How does your game fit the theme?
The 9th Wave is built around a natural, unbreakable loop — the rhythm of the sea. Waves in the game come in repeating cycles. Each one follows the last, growing stronger over time. This mirrors an old maritime idea: that waves arrive in sets, with the ninth being the largest and most destructive. The crab, in its quiet determination, builds a tower between those cycles, knowing that whatever progress it makes could be wiped away when the loop completes. In The 9th Wave, the loop isn’t just a mechanic — it’s the nature of the world.

(Optional) Please credit all assets you've used
See itch page for full credits.

The 9th Wave

One night, a little hermit crab looked up and saw the moon. It decided the moon would be its new shell — distant, quiet, and untouched. So it started building. Piece by piece, it stacked whatever the ocean left behind: driftwood, coral, broken glass.
The sea can be generous. It delivers strange, useful things to the shore. But it also takes. The waves come in loops — steady, growing, always returning. Each one stronger than the last, until the ninth wave erases all that was created.


The 9th Wave is a stylized puzzle platformer about building toward something impossible before nature takes it away. Your goal is to help the crab construct its fragile tower fast enough to reach the moon — before the wave crashes down and wipes the structure clean.
It’s a quiet story about persistence, timing, and how long you can hold onto something before it slips back into the sea.

Tags: #Puzzle #Colorful #Platformer #stylized

Submitted for: GMTK Game Jam 2025
Theme: “Loop”


Controls:
AD – Move
Space – Jump
Left Click - Grab an item
ESC – Menu


Made by:
Game Design: Mykola Ihnatenko
Management: Amaliya Parkhimovich


Lead programmer: Juliusz Trochimczuk
Programmer: Ivan Havrylenko
Programmer: Mark Matveyenka


Lead artist: Yan Rybchynskyi
Artist: Karolina Rybchynska
Artist: Biana Rybchynska
Artist: Rafael Moroz


Music: Mykola Ihnatenko
Sound design: Amaliya Parkhimovich


Sound Effects:

* small waves river 2 PM 220428_0340 by klankbeeld -- https://freesound.org/s/739336/ -- License: Attribution 4.0
* Waves at Shetland Islands 3.wav by straget -- https://freesound.org/s/434615/ -- License: Attribution 4.0
* Steps_Fine_Snow_Or_Sand_Gentle_17 by BlondPanda -- https://freesound.org/s/778536/ -- License: Creative Commons 0
* Button Click 1.wav by Mellau -- https://freesound.org/s/506054/ -- License: Attribution NonCommercial 4.0
* Bouncy Squelch.wav by duckduckpony -- https://freesound.org/s/130510/ -- License: Attribution 4.0
* Cartoon Explosion (designed on cassette tape lol) by modusmogulus -- https://freesound.org/s/784205/ -- License: Creative Commons 0

(Optional) What would you like to be called if GMTK features your game?
Beautifuls and Amazings