Harkfell

About the game

Harkfell is a quiet platformer where the only map is what you can hear. A missing note calls from somewhere far below and grows louder as you approach, so you wander, climb and wall-jump through 129 rooms of standing stones, wet fen, frozen birch woods and deep caves chasing it home. There are no words and no tutorial — you just set out and listen, and every note you bring back joins the drone that tells you how far you have come.

Game features

• Sound is the map: a missing note calls from its direction and grows louder as you close in
• Stand still for a moment and the land itself tells you where to go — no words, no compass, no tutorial
• 129 hand-built rooms across seven regions — the standing stones of the Hollow, the wet reeds of Reedfen, the frozen birch woods of Glasswood, the limestone Pipes, the cliff-top Cloudstair and the deep chambers beneath
• Every sound is synthesized live while you play — there is not a single recorded audio file in the game
• Cling to walls and jump off them to scale sheer faces, and hold Down + Jump to drop through birch branches
• Each note you bring home joins the world's ambient drone, so your progress is audible even with your eyes shut
• The game pauses by itself whenever you switch tabs or windows

How to play

Move with WASD or the arrow keys and jump with Space or Z — the same jump lets you cling to walls and kick off them to climb. Hold Down and press Jump to drop through birch branches, and press F for fullscreen in the browser. The loop is simple: walk until a note calls from somewhere, then follow the volume. Louder means closer, quieter means turn back, and when the way is unclear, stand still for a moment and let the land point you onward. Climb, swim and wall-jump through the fells until you find where the note is waiting, then carry it home and listen to how the world's drone changes.

Tips & strategies

1. 1.Stop walking when you lose the way. Standing still is what lets the land speak — its guidance cue is easy to miss while you are moving
2. 2.Treat volume as distance. If a note grows quieter, you are walking away from it — turn around before you explore further
3. 3.Play somewhere quiet or use headphones. The whole game is directional audio, so telling left from right is the core skill
4. 4.Make wall-jumping automatic. Sheer faces hide most of the high routes, and clinging plus a kick-off is always faster than hunting for stairs
5. 5.Use the drone as a progress map. Notes you have already collected ring inside the ambient sound, so new territory sounds emptier than ground you have covered
6. 6.Do not rush. The game has no fail state and no timer, and it pauses itself when you switch tabs — it is built for slow listening

Screenshots

Captured from the game running on Gameplo.

Controls

Frequently asked questions