itch.io

Thank you very much for such kind words! Yep, I'm treating this game as a prototype and build upon it by adding levels and new game mechanics, while fixing pre-existing issues.

I just recently added a new lock & Key idea, whereupon exits are locked and players need to find the key for the exit, which may be on a different layer from player. The mechanic at play here is of spitting out the consumed goldfish, so as to lose weight and float upwards (if the exit is in any layer above the key).

I will keep building and making it as a better playable (even replayable) experience as possible. :)

Hey there JulytheMonth (cool alias, by the way)! I have just uploaded an updated version of the game with fixes that (hopefully) translate well through itch. Plus, a brand new lock & Key mechanic and 3 new short levels. If you get time, do check it out. I'd truly appreciate it. 

Hey there Ham! I have just uploaded an updated version of the game with fixes that (hopefully) translate well through itch. Plus, a brand new lock & Key mechanic and 3 new short levels. If you get time, do check it out. I'd truly appreciate it. 

Hey there Standby123! I have just uploaded an updated version of the game with fixes that (hopefully) translate well through itch. Plus, a brand new lock & Key mechanic and 3 new short levels. If you get time, do check it out. I'd truly appreciate it. 

Hey there DarkSamAki! I have just uploaded an updated version of the game with fixes that (hopefully) translate well through itch. Plus, a brand new lock & Key mechanic and 3 new short levels. If you get time, do check it out. I'd truly appreciate it. 

Hey there Collider! I have just uploaded an updated version of the game with fixes that (hopefully) translate well through itch. Plus, a brand new lock & Key mechanic and 3 new short levels. If you get time, do check it out. I'd truly appreciate it. 

cool concept. 

And gameplay is sensible too. Great job

I don't know what else to do.
Here's a gameplay footage I recorded from itch page for LinkedIn. The goldfishes are only half your speed, so that you struggle to catch up to them, but you ONLY need 1 goldfish to sink anyway.

Besides, the goldfishes need to move, else if there's a piranha underneath you while you consume a goldfish, you may land on piranha.
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I failed to explain that which is my fault, but the core gameplay loop works exactly as i intend, on my end at least

I'm a huge fan of roguelikes and so I HAD to try this one out.

I must say, the graphics are some of the best ones I've noticed so far. And the rogue-like structure does seem to have healthy bones, signifying that it's quantifiable if you guys keep working on it. The core loop for the the rogue mechanic, however, is a tad...uptight in a way. But the idea itself is awesome, you just need some quality control for the core loop.

Yes, the missing wall colliders is on me entirely. I forgot to implement them in the final build. My bad, really.

But sucking goldfish in didn't work? I play the game after every comment I read, to verify the mentioned issues (yeah, sorry about missing audio cues, btw) but that always worked for me.

Could you, please, try just once, getting close to a goldfish and using S-key for suctioning? The goldfishes also try swimming away from you when you get close.

If it works for you this time, then I am pretty sure the problem is with lacking UX that explains the mechanic fully. Like, having fishes light up when they are within action range.

thank you for playing, btw. I really appreciate it.

Oh My God, Thank you so very much for this! I kept replaying the game time and again to see if there was any glitch  stopping players from collecting  fishes. But this reassures me that that main game concept is not the problem.

I do recognize a major reason why others may feel this way: I failed in explaining stuff properly. Someome UX stuff, like fishes lighting up when player is within it's range could massively have helped other understand.

Yes, you're absolutely right about the missing BGM/SFX thing. I will make sure to update the game with proper sfx and a copyright free bgm at-least.

Oh yeah, the world pausing when player turns was supposed to create a bullet-time effect like Max Payne, but the driving and srifting mechanic could be a much better fit, i agree. I'll surely experiment with that

Actually, goldfishes are scared of you, so they try swimming away from you

You need to be close to them, Then suction them with S key

You use W key ONLY to kill piranhas

I've put everything in levels itself as tutorial 🙏🏼

That's actually by design. If it were longer, it would've been less challenging for players to suck in the goldfish or drill-kill the piranhas.

It's not a fishing game. You need to gain weight to move down. It's in the initial tutorial text.
You have to suck in the goldfish by getting close to them, so as to gain weight and sink deeper or drill-kill piranhas before they kill you.

But catching any fish was not the objective of the game, as explained in tutorial.

You have to suck goldfish in with "S" and gain weight, or drill-kill piranhas with "W" before they kill them.
Gain enough weight to reach the bottom and exit is the goal.

But I do agree about your point of BGM and walls. I will keep that in mind and fix those.

Thank you for your feedback :)

Thank you so very much! 😊

Thank you!! Yes I totally agree about the missing tutorial. I'm a huge advocate of weaving tutorials with story. We were short on time so we couldn't properly implement everything.

I however am glad to hear you found the gameloop interesting! :)

We will definitely work further in refining our game. 🙏🏼

When I started the game, I wasn't sure if I'd stick around for the blocks of texts to read. Before long, I was following the hollow friend's adventure urging me the follow that Red Dot. Brilliant storytelling. My heart was appropriately warmed! 

Also, including a language select screen was an ingenious accessiblity touch. With more languages though, more people shall comfortably be able to experience it :)

We too have experimented with multiple ending story (3 endings) in our game "Digital Ash", but the story is there just to support our gameplay. Try it out, both for the story and the gameplay and provide your rating and feedback

We are planning on releasing this game officially in June 2026 on Steam, after improving upon the basic 13 day game jam build. We could really use the help of a Narrative Designer. Let me know if you're interested 👍

Thank you for your kind words 😊

Thank you so very much for your kind words!! 🙏🏼😇

Yes we definitely need to work on ways of delivering tutorial with minimal need to read the texts. Some updates have already been committed in engine, that we would release soon after judgement period.

I truly appreciate your words. Thank you very much for your feedback 🙏🏼

yeah, we shall have the game updated as soon as the judgement period ends. We are really glad you tried the game. Thank you so very much ☺️

Please do update the game, I certainly wanna know what the box password is so that I can open it!!

I'm following you here in itch :)

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Also, of you get time, please do check our game Digital Ash out. Even we need to work on UX/UI, but we have tried employing an innovative 3x3 control scheme (Q,W,E,A,S,D,Z,X and C). Do let us know your thoughts and ratings.

Cool game, feels like a mash-up of Megaman 2 and Castlevania 3 gameplay-wise. UX could use some help, but otherwise, very comfortable to play. Good luck and keep updating the game!!

please also try our game, which has adapted an innovative new controls idea of 9x9 key grid on your keyboard (QWEASDZXC). Digital Ash

Okay, the game concept is great, and hand drawn graphics just elevate the experience. The music is awesome too!!

But you REALLY gotta put some extra time on UI/UX of the game. Add affordances, like interactable object glows when mouse is hovered over them, or (and I STRONGLY recommend this) a pulsing arrow on either side of the screen to indicate play can go around the room.

There is a great conclusion to this game, I can feel it. I just cannot reach it yet. 

thank you very much for playing the game😊

Thank you so very much!!

I know the game is rough around the edges, and Tutorials have been doing less than stellar job with explanations. But we aim to fix that with consequent updates.

Oh yeah, We actually did this on purpose!

The control scheme is QWEASDZXC

which is a 9x9 grid on your keyboard. Check keyboard right now and you'll see!

This was done so as to make sure player does not have to use 2 hands for playing the game. 

Although, we should've mentioned that in tutorials so it is on us...please do try again and let us know if the control scheme is comfortable or not. Thank you for playing our game 😊

Yeah...the assets we used are much smaller or bigger than the colliders so it's a little difficult to determine the exact ones in range 😅

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But we will surely fix that in an upcoming update.

Hey thank you for that feedback! We will surely add a button (possibly S) to skip the cutscenes so you can access the gameplay sooner.

Might even help for speedrunning.

It's reviews like these that help a game jam game grow and become better 👏🏼

Truly appreciate it 🤝🏻

Okay it's much better on Wavedash. It's pretty fun too!

okay, the concept is nice game looks awesome too. But how do i attack?? The enemy keeps bombarding me with attacks but I just can't find the attack button. The Q or C buttons don't work for attacks

What a refreshing take on core movement!! Making moves a stackable turn-based task definitely gets scores in innovation. The levels designed are perfect match for those movements too!! Good job guys!!.
by the way, we too have experimented with movement in our game Digital Ash. The whole game is controlled using 9 keys grid (QWEASDZXC). Do try it out, provide rating and let us know what you feel :)

Thank you for playing!! The point of hard resets is that you will have a better time re-playing through multiple endings when you choose that particular permanent power-up. Besides, the levels designed are smaller in size, meaning any progress lost is of not more than (upto )30 seconds worth.
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I totally agree about doing a better job explaining the mechanics. But we were grossly out of time and had to submit the game as is.
Thank you very much for playing the game. Do try again since gameplay is really short but has 3 multiple power up endings and 2 true endings.
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P.S:. We have designed the game such that only QWEASDZXC keys (9 keys in square grid) are used for the whole game.

Thank you so much for your kind words! :)

Thank you so much for your kind words!! Yes we were aiming for a little arcadey Driving vibe. From all the feedbacks we've received, we plan on fixing/modifying the game and maybe give it a proper release somewhere 👍

Thank you for taking out time and playing our game!

Yeah, this game jam has been an excellent way of playtesting our game. We have found a clear direction of making our game even fun by just noting down the issue and finding creative solutions for them. Like the braking system will now be tied to oil depletion. As in players can brake as long as they want, but it will depletes oil faster. Same goes to touching border or crashes, players loose oil instead of one-hit-kills.

Oh thank you so much! We have been aiming to Mini Motor Racing X kinda vibe, which is what you noticed aptly! 

Yeah we too had a ton of fun building the dismantling car element 😂😊

Thank you so much for playing our game! We truly appreciate it 🙏🏼😇

Thank you so very much for your kind words 🥰