I will add more levels in the near future.  

I was unfortunately only able to finish the one tutorial level, so this is basically a tech demo, but with this player controller and these player-environment systems as building blocks, I think I could do more with this and make more levels easily — stay tuned for future updates.

And let me know if you encounter any issues/bugs please!

SUMMARY

Trenchglow is a 2D side scrolling adventure game where you play as a treasure-hunter trapped in an abyssal maze of trenches at the ocean floor. Most of the world is hidden in the dark: sonar pulses reveal most of the environment around you, but only momentarily. This isn't supposed to be a platformer, but rather, a deep sea escape adventure with puzzles and mild platforming.

GAMEPLAY

• Navigate handcrafted levels (swim & scan, avoid hazards, solve puzzles).
• Use a sonar ping to reveal the world, and use pressure points to manipulate the environment and escape the abyssal trenches.
• Escape each room by solving puzzles, and progress through the abyss.

CONTROLS 

• Swim with: WASD or arrow keys (swimming up uses stamina!) 
• Sonar Pulse with: E, or LMB (Left Mouse Button) 
• Boost/Lunge with: SHIFT keys 
• Pause with: ESC or TAB 
• Confirm with: Enter key (when a menu or panel w/ button is open)

GAME JAM

Made for Mini Jam 209: Deep (April 23–26, 2026)
Theme: Deep
Limitation: Only one life

TOOLS & ATTRIBUTIONS

Studio: Gold Leaf Interactive

• ART PACK — Underwater Diving — Luis Zuno (ansimuz)
ansimuz.itch.io · opengameart.org/content/underwater-diving-pack

• ART PACK — Gems spritesheets — Gerson Marcelo
gersonmarcelo.itch.io/gems-spritesheets

• ART PACK — UI Panels — styloo
styloo.itch.io/ui-panels-blue-theme

• ART PACK — Pressure Point Buttons — c0ffeenn_ 
  https://opengameart.org/content/pixelated-button-for-2d-platformer

Engine: Unity (2D URP)

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AI Note: Trenchglow is the work of a solo developer, myself (Gold Leaf Interactive). A supervised in-editor AI assistant helped with parts of code scaffolding and implementation; my work ownership as the developer includes ideation & preproduction, systems & level design, creative direction, gameplay authoring, debugging & tuning, coded VFX, audio direction & implementation (SFX, layering, mixing), and much more — from concept to shippable prototype build.

Third-party art and audio are credited separately; assets were chosen and levels were hand crafted. One promotional image is AI assisted. The original music theme was created with the help of [SUNO Music], SFX is third-party CC0. Some visuals are coded effects made during production (water caustics, gameplay feedback, and similar VFX), not asset-pack art such as the flip book animations.