You Cannot Go Back! (Playdate)
A downloadable game
You Cannot Go Back is a quick-to-play adventure game which will test your memory, skill, and reflexes. It's available here on itch and on Panic's Catalog.
Can you make it through all three levels of the dungeon alive, and escape with the treasure? Or will a nasty fate befall you?
Just remember dungeoneer - the only way is onwards; you cannot go back!
Version 1 (May 2022) is available for free and Version 2 (September 2023) for $3 on Catalog and for any payment amount on itch. Version 2 includes five more chambers, re-balancing, and a global high scores table (high scores are a Catalog exclusive feature).
Game features:
- Quick to play: each game lasts less than 5 minutes
- Random three-level dungeons of up to 36 chambers total
- Three-button control scheme: Up, Down, or Straight On (there is no Back button!)
- Music & effects
- Playable in both Landscape or Portrait modes
- 15 (Version 1) or 20 (Version 2) different chamber types with increased difficulty at higher levels, including
- Puzzle Chambers
- Action Chambers
- Memory Recall Chambers
- Challenges short-term recall
- With up to 5 clues to remember at any one time
- Any one of which may be needed to proceed
Need some help to finish the game? Check out the walkthrough on the wiki!
Also consider checking out my other game for Playdate: Factory Farming
Asset credits:
- Pebble release promotional Art: Frank Martinez Jr.
- Top down dungeon tileset by Buch
- Gold treasure by Clint Bellanger
- Powers icons by Clint Bellanger
- Blocky animated classic hero by Umz
- Dead forest pixel art by deepglowing
- Stone wall by William.Thompsonj
- Spike Ball by Julien
- 8bit Dungeon Boss by Kevin MacLeod
- 8bit Dungeon Level by Kevin MacLeod
- Buzzsaw Addiction by AaronGNP
- 8-Bit Sound Effects Library by LittleRobotSoundFactory
- Fuse by soundslikewillem
- Walk down stairs by qubodup
- Bell by kgeshev
- Blackwood Castle
Download
Click download now to get access to the following files:
Development log
- Version 2.0 and Catalog ReleaseOct 01, 2023
- Version 1.1 for Playdate OS 2.0Jun 13, 2023
Comments
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I didn't realize there was a paid 2.0 version after downloading months ago. The game concept is charming but I wouldn't be able to justify $3 without more animation and effects work. Overall there's a lot of polish I'd like to see so that this stands out as a game I show my friends on a new Playdate
Hey, your project seems very cool, are you per chance in lookout for a musician ? I'd love to offer my services !
I still play this occasionally on my Pebble. Great to see it on the Playdate!
Great job in keeping a Pebble going in 2022! I did not manage to keep mine going beyond 19ish...
Check out rebble.io if you still have it, they're keeping the Pebble going.
On simulator (mac , v1.12.3) I get an immediate error with "no such function 'update'" in the console
Hello ninovanhooff, the simulator build was compiled on Ubuntu Linux. It will not work on Mac or Windows I am afraid.
Allright, I'll play it some time on ubuntu then.
Might be a good idea to mention it in the description for those who have not received their playdate yetI see you did. Sorry about missing that info
I imagine you should be able to get this game compiling for Windows in a very similar way to the build.bat pull request for Factory Farming.
This is a very clever take on puzzle games and RPGs while also utilizing the PlayDate's unique features. Awesome job -- this is a top 10 sideload PlayDate game all PlayDate owners should have IMO!!
Good game.
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Previous comment regarding a now resolved bug:
I played two runs this morning, they both ended in the system crashing. I was in a room that was empty except for a central (down) stairwell. (All I could do was press down. It was a later room.) And it crashed with my standing in the stairwell. Maybe the recent updated messed with something?
Hello brogarrett, thank you very much for the report. Yes, there seems to be an issue with the recently pushed 1.12.1 Playdate update, notably a bug in the audio system which is causing some games to crash - this one included. The good thing is that Panic look to already know what the issue is, and are working on fixing it for 1.12.2 (https://twitter.com/cabel/status/1545053944086286337) - Tim
Playdate's 1.12.2 update is now out, the audio crash bug should now be fixed!
This is, in my eyes, the best itch io playdate game. I love the features in the game, the setting, the gameplay,... oh man... superb.
Good Job :)
Fantastically addictive little game, who knew Warioware and Knightmare made such good bedfellows? I'd happily pay a premium for a version with more rooms/features.
This game is EPIC! You should add a price to it! Even if just $0.99!! Can’t wait for some additional floors.
Weirdly kinda reminds me of The Cube haha
Thanks jordan for posting your playthrough - it was fascinating to watch how you tackled the various chambers. I may make some small adjustments in the future based on your experiences here. Hope you managed to figure out the solution to the final room, you got lucky that time ;)
This has become my most-played game for the past few days. Such an excellent concept and very well done! It feels like something that Edmund McMillen would’ve worked on.
Very cool game. Reminds me sorta of warioware. I agree with seacreek about the portrait mode too. Would love to see an update adding more puzzles/floors. A floor counter highscore based mode would be interesting.
Thanks for the suggestions - adding new rooms is quite easy on the technical side, I just need some good new ideas of what to populate them with. And I am thinking about adding a 4th level to the dungeon, with even harder versions of all the rooms!
Great little game! really enjoy having a portrait example. I think maybe the first portrait mode PD game.