What happens to a dream deferred?

Does it…fester like a sore—
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
 …

Maybe it just sags
 like a heavy load.

Or does it explode?

Harlem by Langston Hughes (abridged)

It is hard to truly define what Fleshwalk: An Experience is. In Fleshwalk, the player battles enemies against the backdrop of a dreamlike (or perhaps nightmarish) world. The real-life skin of the designer's face is utilized not just as inspiration for its gameplay, but to build this world the player explores. It plays on motifs from both classic, Victorian-era horror stories as well as body horror. Fleshwalk is meant to be a short, immersive experience for the player, showcasing insecurity, visceral feelings, and what could happen when we allow our dreams to be deferred. Or, you can see for yourself, because.....

Fleshwalk: An Experience Alpha ver. 1.0 is out now!

Welcome to the land of Karmabog........

Thank you to my playtesters!

• Kira B.
• Carol Dinh
• Jack Lavin
• Lyme
• C. Myers
• CJ Paghasian
• Jack Ullery
• Members of IGDA DC

I seriously could not have done this without you all. I am eternally grateful.

If you bought the game in-person, thank you for your patience while I sort out buggy files. Make sure you redeem your codes for updates~!

Controls

• Walk: WASD
  • Moves the player forward, backward, left, or right
• Run: WASD + Shift
  • Increases player speed
• Jump: Space
  • Jumps once at a time
• Look: Mouse
  • Turning your head around the screen
• Parry: WASD + Right click
  • Dashes in the movement direction; good for dodging or moving swiftly
• 1/2: Swap blasters
  • Changes the active weapon
• Nazar Beam (1): Left click (hold)
  • Beam weapon
• Pus Shotgun (2): Left click (press)
• Burst weapon
• Backstab: Middle mouse button
  • Stab an enemy from behind and deal a lot of damage
• Interact: E
  • To interact with the environment and objects in it when prompted
• Toggle Lantern: Q
  • Turns the lantern on or off once collected
• Pause/Resume: ESC
  • Can pause and unpause the game

Photosensitivity warning: camera shakes, lazer beams, fast moving images

Known bugs:

• Nazar Beam flashes when sprinting
• Viszoth animations not synced
• Ending scene force quits

Next updates:

• Persistent save states
• Fixing difficulty scaling
• Accessible menu options
• macOS build

Licenses

Tomato squish;wet by HonorHunter via Pixabay, licensed under the Pixabay Content License

Dark Scary Movie Piano - 85bpm - Gmin by nnaudio via Freesound, licensed under CC by 4.0

Lantern by Poly by Google via Poly Pizza, licensed under CC by 3.0

Goudy Bookletter 1911 by Barry Schwartz via Google Fonts, licensed under the Open Font License 

Burning Wrath by Timothy Lyle via Dafont, licensed under the Public Domain

Eye by Minh Nguyen Tri via Poly Pizza, licensed under CC by 3.0, modified by the developer

Swing Set by Poly by Google via Poly Pizza, licensed under CC by 3.0

Licensing note: Every asset used, including ones made or modified by myself, are licensed under the Creative Commons, either via their original license or CC BY-SA 4.0, except for the skin texture. As that is my own face, I do not feel comfortable with it being used elsewhere, commercially or non-commercially. Likewise, narrative and design concepts are licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. My spaghetti code is licensed under GPL v3.0 and will be available via GitHub upon full release.

Fleshwalk: An Experience will see its Beta release in Spring 2025.

Download the playtest build 2.0 for free!

What was the playtest build?

The playtest build was a chance for people to informally prototype the game and give me asynchronous feedback. It is super unpolished & does not look much like what the end product will be.

Where can I give you feedback?

You can discuss anything you'd like in the comments here, as well as give more in depth feedback in the Fleshwalk Discord server! (https://discord.gg/DqgVnrfyvZ)

Feedback is so super appreciated, and if you playtest and would like to be credited in the menu of the game, please reach out!

What features are in the playtest build?

1. The first two enemies

2. Rudimentary cave system

3. Lantern

4. Two main weapons

5. Base checkpoint functionality

6. Breath collection

Made with <3 by Lichen Labs