The Forest Door

Created for the Dungeon Crawler Jam 2024. Survive the forest. Is it real or a nightmare? Find the 3 relics and the Book of the Dreamer. Will you then awaken?

Controls:

move	W/A/S/D or I/J/K/L (for left handed people)
rotate	Q/E or U/O
skip turn	space
actions	1-9 (can also use mouse left click)
shoot	mouse left click
melee attack	move into enemy
search object	move into it
change volume in game	click on the radio button at the bottom
exit game	click on the icon at the top-right corner next to the in-game clock

Guide:

- To reload the gun, first equip it, then click on a bullet item.  Search tents and graves for items.  You will need a spade to get items from graves.  Searching graves will place them on the minimap (to the right of the screen).  The minimap will help you navigate the level.  Look for the 3 relics and the book.  Those items will reveal a door to the temple.  Head through it to experience one of the game's endings (there are two different ones).  

- The game really isn't scary.  There are no jump scares or anything like that.  It's more funny than scary.  Turn the volume off if you are bothered by anything horror related and you'll be fine.

- If the volume is too low or off, try adjusting it in the main menu.

- The theme of the game is Cosmic Horror.  There is plenty of that in the game, especially in the two endings.  I was also working on making the maps endless (another game jam theme), but realised it clashed with the stipulation that there be an ending (win condition).

- The game jam guidelines recommend that entries should be relatively easy to play.  The game therefore has 2 difficulty modes: easy and normal.  This way players can choose for themselves.

- Gone for a simple, minimalist pixel art in 3D style with visual effects.  It looks decent and can play well in a browser.

Full 17 minute play through, with evil ending (WARNING - video contains Spoilers):

Alternative (good) ending 2 minutes (WARNING - video contains Spoilers):

Retrospective:

- It seems that I should have marked out the grid clearly.  That way, players would have been better able to dodge enemies and know when they were about to be attacked.  Enemies only attack when you are in a neighbouring tile.

Art:

- kenney.nl, SciGho, PiiXL

Music/Sound effects:

- pixabay.com