DESPAIR!

Forlorn Steppe (絕望荒原) is a minimal dueling game about hopeless souls. It's presented below as a fictional arcade game being played via emulation. Please note that this game contains low-resolution depictions of blood.

This game was created during the 20 Second Game Jam from November 13 to December 16 in 2025.

ABOUT THE GAME

An old colleague emails you about an obscure arcade board called the IGS. They've attached a zipped folder containing an emulator program, a single ROM file, and some documentation.

From the included FS_DESC.txt file:

What follows is a legend from the people of the northern lands... It is said that when a pitiful warrior meets his mortal end, he will awaken on an endless plain known as the Forlorn Steppe. And it is there he will toil, ever wounded, to slay and be slain by a dark kin for all time.

And from the included FS_REVIEW.txt file:

FORLORN STEPPE (JINGSHEN SOFT LTD.) - Who doesn't like a little swordplay in purgatory? Pro tip: you want to hit the enemy, not their sword. You always seem to die after a while, so take as many of 'em with you as you can! Check it out over at Jingshen's booth if you're on the show floor!

And finally, from the included FS_MECH.txt file:

• SLAIN: The number of enemies defeated.
• ACCURACY: The percentage of attacks that hit an enemy.
• TIME: The total survival time, in seconds.
• GRADE: A performance rating based on the above, ranging from D to S+.

CONTROLS

• Left Stick Up / W / Up Arrow Key - Step Forward
• Left Stick Down / S / Down Arrow Key - Step Backward
• Left Stick Left / A / Left Arrow Key - Sidestep Left
• Left Stick Right / D / Right Arrow Key - Sidestep Right
• Any Face Button / Space - Attack
• Start or Select Button / Left Shift / Right Shift - Reset
• Alt + Enter - Toggle Fullscreen

NOTES

• Your movements affect your stance, which determines the position of your attack and which attack you can deflect.
• You can double-tap a movement input to dodge in the respective direction.
• Due to a bug in the version of Emscripten that Love.js uses, please note that a controller's d-pad cannot be used—sorry!

WHAT'S THE IGS?

The Inkular Game System (IGS) is an early-2000s arcade board with a dual-layer e-ink display. It is considered incredibly rare, having possibly never been shown outside of technology tradeshows in Beijing.

From the included IGS_SPEC.txt file:

• 180 x 135 display resolution
• 12 "ink" colors
• Top display layer: text-based rendering
• Bottom display layer: stroke-based rendering
• 4-channel, sample-based audio

CREDITS

• Programming + Graphics + Audio - Gist
• Cover Art - Plenty Studios
• Drum Samples - glitch[dot]cool
• Framework - LÖVE (with Love.js)
• Palette - Custom (Ink Colors) by Gist
• External Code
  • Step - Leandros / Jake Besworth
    
  • Lume - rxi
• Fonts
  • Sono - Tyler Finck
  • Gallaecia - Carlos Nuñe
  • Gallaecia Forte - David Calviño
  • Cushion - Damien Guard

LINKS

• Website - gistworks.com
• Twitter - @gistworks