Photonic Distress

Photonic Distress is a first- and third-person puzzle-platformer set inside an internal representation of your conscience. You search procedurally generated levels, called dreams, for 100 memory fragments, then enter the final room that opens once you have collected them all.

Explore the dreams

The dreams grow larger and more complicated as you progress. A pseudo-random number generator uses a seed you choose or generate at the start of a new game to determine each level’s layout, materials and number of fragments, among other details. You can replay the same seed on different difficulties or use different seeds on the same difficulty, with the levels changing each time.

Light and fight

You carry a Photon Gun that fires colorful balls of light to illuminate your way and fight enemies. As you collect fragments, upgrades become available, including a flashlight attachment and a Scan Grenade. Unlocked at 30 fragments, the grenade outlines the surrounding world, highlights points of interest, reveals hidden or unspawned enemies and kills enemies that have spawned.

Four difficulties

Photonic Distress has Easy, Medium, Hard and Impossible difficulties. Levels are illuminated on Easy and Medium; on Hard and Impossible, you navigate in the dark using the Photon Gun, the Scan Grenade and your skill. Each level tile has a difficulty rating from 1 to 10. Tile difficulty rises more slowly on Easy and faster on Impossible, making the levels increasingly tricky; levels also grow in size, especially on harder difficulties.

The game can offer a more relaxed or more challenging run depending on your chosen difficulty. Barricades, traps and pickups also appear throughout the levels.

Music and atmosphere

Most of the in-game music was composed specifically for Photonic Distress by Toteki. You can turn it off in the settings and play your own music instead. The game aims for a mysterious atmosphere and a level of challenge suited to your chosen difficulty.