00:00
00:00
Newgrounds Background Image Theme

ShadowZ900 just joined the crew!

We need you on the team, too.

Support Newgrounds and get tons of perks for just $2.99!

Create a Free Account and then..

Become a Supporter!

Wanderer

Share Collapse

Author Comments

My game for NG Game Jam 10. (51 hours)
The theme was "The Unknown".

Travel in the realm while staying under the cover of darkness. Collect all 13 squares to get the good ending.

20/07/14 - Update 4 : Improved/changed the text on the good ending screen to fit in line with the rest of the "plot" and theme.
----------------------------------
Update 3 : Fixed a bug on the ending screen that showed the wrong colored background for the sad ending if you had gotten the good ending previously. (Thanks to Viwrinn)
----------------------------------
Update 2 : (Made the game easier to play) Shadow decays slower. Your square has a bit larger hitbox, and its sprite now reflects it visually (black part of square).
----------------------------------
Update : Game completed! There are 2 different endings. You get the good ending by collecting all (13) white rotating squares.

Log in / sign up to vote & review!

This game made me shout like a crazy man. Especially the last level being very hard - you have to guess your path - . The story is small, and resembles just a philosophic thought. You need more to be able to take on this theme.. like a story with characters. The song fits the story but the game is a piece from another puzzle trying to forcely mix with them. The only element of the game itself that fits the theme is the darkness.

Shortly: Too much emotion (story+song) for a little game.
Some reference: Take example from 08jackt, who is amazing at dramatizing the most profitables areas of his games. (Alula Falling 5 ending, and Chronicle Bulletin). Sorry if I'm driving your fans away. ;) Your work is still very good for your level.

*Sorry for typos, if they are.

onnig90 responds:

Thanks for the review. The game was made for a 2 day game jam, so I did the best I could with my abilities within that time frame. I wanted it to be much longer and elaborate, but I started running out of time, so I had to cut it short.

Good god, this is amazing.
The art's simple, but insanely effective.
Same goes for gameplay.
The story's wonderful.

God this is what all flash games should be.

I didn't read the story most of the time because it's so easy to miss and forget about it.

Well I officially hate you. I got the bad ending and was compelled to try for the good ending. The last stage was the trickiest because once I figured out how to get to the white square, getting back seemed to be more challenging. After a few tries I did it, only to receive a simple message "Good Ending." I was hoping for something a bit more, aligned with the games ambiguous, melodramatic message.

I like the concept and it was hard to steady my mouse hand while moving quickly with my keyboard hand and that's great. I'm not sure what the message was supposed to be other than "conquer your fear." I wondered if you had something to say or if the solemn messages were just an excuse to turn a simple game into an artistic one.

Regardless of your motivations, I don't feel the theme of quiet reflection went with this game style. For a sequel, I would like to see something more upbeat or techno-quirky with more puzzle elements. Perhaps your mouse controls become inverted for some stages or the light draws in twice as fast. Maybe there are monsters on the field that can only be destroyed via the darkness or a different color of light?

I would also like to see a different character than just a block and a grid system that is more exact so I can tell exactly where I can and cannot go.

onnig90 responds:

I will admit that the message for the good ending was poor and somewhat out of place when compared to rest of the "story". I changed it now, so hopefully it's a bit better. Not sure if you were expecting something bigger or fancier though. The message that I was attempting to convey was more about looking deeper within and rooting out the causes of your suffering so that you may start working on them in order to heal.

I built the game with the poetry in mind from the ground up, so the mechanics, scenery, etc of the game have a close tie with the message. Whether or not that was well executed, I'll let you guys be the judge of that.

Nothing concrete planned for a sequel, but the ideas are rolling in. I had considered adding "monsters" and different colors, but I want to do it in a way that doesn't break away too much from the essence of the game, so it will be tricky.

Hopefully, you hate me a little bit less now. :)

Very cool game, thougth maybe a little hard to control.. Good job anyway..! (:

Credits & Info

Views
14,702
Faves:
28
Votes
28
Score
3.90 / 5.00

Uploaded
Jul 13, 2014
8:59 PM EDT