changed credits font
- Made door lock icon appear for better clarity
Download
Click download now to get access to the following files:
Development log
- V1.2.0 Released! Mobile SupportSep 14, 2022
- V1.1 Released (Fixes & Improvements)Sep 12, 2022
Comments
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I liked this small little game even though I personally think it would be better suited to a horror Jam, as the corrospondance to Ignorance is Bliss is a bit loose at best to me personally.
This gam brought me back to the days of SAS: Zombie Assault, I defo feel like this game could be further developed with additional sound such as footsteps and some better sprities/textures.
For example, the cover art for your game is really interesting but well detailed and I would of liked to of seen a more detailed/grungy aesthetic for the gam that would tie in better with that cover.
The music and overall sound design for the game is also very good, it was a tense and did make me anxious to continu playing. But their is defineitly room for it to expand too. The "Jumpscare" is particularly underwhelming and would benefit with a revisit of new sounds.
Overall I think this is a fun little experience and I hope to see expanded on. Good Luck :)
Thank you for the feedback!
The theme is explored through the player ignoring the monster to decrease their anxiety as not ignoring it meant that it increases and would cause you to fail sooner. But ignore it too much and it would find a way in. I agree it could be clearer.
The cover was done last minute by me as our artist was unavailable on the last day. I just generated a few images in midjourney and jumbled them together in photoshop with some colour adjustment and overlays so it doesn't match the game graphics. I was thinking more like the cover art for old game boxes which tended to be much more graphically detailed than the basic pixel art graphics the games had.
I didn't want jump scares to be a big part of the game so kept it toned down and wanted a more tense and suspenseful atmosphere instead, with it slowly coming to find you once inside. But I definitely could have made the final moment more of an actual jump scare.
I will see what I can come up with and release an update when the jam is over.
Appreciate your time!
Love the pixel art style of this game! Fits well with the theme of "Ignorance is bliss" since you don't wanna know what the monster is. Managing the windows and doors to keep the monster out while also monitoring your anxiety meter adds the right amount of challenge to the the gameplay, though I think adding some more effects to being at high anxiety (hallucinations, sound effects, etc.) would really make it more threatening. Overall a great Game for the jam.
The gameplay in the game is very simple, you run around the house, turn on the lights, prevent the anxiety indicator from raising and lock the windows. I see three major flaws in the implementation: You can't see where the windows are open, all the objects to relieve anxiety except for the light are not needed, since the light does not stop the player, and the third flaw is the player's paralysis when a monster enters the house. These problems are repaired like this: add a minimap, divide restlessly by several other indicators (for example, anxiety, nyctophobia and dirt on your hands), and when a monster enters your house, this vignette appears and the monster immediately attacks.
The graphics in the game are strange: the floor is in high resolution, the resolution of the furniture is two times lower, the light is round. And for some reason, the character looks at the cursor, although we do not control the cursor in the gameplay.
I don’t see any correspondence with the theme at all, except for the name, which is not like the game.
5/10
Thank you for your feedback