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Sam Hill
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About the game
Sam Hill is a small metroidvania with a "cozy hell" theme, which the authors describe as the mix of two ideas they were given for a game jam: cosy and hell. What came out is a warm, quiet underworld of orange rock and purple shadows where nothing wants to hurt you. You play a small blue creature, and the whole game is about getting around: the world is a grid of single-screen rooms, and the screen scrolls over to the next room when you walk off the edge.
At the start you can only walk and jump. Hidden in the cave are three pickups that change how you move: one lets you glide, one lets you run, and one lets you fly. Each one opens up parts of the map that were out of reach, which is the classic metroidvania loop, here without enemies, hazards or a game over. A short tutorial in the first rooms explains the controls with text on the screen, and a text reminder appears when you find each new ability.
The game was made in one month for Metroidvania Month 20 by three people: Tech3599, who programmed it (it was his first game and his first time programming), Wizbird, who drew the art, and dinkst, who composed the music. After the jam it received two small patches, and the version served here is 1.0.2.
Playing it here
Sam Hill was made for TIC-80, a fantasy console: an imaginary 1980s-style computer with a 240 by 136 screen and 16 colours, for which independent developers write new games. It runs here in the official TIC-80 web player. Click Play and a short "Puffy Tech" splash screen leads to the first room. The game has no save: it takes a few minutes to explore, so you start from the beginning every time.
Esc opens the TIC-80 menu. A gamepad works directly, and on touch screens an on-screen D-pad and buttons appear.
Controls
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
| Left / Right arrows | walk |
| Up arrow | jump; hold in the air to glide (after the glide pickup) |
| Up arrow while falling | fly (after the flying pickup) |
| Z (A button) | hold to run (after the run pickup) |
| Esc | TIC-80 menu |
A few things worth knowing
Each new ability comes with a reminder. When you pick one up, a line of text tells you which key to use, so you do not need to remember it.
If you cannot get past something, you probably need something. Leave the spot, explore the other rooms, and come back with a new ability.
Take your time. There is no clock and nothing that can hurt you, so the only way to lose is to stop exploring.
Frequently asked questions
Is my progress saved? No. The game has no save, and it is short enough that this does not matter.
Does it work on a phone? The on-screen buttons appear on touch screens, but holding Up to glide is easier with a keyboard or a gamepad.
Is it free? Yes. The code is free software under the GNU GPL version 3 and the art and music are under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0.
Credits and licence
Sam Hill was made by Tech3599 (lead and programming), Wizbird (art) and dinkst (music). The code is under the GNU General Public License, version 3, stated in the header of the cartridge; the itch.io page gives the art and music as Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0. The cartridge holds the game's complete, readable Lua source, so the file served here is also its source code. It runs here in the TIC-80 web player (MIT licence). The licence texts are linked from this page.