Hikikomori

****UPDATED 8/18/2023 (1.3)****

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This is Hikikomori.

Hikikomori, in Japanese, is a severe form of social withdrawl for someone who may go days, weeks or months without social interaction. This is a game about someone who finally finds themselves completely alone - and where it leads them.

The goal of each level is simple. Reach the gate.

The game's graphics are only pure black and white. Taking an artistic approach, you may flip the world's colors to find new platforms and threats and passages. Experience a story that is minimal yet vast and ultimately personal, told in 27 haiku plus three lone words.

A soundtrack of synthesized hellscapes by the Amazing Doctor Tentacles grows more layered as the game progresses. Headphones highly recommended. All sounds made from found objects. Good luck.

Game autosaves at every level load and respawn. "Continue" will be available on the open screen when you need a break if this is not your first time launching the title. 

INSTALLATION AND LAUNCHING:

This game may be played in a desktop browser using the window. Fullscreen plays well. If downloading for Windows, please extract the .exe and .pck to the same folder before running. This game supports mobile controls on iOS and Android, larger screens for mobile recommended. This game defaults and is built to play in landscape format.

Reload the page if having trouble with launch on mobile.

CONTROLS:

This game supports keyboard controls with inputs on both WASD and the arrow keys. You may also use the mouse to interact with the pause menu. Xbox and Playstation controls are also supported, as well as mobile touch screens.

KEYBOARD CONTROLS:

• LEFT ARROW or A - Move left
• RIGHT ARROW or D - Move right
• UP ARROW or W - Jump. Control landing with left and right while jumping and falling.
• DOWN ARROW OR S - Roll. Move with left and right controls. Stuns enemies while in motion.
• SPACE/ENTER - Flip the world. You can only flip when your flip total (top right) is not empty.
• ESC - Resets the level to the start. Can be used anytime and happens automatically on death.
• Q - Pause game and pull up quit menu. And yes it moves too. In the Quit Menu, press Enter to quit and exit or ESC to unpause and return to game.
• Tip: Using A and D to move and Up and Down for jump and roll is highly recommended, but optional.

XBOX/PLAYSTATION CONTROLLER MAPPING (UPDATED):

• D-PAD LEFT , LEFT ANALOG LEFT - Move left
• D-PAD RIGHT, LEFT ANALOG RIGHT - Move left
• Y/TRIANGLE - Jump. Use left analog stick or D-pad to aim rise and control fall.
• X/SQUARE- Roll. Use left analog stick or D-pad to move while rolling. Stuns enemies when in motion.
• A/CROSS/SHOULDER BUTTONS - Flip the world. You can only flip when your flip total (top right) is not empty.
• B/CIRCLE - Resets the level to the start. Can be used anytime and happens automatically on death.
• Start Button - Quit Menu open and pause game. In the Quit Menu, pressA/CROSS to quit and exit or B/CIRCLE to unpause and return to game.
• Tip: You may use a controller anytime during play by connecting it to the computer, with proper drivers installed of course.

MOBILE CONTROL LAYOUT (UPDATED):

BOTTOM LEFT UI:

• LEFT ARROW: Move Left.
• RIGHT ARROW: Move right.

BOTTOM RIGHT UI:

• ROLLING (Bottom Icon, Rolling Character): Roll. Use left and right arrows to move while rolling. Stuns enemies when in motion.
• JUMPING (Top Icon, Jumping Character): Jump. Use left and right arrows to aim jump and control landing.
• FLIP (Left Icon, Flip Symbol): Flip the world. You can only flip when your flip total (top right) is not empty.

TOP UI (LEFT and RIGHT):

• RESET (Spinning Icon, Top Right): Resets the level to the start. Can be used anytime and happens automatically on death.
• QUIT (Two Lines, Top Left): Quit Menu open and pause game. Press YES to quit and exit game or NO to unpause and return to game.

OTHER TECHNIQUES and TIPS:

Roll Drop - Roll at the end of a ledge to drop safely.

Roll Jump - You can use the momentum from rolling to cross small holes and some larger gaps. You can also defy gravity (albeit briefly) in this state.

Roll Cancel - Pressing up in the middle of a roll cancels it. This is good for when you need to roll to a precise area or you need to follow up with a jump.

Static Platforms - Look for platforms surrounded in an extra outline. These are STATIC and stay there no matter if the world is light or dark. Use these when planning routes through a level.

Kuroshiro Lamps - These lamps switch the world from black to white without using a Flip. Some, with a plus (+) sign, will actually give you flips! Watch for these but be careful - sometimes these can be traps if not in the right state. Once triggered, lamps do not reset until you've left their area (about 2x-3x their sprite size).

Platform Lift - If you make a platform appear as you jump onto it, it may give you extra momentum for jumps if timed correctly.

Wormholes - Spinning portals that transfer a player along with their momentum. Remember this before entering as it affects how you come out the other side.

Stunning Enemies - Roll into enemies to stun them. Your roll movement stops when hitting them, sending them a good distance away. Watch out if they wake up! Lasers and spikes kill enemies permanently.

Enemies as Platforms - When an enemy is impaled on spikes and upside down, they do not damage the player and can be used as a platform - provided you don't touch the spikes yourself.

Orbit and Release - Later in the game, you will discover round platforms that you rotate around upon getting close. You can escape these anytime using any direction. Note: if you escape while on top of them, you can make a jump off them if needed.

Spikes - Yeah. These kill you.

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This game was initially made for the Dallas Society of Play "Pompous Trash 2" game jam.

societyofplay.net

To wit its theme:

POMPOUS TRASH: The game takes the fully pompous minimalist artist route, attempting to use as little as possible with the most primitive elements - two colors, only hand drawings and limiting text to haiku or shorter. The game was given a “trashy” hand-drawn look for unstable looking sprites to make it look extra unsettling. The game also originally had trashy physics. We'll pretend that was an artistic decision.

MODIFIERS:
FLUXUS: In honor of Dick Higgins, who made music so primitive that one song is him screaming for several minutes, we went as primitive as possible with all graphics and text hand drawn and using only two colors. Also note a story limited to haiku.

BUTTS: A community chosen theme. Yes it's in there. But you must embrace the end. Pun intended.

BLOOD SACRIFICE: Alas, big/small features, a pinball-style flipper and a spring board did not make it to the final product.