This is my submission for the 2024 Luanti Game Jam. Enjoy! :-)
Plot
After years of experimentation, the Cult of Oculon has finally managed to open the portal to the Realm of Eyes, where floating eyeballs, both good and evil, live.
You’re the Chosen One. You must venture deep into the Realm of Eyes to uncover its deepest secrets.
This realm is governed by one simple rule: The Unseen are lost. Only those who are seen by the eyeballs will be able to move on.
Objective / Gameplay
You start in the headquarters of the cult. Stand on the magic portal in the main hall to enter the Realm of Eyes. The eyeballs are your friends … well, most of them.
From now on, you have to be seen by at least one friendly eyeball at all times. As long you are seen, you are safe. However, if not, then the Thing will snatch you!
The objective is to find and stand on the portal in each location.
On-screen indicators
The counter at the bottom of the screen shows how many eyeballs are seeing you right now.
If you’re not seen by the friendly eyeballs, a danger bar will appear that rapidly fills up. Once it’s full, you will be taken by the Thing and you have to try the level again.
Hard, a little devious, but an absolutely solid experience
The atmosphere, the worldbuilding and the mechanics are on point. Seriously impressive. The mechanics themselves are super fun, because they're predictable yet varied and challenging. The music is good, the atmosphere is great, you feel like you want to know more about the world just by being in it. The difficulty is probably a little high overall, but it's much better than most would do for a puzzle game and that is commendable. There were some visual bugs and a soft lock or two, but other than that it was (so far, I got stuck) a super solid experience.
Mild spoilers: The dark sphere level is absolutely cruel and unusual punishment. Like, that's just... ouch. I got stuck on the tower unfortunately, and couldnt find a way to activate the eyes on the top floor, so I gave up.
Enchanting puzzle, but way overboard on the creepypasta
This is a super difficult puzzle (at least it was for me), the beginning levels are easy to train you, and then it gets harder from there - fast. The final levels are combinations of mazes, parkour, and discovery, all while making sure you don't get out of range of a good eye. You have infinite time and lives to complete a puzzle, so you just need to figure out the path and combination of buttons that will get you to the portal. Look around everywhere for hints and be very cautious - if you're quick about it, you can make a move forward and then backward to 'see' if you can proceed any further, without resetting. In some cases it's just quicker and easier to run around like a madman though, especially near the beginning of a puzzle. I really like the concept of this game, the last level with the tower was my favorite.
However, I think this game went too overboard on the creepypasta element: it's a lot like the backrooms in several levels, and the writing on the walls in various levels appear to be written in blood. Most rooms are very dark and combined with the music and the eyes, it's completely terrifying. It's flagged as "Gore" which I definitely think is appropriate but this still caught me by surprise. If that's your thing, this game is for you, I guess, but I turned off my music and adjusted my contrast to try to alleviate the mood immediately. Awesome puzzle though, recommended if you're not affected by creepypasta.
My Review
A nice puzzle game with unique game mechanics, the game is a little bit long, which can be a good thing. some of the puzzles were a bit tough, (I had to cheat with /grantme for 1-2 of the levels) Overall a great game of great quality.
Delightfully creepy puzzle, a real classic from Wuzzy.
Wuzzy's style shows through every facet of this puzzling game, which makes it all the more fun. Creepy, intense and realaxing all at the same time. The perfect puzzle to keep you up at night...