Talisman Loop – Exploring a Ghostly Puzzle

Hi there! I'm Aruche. This time, I'm trying to make something small, easy to play and (hopefully) finishable for this year’s GMTK Game Jam 2025. This is my first time joining a Game Jam as a Solo-Dev.

Talisman Loop is a short puzzle game about a ghost trapped in an old Japanese house, caught in a mysterious time loop. The ghost is trying to escape but to do so, they must complete a ritual.  They must return to the place where they first awakened, after overcoming a series of strange spiritual obstacles.

But the house... resists.

Main Idea

You control a ghost that moves through a looping space... something like a spiritual circuit. On your path, you’ll run into puzzles that seem impossible to solve alone.

That’s where Talismans come in.

Talismans allow the ghost to bind their soul to a past version of themselves. When placed, they record your current actions like walking, stepping on switches, luring away spirits. 

Once a Talisman is placed, your ghost resets to the starting point. From there, you begin a new loop, while your past self reenacts your old path. With careful timing and planning, you’ll work together across multiple timelines to bypass doors, distract enemies, and eventually complete the ritual that breaks the loop.

Design

I'm trying hard to keep this one very small on purpose:

• Minimal 16x16 pixel art

• Set entirely inside a haunted Japanese-esque 'house' 

• One mechanic: ghost loops via Talismans

• Your only goal is to return to where you started to be freed.

This project is part experiment, part poem. I don’t know if I’ll finish in time for the jam, but I think I like the idea enough to give it a try and wanted to document the journey anyway.

Devlog?

Honestly, I'm not used to writing one. It's kind of awkward to me but I'm convincing myself that maybe nobody reads these so it's fine.. It's mainly to keep myself accountable, I think. I’m usually the type to quietly make things and never show anyone until it’s “done.” 

Thanks for reading! If I manage to get a prototype working, I’ll post another update. If not… well, I guess I’ll just haunt this page for a while longer. 👻