The Broken Ceiling

Short, fairly easy adventure game with a darkness=death mechanic. It's easy to avoid death if you're cautious and reasonably good at navigation. It's a good mini cosmic horror scenario. Would recommend to people who've never read Lovecraft as an introduction to the genre.

In my heart of hearts, I am an ambiance kiddo. Sound design is an extremely important part of any form of media, but especially in video games, and -especially- in horror. And while this gem doesn’t have any jump scares, it perfectly encapsulates the unnerving, creeping fear and discomfort that is cosmic horror. Pair that with some stellar art, and you have an extremely enjoyable experience. It’s short, but so sweet for any horror enthusiasts out there, and a fantastic diversion for those with a weaker stomach as well. As an added bonus, they don't completely hold your hand during game play, and there are multiple endings, so there’s replayability there too. A perfect game to snuggle into with a cup of tea on a dark winter night. And let's be honesty; ultimately, I, too, am just a leetle creechur wandering scared through the dark unknown trying to find my way back into the light.

top down hand drawn game about wandering around a map to find items with a light source that needs recharged at the middle crystal HUB about every 15-20 seconds (gets longer as you find upgrades as the game progresses), art styles really good, general gameplays a little simplistic but still decent fun, a bit much of the wandering around looking for things as you can easily miss stuff when your light source is nearly gone, Overall would recommend this and the art especially deserves some notice.

'The Broken Ceiling' is a short 2D eldritch exploration game that can be played through in a single ~1h session. On its strong side, it manages to create more tension than I anticipated. A core mechanic is [spoiler]managing your lantern fuel. Let it burn down, and you succumb to madness. Failing is heavily sentenced with restarting the game all over. This two-edged, controverse mechanic works for this particular game due to its short length. There are many roguelikes where a single run takes more time.[/spoiler] The artstyle has a big recognition factor and stays consistently on a high, and very creative level. The small viewing distance pairs well with the huge amount of unique assets that keeps your surroundings fresh at all times. Together with [spoiler]the limited lantern fuel, which forces you to stay near safe spots and keeps you from wandering to far off[/spoiler] it made me long to explore the whole cave all the more, while keeping me on edge, even without [spoiler]any enemies present[/spoiler]. For more curious players, it offers some replayability through [spoiler]multiple endings[/spoiler], so, there is some room for experimentation. The weakest part is without doubt its missing sound design. All you can hear is the background music. Echoing steps and some omnious ambient noises would have made for a much denser atmosphere that would have immersed me drastically more. Besides the [spoiler]latern fuel[/spoiler] mechanic, the remainder of the gameplay loop is rather basic and consists mostly out of collecting items. Overall the positives outweigh the negatives, not by much, but enough to justify a positive review without remorse. The missing sound design inflicts a heavy toll on the enjoyment that is as harsh as it would have been avoidable.

It's.. okay. The story is interesting. The art is fantastic. Love the look of the game. Gonna give it another go later and see if I can collect everything and make it though! For the price, I'd say it's worth it. The only downside is that the game not saving really takes away from the experience and makes playing through again feel a bit like a chore.

The art is Awesome! I also really enjoyed the light mechanic.

The art is exceptional, the character charming, and its easy to sit back and let yourself get lost in this world. So many rich little details, very clearly a labor of love! The tone is spot on, and the world and writing has that right feel for eldritch horror. Turn out the lights, put on some headphones, and enjoy.

I love the art! the love craftian creatures were genuinely terrifying. Very cool!