Spell Escape
(Note: You might have to click on the game when you start playing to make sure it has focus!)
Recent updates: Sound effects were added, and your progress should now be saved! Let me know if you find any bugs.
Made for the Thinky Puzzle Game Jam 6. This is a version that has been updated post-jam. The original game jam release can be found on this page with password: gamejam
FAQ/Hints: (hints can be deciphered via rot13.com)
- Why aren't my keyboard inputs doing anything?
- Try clicking on the game screen.
- I think I've figured out a spell but's not doing anything?
- First of all, you have to be in a position where the spell is usable to cast it. Otherwise it won't do anything.
- If you are still sure it should be working, you can double check that you have the correct word via the hint system on the notes screen. I tried to choose less common words so they are harder to guess, so it's possible you are thinking of the wrong word!
- There's a suspicious object but I'm not sure what to do with it?
- Have you inspected it with the interact key (space)? Sometimes that will give you a clue.
- I have found and solved 3 notes, but where do I go now?
- First hint: Gurer fubhyq or n ebbz va bar bs gur rneyl sybbef gung lbh unira'g npprffrq lrg. Vairfgvtngr gung.
- Second hint: Gur ebbz vf ba sybbe frira.
- Third hint: Unir lbh shyyl rkcyberq gur fgnegvat ebbz?
- Solution: Va gur obggbz evtug pryy va ebbz rvtug, syvat gur pengr vagb gur oneery gb erirny n ubyr qbja gb sybbe frira.
- I have found and solved 8 notes, but where do I go now?
- First hint: Ol abj lbh unir yrnearq gung fbzr fcryyf unir zhygvcyr hfrf. Gurer vf cebonoyl fbzrjurer ryfr lbh unira'g gubhtug gb hfr bar bs gurz lrg.
- Second hint: Lbh zvtug unir gb hfr n qvssrerag fcryy ba fbzrguvat svefg.
- Third hint: Vairfgvtngr sybbe svsgrra.
- Solution: Pbatrny gur jngre naq gur jngresnyy, gura hfr cvpx gb oernx guebhtu gur sebmra jngresnyy.
- I have found and solved 9 notes and collected nearly everything I can see, but I still can't figure out how to get to the first floor?
- First hint: Lbh pna'g trg gb sybbe bar sebz sybbe gjb. Gurer zhfg or n qvssrerag jnl gb npprff vg.
- Second hint: Fbzrgvzrf lbh arrq gb cnl nggragvba gb zber guna whfg jung vf *ba* rnpu sybbe.
- Third hint: Vf gurer n sybbe zvffvat fbzrjurer?
- Fourth hint: Sybbe guvegrra vf zvffvat.
- Fifth hint: Trggvat gb sybbe guvegrra erdhverf n fvzvyne gevpx gb gur abgr lbh sbhaq ba svsgrra.
- Solution: Ba sybbe sbhegrra, pbatrny gur jngre naq yrnc npebff gur fcvxrf. Pbatrny gur jngre gung vf sybjvat vagb gur ubyr, naq qvfcynpr bofgnpyrf fb gung lbh pna cvpx vg gb erirny gur ubyr qbja gb sybbe guvegrra.
- I have found and solved 10 notes and seem to have collected everything, but what do I do now?
- First hint: Qvq pnfgvat gur ynfg fcryy erirny nalguvat gb lbh?
- Second hint: Gur fgnss tnir lbh gur cbjre gb hfr qhcyvpngr yrggref. Vf gurer nalguvat lbh pna qb jvgu guvf gb trg bhg?
- Third hint: Vs lbh jnaqre nebhaq rabhtu, vg znl pbzr gb lbh.
- Solution: Nsgre pnfgvat gur rvtugu fcryy naq jnyxvat nebhaq rabhtu, n svany abgr jvyy nccrne.
Comments
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All right, glad I came back to this. :-) There's a lot of cleverness in it. I still don't love the guess-the-spell-name mechanic (I'd be fine if it just told me that the spell I found was called "levitate" rather than making me go through a few hint presses), but since it's not much of an obstacle, it's easy enough to focus on the very good parts.
That was so charming, I enjoyed this immensely
Really really great game
Great game, hate how I didn’t think of those words and I love the cool mechanic of the spell’s meanings…
Really neat game! I got a bit stumped after a while but I enjoyed what I played. it's a very fun feeling getting a new spell and going back to previous rooms to get to where you couldn't get before.
This is a really awesome game, though even though I got all ten notes I just cannot figure out what to do on floors 3 and 5.
Thank you!
I think I know what you're stuck on. Here are a few hints to help you get sorted out:
I could have sworn I used that spell everywhere I could, but I suppose it just slipped past me. Glad to have gotten to beat such a fun and interesting game!
Just finished playing ! Wow ! Didn't expect such a good game ! :D
The mechanics are very cool, i truly had fun !! it was difficult at times, but i liked the challenge ! i have to say, i struggled a lot with the holes and yvtugra !
anyway, thanks for making this game (and without AI ! YEY) !!!!!
Thanks so much! I'm glad you enjoyed it!
If you don't mind, could you rot13 the spell name you mentioned so nobody gets accidently spoiled. Thank you!
Ooh yeah sorry haha :)
I think I may come back when it's been updated. I'm interested to see how it all works, but with three spells I'm not sure where I'm going next.
And...guessing the spells may be kind of a lot. I thought the ambiguity of the second spell was interesting--I know I'm not the only person who tried [rot13] "whzc" first, and I liked the little challenge of figuring out the right word, but for the third spell there were just too many options: I thought it was "fyvqr", and then tried "tyvqr", and even after hints for all but the first letter I was trying "fyvat".
I plan to be back though!
Yes I found the guessing hard, too. But with the hint method it wasn't blocking. good compromise.
Oh, certainly the hint method lets you work around it, but it's a basic flaw in a puzzle if the only way to get the answer is to ask for hints (or, in this case, to more or less literally spell out the answer).
maybe the puzzle you solve is realizing you have to use the hint ;-)
point taken, tho.
Fair enough. I wanted the words to not be immediately obvious because if you see water and can just type "swim" then it's not much of a puzzle. It's certainly possible that I overcompensated and made the words too hard to deduce. It's tough for me to tell how difficult the puzzles are when I'm the one making them, and since it was for a game jam I didn't have much time for playtesting. Maybe I could have a difficulty option that changes the amount of letters you get by default. I also think it's fair to say that if anyone don't feel like the "deduce the words from the notes" aspect is working for them, they can just use hints to skip it since that is only one piece of the puzzle, there is still plenty more to do.
I may also need to write a little hint guide to provide some nudges to a few points of the game because I believe you are likely at what will be a common sticking point. I'm not exactly sure how to indicate what to do in game any better without making it too obvious. Who knew designing puzzles was so hard, eh?
I picked up the 2nd spell page and I'm 99% sure I know what the spell is, but when I type it nothing happens. is there a screen I have to guess on first?
You just have to be in a position where the spell is usable when you enter it. It is possible you aren't entering the correct word - it may not be the first thing that comes to mind. I tried to make them not too easy to guess. You can use hints when looking at the note page to reveal extra letters to make sure.
ahh I see. the first one was embarrassingly hard to guess, but the 2nd one seemed obvious. maybe it wasn't. or maybe I can't use the skill everywhere that I want to. seems a little unfair that there's no feedback.
yeah I was guessing the word wrong.
other note: I keep on getting my arrow keys locked in the typing area. And am I correct there's no save/restore?
Yes, didn't have time to figure out a way to save.
What do you mean your arrow keys are locked in the typing area? The arrow keys and space for move/interact should be completely separate from typing and enter. The cursor is shown when you can type, but you should be able to move around normally as well.
I mean the typing area gets activated (even if empty) and then the arrow keys move my cursor (or not, as there's nothing there to move around) instead of me.
The cursor doesn't interact with the arrow keys, it's just a blinking sprite I added to indicate that you could type text into that field. There is no way for arrow keys to affect it, they only handle player movement. But if you can't move, then that is a problem. Are any of the keys working? Did the game lose focus? I found it was finnicky on itch and I had to click on the game before it would register any of my keystrokes. But I've yet to have it only work with some of them but not others.