This is a fun entry. It makes me want to dive into the point-and-click genre (no pun intended!). I managed to solve the code on my own, but I needed some help for the last moment, as indicated in one of my other comments. One gripe I had is, I didn't really understand how SPOILERS: stabbing the whale in the eye yielded the matches. But that's a relatively minor gripe. I always say a little sound goes a long way, and you accomplished that here with the superb selection of underwater ambiance. Great work!
Viewing post in Escape the Whale jam comments
Thanks a lot! The background track was literally a last minute addition (and I mean literally literally). Wish we had had a little more time to add more sound effects.
The matches are a bit of a stretch, I admit. The story is meant a little differently, though: You are actually a person stuck inside an anglerfish stuck inside a whale. When you use the knife, you cut yourself out of the anglerfish. And apparently you had some matches with you that you can now use.
(We did want it to be a little absurd :D)
If you want to check out more point and click games, this one was heavily inspired by the Rusty Lake series, which also has a cartoonish style and macarbre humor. Definitely worth checking out if you dig this kind of game!