明暗法「chiaroscuro」

No matter how deep the darkness becomes, you'll always be able to find a light to guide your way out of its expanse.

This game is made as an entry for the Simplicity Game Jam 2 with the theme of 「light and shadow」.

Controls & Gameplay

* Move your cursor to turn around. *

Gameplay is divided between two distinct periods:
光 LIGHT 「calm」 and 暗 DARK 「anomaly」

光 CALM 光

A period of light and life. Rescue souls during this period to recover your health and prepare for the next...

暗 ANOMALY 暗

A period of darkness and uncertainty. Use your torch to ward off the darkness and keep monsters at bay. Be aware of your surroundings and keep on going!

Tips & Other Info

• During testing, Firefox seems to perform worse when playing the web build on the same machine. If you don't want to use a native build, and have access to a Chromium-based browser, please try running it there.

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• One cycle lasts for approximately one full IRL minute. The calm period being the shorter of the two.
• Souls will shift forms between the calm and anomalous periods, so try to take note of where they are to put yourself in a more advantageous position.
• In later cycles, shadow monsters will begin making an appearance during the anomaly period.
  • Unlike regular souls, shadow monsters will always come with some extra tricks up their sleeves. Figuring out their weakness is key to defeating them.
  • Unlike souls, shadow monsters can only exist during the anomaly. Those that still remain will be destroyed during the transition to the calm period.
    
• Try to move to clearer paths when things start to get crowded. highly-populated areas will almost make it impossible to avoid accidental contact damage with souls.
• The best way to collect points is by rescuing souls, and banishing shadow monsters.

Credits

All assets have been custom-made for this project!

Pixelorama 

Since it can't be listed under 'Tools'

SGM Sound Font 

Used for all BGM tracks and some SFX.

Noto CJK

Font used for the UI.

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How to Survive the Anomaly: A Short Guide

If you're having trouble surviving the anomalous period, this section provides tips to help you deal with some of the potentially troublesome hazards in the game. 

Feel free to skip this if you want to figure things out by yourself!

Swimmers

Starting on Cycle 3, these 'diving' souls will start making an appearance. They are faster than the regular souls from earlier, and will tail you relentlessly, preventing certain directions from being crossed safely.

They deal very little contact damage, so if you can handle their shenanigans, and spare them for the next calm period, they can provide you easy access to recovery and points!

However, if you want them to back away, just lure them for a bit in one direction then hit them with your best lighthouse impression.

Lurkers

Starting on Cycle 4, you'll encounter your first shadow monster! Unlike the creatures from before, these projectile-hurling fiends can shield themselves from your torch light, and actually fight back!

The key to victory is to simply strafe around them.

When they lower their arms, they become vulnerable to damage again. Quickly expose them to your torch light and banish them!

Starting from Cycle 6, they gain the ability to charge at you from afar. This attack is not only damaging, but will also push away (or even destroy) souls that got caught in its way. Once you hear it coming, steer clear from its trajectory as quickly as possible!

Encounters from Cycle 8+ adds a twist to its projectile pattern where it shoots a secondary set shortly after the initial burst.

From Cycle 10 onwards it will also start shooting projectiles at its sides during its charging tackle.

Aberrants

At around Cycle 5, the final soul type makes their first appearance. 

Far sturdier and mobile than the earlier soul types, these nearly-transformed shadow monsters will stalk around you in a circle, waiting for an opportunity to strike.

If an Aberrant is facing towards you that means that it may attack again soon.

For the most part, staying inside the circle allows you to damage Aberrant flocks easily while also being able to see incoming attacks.

Another thing of note, is that if an Aberrant comes into contact with another soul, it may destroy them, lessening your potential recovery options in the next calm period.

Unlike other soul types, they are not guaranteed to be rescuable, and may get destroyed during the transition like shadow monsters do.

Stalkers

These 'sneaky' shadow monsters makes their debut on Cycle 7. You probably wouldn't notice their presence at first, as they tend to hide their true forms under the guise of low-level souls.

While hiding, they will attempt to shoot at you with their ranged blade projectiles.

However, you'll probably notice very quickly that they're not very good at 'playing their part'. Besides the warped shadow, their disguise's behaviour is also very different from the normal souls.

Once its host has been banished, the Stalker will be forced to reveal itself. Be prepared to evade, as it will most likely use this opportunity to perform a 'surprise' attack. 

Fortunately, unlike Lurkers, they cannot defend against your light. Simply cycle between attacking and evading to defeat them.

Be careful, however, as they're also at their most dangerous when unmasked. When approaching them from the front, they may start a lunging bite attack. 

The bite comes in two parts, the second will always be aimed relatively at your last position.

Alternatively, it can also send out a fan of curving blades at a distance. Again, coming in two parts: the first being short-ranged blasts, while the second travels farther distances.

Starting on Cycle 10 onwards, a twist is added to their spread projectile pattern: The short-ranged blasts will now hover shortly before shooting towards your last position.

From Cycle 13+, Stalkers will now create their homing blades during their biting lunges.