ECHOLOCATION

Designed and created by Dwight Davis

Itch.io Page
Full Design Documentation

OVERVIEW

Echolocation is an experimental, level-based puzzle game about navigating spaces using only your sense of hearing. Blindly explore grid-based, top-down levels and listen closely for sound effects that tell you whether you’ve moved or hit an obstacle. You can also use drawing tools to mark your path as you go.

DETAILS

  • Team: Dwight Davis (solo developer)
  • Genre: Puzzle game
  • Development Timeline: Aug 2-4, 2019 (made for the GMTK Game Jam 2019)
  • Software: Clickteam Fusion (engine & art), FL Studio (sound)

GAME MECHANICS

Movement
The main mechanic of this game is top-down, grid-based movement. Players are tasked with keeping track of their invisible character’s location by pressing the WASD keys and listening for audio feedback. If the player hears a swish sound, their character has successfully moved in the direction they intended. If they hear a thud sound, their character has hit a wall and cannot move that way.

Goal
The goal of each level is to navigate from the starting block to the goal. As players track their movement, they must thoroughly explore every possible direction in order to find the correct path. If a player gets lost, they can press the reset button to restart the level.

Hazards, Doors, and Timers
As the game progresses, later levels introduce new mechanics. Some levels have hazards which create an explosion noise and send the character back to the starting block. Some levels have a locked door which must be unlocked by finding its corresponding button. If the door is locked, it will make a low “duh duh” sound, barring your entry. The button tile will make a high-pitched “buh-ding” sound when it’s stepped on, to indicate that the door is now unlocked. An unlocked door will make a short jingle when you cross its threshold, indicating that you’ve passed through successfully. Sometimes a button works on a timer and only unlocks the door for a few seconds, meaning the player must quickly travel the fastest route to the door.

CORE GAME LOOP

  1. The player is presented with a new level.
  2. They take stock of their starting location and the location of the goal.
  3. They press an arrow key and listen for a sound effect to indicate what type of tile lies in that direction.
  4. They potentially draw a tile on the map corresponding to their position and the sound they heard.
  5. They repeat steps 3 and 4 until they come across a challenge, such as a locked door, a hazard, or a dead end.
  6. They continue to repeat steps 3 and 4, exploring the scene for previously-undiscovered pathways and tiles.
  7. They discover a new tile or route, complete the challenge, and reach the goal.


POSTMORTEM

The Good
  • Difficulty Curve — I’ve noticed that game jam puzzle games often have frustrating difficulty curves. It’s very easy for a developer to look at their list of mechanics and puzzle ideas and translate each one into a level. This usually results in 5-10 challenging levels, each one presenting a new idea or an outside-the-box solution. However, developers often forget to add in tutorial levels throughout whose sole purpose is to introduce and teach new mechanics. I feel like this game effectively introduces and teaches new mechanics before issuing difficult challenges.
  • Concept — The skill of tracking an invisible character isn’t one which hasn’t been taught by any other games (that I’m aware of). I’ve seen many players who were excited to try out a novel experience and learn a new way of thinking. Although it would be difficult to scale this type of “blind exploration” gameplay into a full-release title, it thrives in short, experimental form like this.
  • Playtesting — The first version of Echolocation had a timer which required players to complete levels under extreme time pressure. A failed timer would boot the player back to the main menu. This version also didn’t have a reset button, so if the player got lost they had no way of getting unstuck. After releasing the game and receiving player feedback, I reworked the game to eliminate timers and introduce a reset button. This playtest feedback made the game far more enjoyable.

The Bad
  • No “Reset Position” Button — If a player is lost, they can press the reset button. However, doing so erases their entire map. I wish I had implemented a “reset position” button, which teleported you back to the starting tile without deleting your map.
  • Timer Buttons — To open a locked door, you must find its corresponding button. However, certain buttons only unlock the door for a limited amount of time. This leads to time pressure and frantic button-mashing. Button-mashing feels antithetical to a relaxed, thoughtful puzzle game like this. I wish, instead of introducing a timed mechanic like this, I had introduced a more appropriate mechanic so that I could add more interesting levels (such as teleporter tiles, pushable tiles, or crumbling tiles).
  • Cursor Readability — The cursor is the same shade of white as the tiles you draw. Therefore, after you’ve already drawn a tile, it’s hard to see if your cursor is on top of it. Since moving your cursor is the easiest way to track your position, I wish I had done something to give it greater contrast with the tiles so that you could more easily track your location overtop your map.

Summary
This game succeeds at introducing players to novel concepts through levels that offer reasonable levels of challenge. The original design was somewhat rough, but playtester feedback helped transform this game into a more fun experience. With small tweaks to the game’s interface and the removal of time-based mechanics, this game could easily be expanded out into an extremely original and enjoyable puzzle game.