Ladderhead has you dying over and over just to move forward within the game, living through the same day multiple times as you seek a lost love.
Waking up in a strange world, you need to get to the top floor of a building to find your love. Each floor, however, isn’t straightforward. Everything is strange and requires you to find items, talk to characters, and navigate your way around.
Often, it seems impossible to move forward, but you are a person stuck in the same day, so you can trigger things that will end up killing you. As you end your playthrough, you normally have a few seconds to pick another option, allowing you to add something to your inventory. After you die, your inventory stays, giving you more to work with when you play again.
If you get stuck in Ladderhead, you can use the control key to get a hint from your character (who may have been paying a bit more attention to you). The entire world is quite curious, from blocked areas to humming machines, piquing your interest as you go deeper and deeper.
I got to play a bit of Ladderhead at AdventureX, where I died and then kept going a few times. The world kept me intrigued as I found new things in the tower. I liked the visual style – that of MS Paint – as well. It’s one of the most clever and unique narrative adventures I have played in a long time.
Ladderhead is currently in development, but in the meantime, you can add it to your Steam Wishlist.