Canary Caged
After a hard day's work, Lee and Dawson navigate their way through the coal mine. But something's off with the map, Dawson won't stop talking about his disbelief over your new marriage, and you're tracing circles while your canary's song gets weaker and weaker.
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Writing, Coding, Background, and Canary coloring by pamsdrabbles (bluesky)
Canary sketch and cage by Val (tumblr)
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Footsteps_Boots_Gritty_Ground_(Gravel).wav by Nox_Sound -- https://freesound.org/s/530589/ -- License: Creative Commons 0
Canary Singing by DaniloSFX -- https://freesound.org/s/672730/ -- License: Creative Commons 0
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Made for Only One of Any Asset Jam 2025
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Content Warnings:
- player death
- animal death/abuse
- paranoia
- mentions of suicide/drowning
Update 30 August 2025: Uploaded downloadable files, added game menu including working save and load slots.
Download
Click download now to get access to the following files:
Development log
- Game now downloadable!Aug 29, 2025
- Canary Caged Postmortem and O2A2 Jam ReflectionAug 17, 2025
Comments
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That canary button was genius, and I loved checking on it periodically to see the changes in its dialogue, great way at adding to the immersion with such limited assets! The story itself was another Pamdrabbles masterwork as always, with characters saying so much more with their words than what you'd expect from a 1k cap. Gonna go listen to some Crane Wives and contemplate canaries for what is not the first, and will not be the last time in my life...
Aww Lemon thank you <3 your flattery is the drive that keeps me creating. Listening to Crane Wives and contemplating canaries is an activity we should all partake in. Truly great for the soul
The limitation usage is full of symbolism, great job!! Even though we can't see the other characters, it feels like it's already represented by the canary. Great job!
Thank you! I'm glad the jam restrictions are able to add to the game rather than hinder it ^-^
From the start, Dawson's dialogue gave me a very clear impression of his character, and his relationship with our character. The way that changed over time as we went deeper was a genuinely impressive bit of narrative you constructed, I'm really impressed with the writing here!
The choice of just the canary singing and the footsteps made the whole trip even more ominous, honestly. And the use of the canary enhanced the narrative even more still! Well done!
Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts :) I appreciate it.
Whoa, that whole delivery was super cool! What engaging story and banter. So intrigued! I was totally sucked in to this world. Seriously, well done!
Thank you! I'm glad you liked it :)
The presentation of this was so unique and clever! The cage sealing over the canary upon start adds so much for such a tiny detail. Really loved the dialogue, the slow, harrowing descent deeper into the mine... ahh! So incredibly immersive. Great game! :)
Ahh thank you! Your kind words mean a lot ^-^
I was a really big fan of this one. I thought it was a terrific use of the single sprite limitation. The story was great, and the dialog had the right rough-neck vibe to it to really sell it. Love playing this!
Thank you for playing! I'm glad you enjoyed the story and the vibe of the dialogue ^-^ sometimes it's hard to settle on tone, so I'm glad the right vibe came across
Oh! Right off the bat I love the start button placing a cage over the canary, poor thing :( can't start the story without that, but still...
I wasn't expecting that to end the way it did, but everything comes around. Everyone's a canary in some way here. Beautifully written!
Thank you! The start button triggering the cage was a last minute decision but I'm so glad I added it. I think it works perfectly thematically :D
A very cool concept, I really liked the story and the fact that you have the two characters speaking offscreen, while you put on screen the sprite of the canary really helps you immerse in the story, you do feel like you are walking through the mines holding the cage above in front of you. Very apt the metaphor of the caged bird, the twist at the end got me blindsided as well!
Thank you! I'm glad the feeling of walking through the mine came across!! I was so worried it wouldn't, so that's great to hear :)
i must've heard about canary in a coal mine at school, just had to look it up again. very fitting!
I wasn't expecting that twist at all, really nice writing and art! :>
Thank you! I'm glad you like it~