HEARtREAD by Matt B

If you want to kill God, you have to cross all the little hells She created.

The
forest cavern is one of those hells, and I’ve got to admit… it’s a good one. Elegant! Turns out all it takes to screw us over is to shut off the lights.

It’s embarrassing, honestly. I mean, we’ve survived on goddamn
lava planets. A forest should’ve been no problem. At first, I was thinking that when we got back to our friends, I’d avoid mentioning this fiasco entirely. But… soon enough, I realized… we were never going to see our friends again.

–Dia

Escape from a Lightless World #

HEARtREAD is an audio game. Its goal is to provide a unique experience to players at all levels of visual ability. To this end, it is played on a blank screen.

Estimated play time: 30 minutes.
Note about controls: In order to turn your character, hold the left arrow key or right arrow key (rather than tapping). The game uses a slow turn speed.

Trailer #

https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/247254218&color=dcc194&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false

Credits #

Sabrina Boyd: Story | Design | Testing | Music | Acting

Julie Boyd: Music | Acting

Michelle Surka: Acting

Matt Surka: Story | Design | Writing | Programming | Sound Design

Erica Lahaie (@aurahack): Cover Art | Branding

Additional testing by Tim O’Connor and Daniel Horowitz.

Community #

2016 Figgie Award: Digital – Accessibility and Inclusion(Boston Festival of Indie Games)
Interview with Little Metal Television (@ 1:57)
Discussion thread on AudioGames.net
Let’s Play by PG13 Plays (@ 1:54:00)If you liked this game, you might also enjoy Bulwark in the City of Flesh, an audio game, video game, and radio drama.