TetherGeist
TetherGeist
TetherGeist is a puzzle-platformer created in 48 hours for GMTK Jam 2021 following the theme "Joined Together." The Jam version received exceptionally high praise, ranking 10th (top 0.2%) based on the popular vote. Nearly a month later, the post-jam version was released with twice as many stages and many improvements to the gameplay.
Controls
| Action | Keyboard | Controller |
| Jump | Space / W / Up Arrow | B Button (bottom face) |
| Left | A / Left Arrow | Left D Pad |
| Right | D / Right Arrow | Right D Pad |
| Split / Rejoin | J | Left Shoulder / X Button (top face) |
| Restart Level | R | Start |
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Come hang out with us on Discord. Ask questions. Make fun of our game (politely).
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https://jordanottesen.com/tethergeist-email-signup
Jam Notes
"While joined with your soul, the landscape seems relatively calm, but once you separate from your soul, the land comes to life. Of course, the separation comes at a price...
We've explored this core mechanic in many ways and are admittedly pretty happy with what we've created in these last hectic 48 hours.
We've put our hearts and souls into this... and have sacrificed much sleep lol. Thank you so much for playing!
Jordan & Team"
- Artwork was created during the Jam.
- Audio was created during the Jam with some ideation rehearsed prior.
- Postmortem to follow.
Tools
- Gamemaker Studio 2
- Photoshop
- Reaper
- freesound.org
- Kenney SFX
- Google Drive
- Discord
- Zoom
Credits
- Jordan Ottesen - Development, Pixel Art, SFX, Game/Level Design
- Jeff Smith - Development, Game/Level Design
- Rae Allen - Splash Art, Pixel Art
- Noah Allen - Pixel Art
- Russell Hodges - Soundtrack https://linktr.ee/russellhodgesmusic
- Tyler Ottesen - Level Design
- Michael Ottesen - Level Design
Download
Click download now to get access to the following files:
Development log
- Speedrun-Friendly .exe Build is Here!Sep 24, 2021
- Speedrun-Friendly Update - Version 2.01Sep 24, 2021
- Speedrun Tourney!Sep 18, 2021
- The Post-Jam Version Is Here!Jul 07, 2021
- 19th overall out of 5.8K entries to GMTK 2021!Jun 23, 2021
- In fine...Jun 13, 2021
Comments
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:O:O:O
So cool! I am constantly impressed with your games! You should message me on Discord at jas#1928 if you want to work together!
Hey thank you. That means a lot coming from you specifically - your games constantly impress me! I'll definitely reach out to collaborate if a project arises that seems like a good fit! Keep crushing it my fellow dev.
Cool game! Would be fun to speed run
This is the dream comment right here. We're releasing a post-jam version in about a week with new levels and a built in timer for speedrunners.
Spekaing of speed running... we've fixed a lot of phyisics issues with this game and created 15 new stages. We're hosting a speedrun event that lasts a few more days. Come hang out with us over on Discord! https://discord.gg/UsmqjunMem
Love this game good concept !
Thank you!
This is so good! Such an innovative mechanic! This could totally be a full game!
I did experience a game breaking bug though. When I re-joined and accidentally collided into a moving platform, the game froze.
I really hope you continue working on this game after the jam!
Edit 1: I restarted the game, and this time I fell into the third gap here and never respawned lol. I'm gonna restart it a 2nd time. I really want to complete this game lol.
We're glad you like the game! Thanks for the feedback, we are definitely planning on taking this further so we can fix the issues and expand on these ideas. I hope you do end up completing it, the last level is my favorite!
As a musician, I just love the music to this game. Is it possible to download or listen to, outside the game somewhere?
Talk to our musician! https://rusty-fishburger.itch.io/
Thanks so much Standupmackan! I'll probably upload the full track to my Soundcloud very soon.
Cool! Good luck in the GMTK Jam to all of you, but I'll stay tuned (hehe...) for the music, then!
Here's the full soundtrack - thanks again for playing and for your feedback!
It is really good and sets the mood so well. Thank you!
Incredible how many levels of this great looking game there are! Smashing submission and the perfect representation of the theme. Loved it. Beautiful on all fronts.
Thank you so much for the kind words! We put a heavy amount of emphasis on level design when we scoped out the game.
Amazing game. Great mechanics and design. I found 2 glitches which helped me in doing the puzzles much faster and made the game a lot more enjoyable.
the bugs were:
1) if you rejoin in the blue block, you would go directly up(and through the purple blocks as well).
2)if you rejoin in the blue block whilst holding forward and keep pressing j continuously, you can go through the whole block.
Replied in the submission page. Thank you again for the great feedback! Makes such a difference in our future iterations after the Jam.
Beautiful art and great puzzle design :)
Thank you!
Now this is game I would’ve wanted to make, I wished I came up with the teleport mechanic, that was pretty smart and a lot of fun. I think the crystals we’re kinda weird, once you run out of crystal the player just gets completely halted in an anti-climatic way. I think the fun part of the game is the adrenaline by executing moves correctly, kinda similar to games like Ori and Celeste. There is also a lot of design tweaks and improvements you can do. Overall, really like the game!
Thank you for the kind words and thoughtful feedback! I totally get your point about the anti-climactic moment when you run out of crystals. Might make more sense to have a death sequence initiate there... Certainly a lot of fun work ahead of us for the post-jam version! And thank you for comparing us to games as great as Ori and Celeste. That is honestly one of the highest complements we could ask for lol.
Very fun gameplay! Later levels have a great amount of challenge.
Thank you!
Just finished and it's great!
Any chance of this turning into a bigger game?
Thank you! Very big chance yes.. :)
Nice, so, I was wondering, whether you're on twitter, beceause we do #FreewareMonday picks each week and I already featured your older games... and well TetherGeist just minutes ago :)
https://twitter.com/IsThereAnyDeal/status/1407061331308695553
Hey, I'm honored to have made your list! I'm not on Twitter. Thinking it's probably a good idea to make an account eventually lol... I just don't want another profile to have to keep track of lol. If all else fails, feel free to just point people to my itch profile page jottesen.itch.io