Escape the gorge, explore the complex.
Welcome to The Gorge
Trapped deep within a shadowy ravine
With a thin line of sight to the outside world
Will you escape?
Survive the depths and corners
Find hidden secrets
Gather the pieces you need to escape
Will you make it out in time?
Good luck, adventurer
The Gorge awaits your courage and wit
This game was made for the 2025 game jam. More to come, a long, long todo list.....
Disclaimer: 🔗
This game is uncompleted, we have a list of things that we want to implement. Currently there is no real gameplay but a good amount of the systems are in place for future development. with what is already their you kinda get the basic gist of the gameplay loop. (ther was even a robot that was meant to be ingame, model made.. but did not have time to implement it.)
It is story based so a good amount of the time was spent coming up with the story and making sense of it all. Then getting references for the theme/genre.. Creating the assets... Then planning the map layout... Creating the map.. and smashing the keyboard till code was produced.
Initially super polished, then not much
I was very happy to hear some music in the main menu and even more to see an intro with text fading in and out. Fog was a nice touch (even if looking up breaks the magic) and the drag mechanic alongside its UI was frankly astonishing. Then, unfortunately, the game started losing its grip: I was able to break a few nodes (ferns, mushrooms, pipes) and I wasn't sure if it was supposed to be a gameplay mechanic. Then when I found myself breaking steel bars with bare hands (inside the cave), I guessed that wasn't supposed to happen. Puzzles aren't that clear (I've got a radiation suit and the tape, now what?) and they can lead to frustration. Also the music disappears after a short while, which I think it's a pity.
In short, it was a great start but I think the quality goes down as the game progresses
What can I say, it's not finished yet
I saw the disclaimer in the description, so take this as suggestion not critique.
Most of my time playing was spent in digging up pieces of the facility. I was really confused how the lights and power system operated with the cables and pipes stripped.
Other than that I really liked the aesthetic of the facility (the textures in the gorge really undersell your game I think). I really liked the dragging and interaction, pulling the chair up so I could climb to the second level was absolutely genius level design.
I hope you manage to make this into a real game!
Unsatisfying because the end is missing
(DISCLAIMER: This review was written for the game jam version of the game, written by a participant.)
The plot and setting of this game is great, especially for a game jam. You have dropped into a hole, and must find out. This is small and simple enough to write a little mini adventure game for and initially the game does deliver on that promise.
Unfortunately, this game is very incomplete, you only get to discover the early part of level design and can interact with a few things, but you can never escape The Gorge. Except you can, actually because you can break random blocks (like pipes) and just nerdpole out of the map. :D (this is probably a bug)
I like the mechanic where you can drag furniture to solve puzzles. Future adventure games can and should STEAL this idea. :D
The interpretation of the theme "Line of Sight" feels kinda forced here. The game justifies it with that you can "see" outside the gorge. Yeah …
For a post-jam version of the game I recommend to fix the obvious bugs (like all the breakable blocks) and the very least add a level exit door, (unless you actually plan to make the world more complex anyway). Even if the game ends up very short, having some closure will make it so much more satisfying.
Meh
The initial playscape was well designed, but then after I escaped the gorge, there was just a void. Not sure if I was meant to break a bunch of pipes to stack them and get out of the gorge, but I saw no instructions other than to escape, which I did. I would have expected something to say I completed the game???
As far as the game jam, I don't understand how this tied into a line of sight theme.
Dragging!! But very soon over :]
This game has a cool feature, where you can drag items around.
That's about it. I guess at some point the game informs you that you have found an invisible HazMat suit, so, yay? I couldn't join in 5.11, so I had to update to 5.14 to play. The first world I made, I dragged the pipes underneath some stairs and couldn't get them out again, and I'm still not sure what exactly I did to get the battery working. The dragging is unecessary for anything other than chairs; I could break the gate to an unfinished section of the world; and I still wasn't certain what exactly I was supposed to be doing (looking for "items?"). The developers said they intend to improve this further, so I look forward to that, but for this years game jam, how does this have anything to do with "line of sight?"
Scores rate how good different aspects of the game are.
Effects is mostly how the game looks/feels. If a game doesn’t have good-looking textures, particle effects, or architecture that is actually plot-relevant, it can get a low Effects score.
Gameplay involves how good, fun, interesting or effective the gameplay is. If a game doesn’t have well-designed puzzles that are something a gamer actually feels they can figure out with obvious end results, it can get a low Gameplay score.
Plot, of course, is how good the plot is, how well it fits with the game itself, and whether it is actually interesting for players. If a game doesn’t have an obvious plot or goals, it can get a low Plot score.
Theme is how the game feels and is laid out. If a game doesn’t feel right, doesn't have a theme that fits its plot or gameplay, or is too bland, it can get a low Theme score.
Game Jam Theme is how well the game fits the theme set (this year is "line of sight")
All of these are rated out of ten (#/10), and the final result will combine all these scores out of fifty (#/50).
Effects: 7/10
Gameplay: 7/10
Plot: 5/10
Theme: 8/10
Game Jam Theme: 1/10
Overall: 28/50 🔗