Alice in Deadland
Important: Some frequently asked questions by players
What is your goal in each level?
Move Alice to the yellow highlighted tile near the TV. When she steps on it, she will teleport through the TV to the next level and continue her escape.
Why are there two tiles, a TV and a yellow one?
You cannot reach the TV directly because of the swapping mechanic. That is why there is a yellow tile. It shows where Alice needs to stand to teleport.
What does the TV do then?
The yellow tile moves based on the TV’s position. By swapping and moving the TV, you change where the yellow tile appears. The yellow tile is not a real object. It is just a highlight that marks your goal.
Overview
Alice in Deadland is a turn based horror puzzle game where a curious girl gets sucked into a cursed movie. Use strategic swapping to guide Alice through deadly levels, escape the walking dead, and reach the TV before your turns run out.
About the Game
Story:
Alice in Deadland is a turn based, horror inspired 2D pixel art game where you play as little Alice, a curious girl with exceptionally bad luck. One movie night, she gets sucked into the movie she was so excited to watch with her parents. Our poor girl finds herself trapped in the Deadland, where she must escape while running from various kinds of the walking dead. In a situation as dire as hers, we cannot help but wonder: who will win, the ending or the endless, Alice or death?
Core Mechanic:
The main mechanic is swapping. Each turn, you can pick any two adjacent rows or columns and swap all their contents, yes, all their contents, which might include things that can kill you.
Goal of the Game:
Use the swapping mechanic to move Alice to the highlighted tile near the TV so she can teleport through it to the next level and continue her escape.
Game Controls
- A) Navigate between swapping rows/columns
- S) Switch navigation mode (rows/columns)
- W) Perform the swap
- R) Reload the level
- Q) Return to the main screen
- Right / Left Arrows) Navigate, skip, or revisit levels and scenes
How the Game Fits the Visual Theme
The visual theme is an old TV, which appears in several ways.
Story: The main story follows Alice, who gets sucked into the movie and struggles to escape her new reality.
Art: The game features two visual styles. Before Alice is pulled into the movie, the world looks like normal pixel art. Afterward, for most of the game, the visuals shift to resemble an old TV screen with film grain, scan lines, and a touch of white noise.
Gameplay: Alice escapes each level by teleporting from one TV to another, moving through screens as she searches for freedom.
Which Twist I Picked
I chose the twist A helpful feature that turns against you.
Here is how it appears in the game.
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Swapping: Each turn, you can swap the contents of any two adjacent rows or columns. But be careful, you will swap the good along with the bad, and one careless move can doom you.
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Enemies can push almost everything: Enemies can push each other or obstacles in random directions, possibly pushing another enemy right into your path.
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Enemies can change their targeting direction: Each enemy has an evolved version that changes direction after every turn. So double check before swapping, the enemy giving you its back might suddenly come straight at you.
Notes
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This game was made for the GameDev.tv Halloween Jam 2025.
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This is my first game in the horror genre, and Alhamdulillah, it was a wonderful experience. I truly hope you enjoy the game and I look forward to your feedback.
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Alhamdulillah, all the art, programming, and design were done by me.
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All the SFX and music in the game are either free for personal use or tracks I purchased over the years.
Download
Install instructions
You can download the desktop version for a better experience.
Comments
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Geez, that was dark! I didn't expect it to end in such a morbid way, but still, it was true to the spirit of the season I guess.
Loved the game, the core mechanic is very simple and intuitive, but you can do a lot with it and really use it strategically, or just swap at random to see what happens. The game is oozing with nice juicy feedback, interacting with it is a joy, both on a visual and sound level. I liked the puzzles and how varied the enemies were mechanically. The whole process felt like a simplified version of "Into the Breach", which I mean as a compliment, of course! The story felt kind of goofy to me, but I felt like this was probably the intent. It sure teaches children to keep their distance from the TV screens, so there's that :)
Thank you so much for playing the game. Honestly, this is the kind of reaction I have been longing to see, or rather to read. :)
I intended for the story to have an unhappy ending from the very beginning, but maybe I went a bit too far. I just hope it turns into a folklore tale someday so kids will not glue themselves to screens, LOL.
As for the game feel, I honestly used every tool in my belt for this one, and thank God it paid off.
By the way, I am over the moon that my game was even remotely similar to Into The Breach. I love that game.
Again, thank you so much for playing the game.
Once you get it, which is honestly not an easy, but a rewarding task, the game is very good.
The other good thing is that brilliant art direction, audio design and the game feel in general makes you invest the time in figuring out how the game works.
Thank you so much for trying out the game!