The Anchorite
A young boy awakens in a strange set of rooms at the top of a tower. He is told that he is to become the 'Anchorite', and must follow three commandments:
Thou shalt complete the daily tasks.
Thoug shalt not look upon the sullied.
Thou shalt not leave the tower.
He is told that he must do this to reach enlightenment, and that it is not only for his own good, but for the good of the city.
Many years pass, and the Anchorite adapts to his new life, until he sees something unexpected at the window, and his life, which had seemed so safe and serene, begins to unravel...
The Anchorite is a point & click mystery made in two weeks for the Adventure X Jam 2024.
Available as both download and playable in browser.
Edit: Due to time constraints of the game jam, there were a few bugs in earlier versions - if you encounter any, please download the latest version (currently 1.0.4).
Download
Install instructions
Either play in the browser, or extract all files to the folder of your choice and run either the .exe or winsetup. Enjoy!
Development log
- The Anchorite - Out Now!50 days ago
Comments
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Amazing short story! Well done!
reminded me of the first graphic shareware programs on the old 286ibm circa 1988? and the old Sierra games..
Such an amazing story, twists and realizations, i hope to see more great titles like this one in the future.
I liked it. Thanks for making and sharing this.
My pleasure!
I like this style. It reminds me of Pentiment.
Thank you so much!
It was great! I did not thought from the start that the end would turn out to be something like this. I Mark was imprisoned because he had some dangerous powers or fate or something like that. The art style was good it seemed kind of like traditional painting mixed with pixel art. In some parts it was pretty confusing to find things like the quill and yet it was a great game.
Thank you!
alone in the tower
a man closest to god
the highest have the longest way to fall
Yep!
Oh my god, this is a very beautiful game.
I thought I would never see such kind of artwork again.
It reminds me of the Don't Escape series from Armor Games, very fond memories.
I find it too beautyfull and other things i cant find the words. Lovley game
Thank you both!
I was stuck for a while and got a bit frustrated... the mortar was on the table and i kept clicking 'use olives on mortar' and he kept saying it was a silly idea... it might have been a little clearer if there was some kind of 'oh, i should pick it up first' response.
Anyway, that criticism aside, I'm loving it so far.
That's a good point, I will try to remember to change it so that you can use the olives directly on the mortar and pestle in place. Glad you enjoyed it!
Love the game but is the name Anachorite susposed to be similar to anachronism or is it just a coincicence?
Coincidence, but I like the fact that anachronism is something out of time...
I would love to see more!
I may do a sequel one day...
Loved the story! What a plot twist!
Thank you, hopefully it satisfied :)
Fucking beautiful
Thank you, much appreciated.
This game is something special, are you interested in an unpaid game localization to Arabic?
Hi, not at the moment but thank you for the offer. I am working on other projects and need to give all my time to them :)
Was a pretty cool experience, I liked it!
Thank you!
I absolutely LOVED it. I discovered it on AlphaBetaGamer's channel and I kept questioning myself over actually playing it or just watching it and... love the writing, the art, the direction. Maybe I was sleepy, but hadn't fully realized it wasn't a game from the 80's. Sure, the soundtrack was...too good, but the vibes, everything else felt perfect retro to me. Thanks for creating this gem, it's amazing it's the work of just 2 weeks, and a single person.
Wow, thank you for your kind words. I really appreciate it, there isn't a lot of time in two weeks to overthink and redo if I was going the wrong direction, so I just had to go for it, I'm glad people are enjoying it. Thank you!
The game is absolutely gorgeous!
Glad you liked it :)
actually fire ass game
Thank you! :)
very cool! thanks for sharing. Maniac Mansion vibes
Haha excellent, I love Maniac Mansion
Very i interesting game.i like this graphic
Thank you!
Much appreciated
wow 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
Thank you:)
That was absolutely incredible! The pacing, the story, the use of repetition to establish a pattern, and then brutally taking that pattern away... An absolute masterclass in horror, and a joy to play!
Thank you! I didn't think it was particularly horror when I was working on it but I guess I can't get away haha
This was sooo fun and enjoyable. I enjoyed the cutscenes and little animations. The length of the experience was perfect.
Thanks! I did think about adding a bit for the city outside but I also liked the mystery, and maybe sets up a sequel
I loved everything about this game. The twist was kind of predictable, but its presentation is perfect here. Great work!
Thank you :)
A good example of a short game that works perfectly as it is. I really enjoyed the few minutes it took to play through. I like how you built up the player’s immersion by providing simple tasks to complete while gradually unveiling the background story and drama through small doses of information and events. I have to admit, I somewhat anticipated the twist —probably because I was biased by my expectations— but it was still surprising and clever how everything connects at the end. The atmosphere and dialogues worked great. It’s impressive that you managed to do all this in just two weeks. Congrats! :)
Thank you, it was a lot of work to get it done in time, I'm glad it was effective :)
Amazing game. I really enjoyed the plot twist.
Great, I'm glad it worked :D
The plot twist is crazy tho
Thank you!
Great game! I guess I need to check out all your other games now
Please do :)
A beautiful game with a sad story...
Thank you!
really good! we need more!
I should have a new game out early 2025 (I hope).
Nice this was really good game I like it and you did really great job for this game! anyway well done keep it up!
Thank you for the kind words :)
Really nice! Back to early point and click adventures like Kings Quest. Got a Beneath a Steel Sky vibe from it. Great work, hope you continue this project!
I loved Kings Quest VI and Beneath a Steel Sky, still have my Amiga big box of BASS!
Love the art style, love the story, love the anticipation..
Thank you!
Such an amazing game and would love to see it continue.
Maybe one day...
Hey! Wow. That was great. Nice, puzzles, lovely animations, great story. It all led nicely to the end. Are you planning to continue this one 'out the door'? It's kind of asking for it, no?
Bravo.
Maybe, I have so many games I have planned and want to make, we will see...
Amen to that!
It works to leave it too, for sure. But... A monk from the middle ages in some kind of techno dystopia could be pretty fun! Where might he be in five years...?
Really great, thanks so much!
Glad you liked it :)
Congratulations,
this is a good game with a "crescendo" of mystery. Too bad it was so short.
Yep the game jam time frame is super tight!
i am so stuck LOL. i have the quill but cant figure out what to do with the ash to make ink. i feel so stupid, anyone have tips? thank u!!
Take the inkwell and combine with the ash. Fill a bucket of water and combine with ash filled inkwell. Take the knife from the table and use it on pillow. Take feather and use the knife on it. :3
Add water to the ashe to make poor man's ink.
Great and amazing game. I really enjoy it. ALL ENDINGS HERE:
Thank you for playing!