Shadowy Monster Land

Press 'H' for in-game instructions.

My first game jam. It's been intense, but great fun. Definitely doing it again!

Didn't get as much done as I wanted - biggest disappointment is that I didn't have time to make any proper levels - I spent too long implementing mechanics which are then barely used...

Try to get through each level without being eaten by monsters.  Monsters are attracted to you, but strongly repelled by light - use this to evade them!

Here's the story (also in-game, with helpful graphics):
Because you had NOTHING else to do, you've randomly found yourself in Shadowy MonsterLand.

You START WITH NOTHING.
If you enable Dark Mode (over on the right), you will be able to see almost NOTHING.

On each level, you need to find the exit.

If you are lucky, you'll find a torch. Press 'T' to turn it on and off, Up/Down arrows to focus the beam between short and wide and long and narrow. Legend speaks of spare batteries...

Beware of Monsters, and don't fall into any Volcano Pits!

Monsters mostly sleep. But they will wake if you get too close, or if any light shines on them.

Some blocks can be pushed, and some have lights on top, for some reason.
If you stand next to one of these, Up/Down can be use to focus the beam (like the torch), and Left/Right can be used to aim the beam.  Unlike the torch, these don't use batteries. (Since you asked, they are powered by zero-point energy extracted from nothing. That's right, they START WITH NOTHING.)
Oh, yes, and hold SPACE to drag them!

A solo effort, all my own work apart from graphics - which are taken from the following great libraries - thank you!
https://opengameart.org/content/dungeon-crawl-32x32-tiles
https://opengameart.org/content/dungeon-crawl-32x32-tiles-supplemental
https://jasonlab.itch.io/seamless-real-texture-pack
https://opengameart.org/content/rotating-orbs
https://vectorpixelstar.itch.io/food
https://arcadiaxdev.itch.io/chonkly-pixel-font