Very cool concept for RPG battle mechanics and neat game in its own right. As it is, you can win after getting the hang of it in a few tries and it offers replayability by allowing you to unlock a few different color skins, which is a perfectly fine motivation for this type of game. As for mechanics: You choose an area on the screen you want to shoot at, pick your preferred shot, wait for the right moment and then shoot. Simple, but surprisingly enjoyable.The variety is amplified by different shot types and bonusses you might find during a run, which are all genuinely fun to figure out and use. After your turn, you will need to deflect the attacks of your enemies that come in a variety of different patterns. Its all rather refreshing really and I could easily see this as a core mechanic in an Undertale/Paper Mario style RPG. 3,5/5
Great game and had fun playing it! Definitely should expand on the content within the game ex: adding more bosses, different weapons and abilities, etc. but overall really fun game and hope to see it expand in the future
You absolutely should update the game with more content for just make a sequel that expands on everything & is more ambitious. Amazing concept, great sound, charming graphics and of course I love it as a Downwell player. Though, if you do make a sequel, consider expanding on the graphics.
This is a pretty great game. I did notice two things that I think could stand to be a little better:
1) If a hornet is the last enemy on the screen and kills itself by firing its stinger, that screen doesn't end until you take an action. I've used this to get some free reloads, but I think it might be a bug.
2) So far, I've played it on two keyboards, a trackpad, and a mouse, and how well blocking works varies heavily based off what I'm using. I think the timing could stand to be a little more forgiving? I might just be a bad - I usually die by the end of the Coast, and I haven't managed to kill the shopkeeper yet.
Thanks for playing, and thanks for the video! It stresses me out watching people play my game haha but it's also a lot of fun at the same time. The bee thing I noticed after launch and it'll be fixed in the next build, woopsie! I'm not really sure what to say about the blocking, I know that my trackpad was quite shit at blocking so I always used my mouse, but unfortunately I only have so much control over the inputs that get passed to the game so that's probably why you're getting such different results!
So far, one of my favorite games from the bundle! It's a lot of fun, but now that I have beaten the boss, the total length seems just a tiny bit short. Otherwise, great game! Was going to suggest a mobile port but then saw the update you posted. Keep it up!
I'm glad you enjoyed it!:) With everyone beating it so fast, it seems like I might've made it a little too easy, so I hope you're all ready to get destroyed on the mobile version:) I'm also adding a new game mode that you can unlock after beating the boss the first time that'll hopefully add some longevity!
Got to the end at my 10th try, what a ride! I grew up playing and loving turn based rpg's but if any of them had a battle system like this I just know they would have been infinitely better. Such a unique concept, it really keeps you on your toes!
Wow, thank you so much and nice job on beating it!:) It would be really interesting to make a game with a similar system but focused more on the RPG aspect (since I was inspired by Downwell, I focused more on the projectiles themselves for this game). Thanks again!
i have some problems when launching the game, it launches on a very small window and I can't click on anything, I checked if there was some configuration i had to change in the options file but doesn't seem to do anything.
I like the idea of the the monsters moving when you are taking your turn, fun cute game. The soundtrack at the end of the game is amazing, super jazzy. A separate download for the song would be appreciated so i can listen to it at other times.
I'm glad you had fun! And yeah the music is amazing, I love Mid Air Machine! I felt pretty fuckin lucky that I was able to find such good stuff free to use!
Such a fun, fresh game. Like everyone else here, I am very excited for a mobile (Android) version. Would that be availiable if we have paid for the PC version already?
Thank you, that really means a lot to me! As an independent dev doing literally every piece of work on this game, support from people like you really helps keep me motivated and working hard :)
Instantly hooked on my first play. Love the mixed gameplay mechanic of turn-based, aiming, reaction blocking and trying out new skills. Great game! Also gives me 'Downwell' feels, so I might get addicted :)
Absolutely fantastic. I don't even like single-player games that much, but this one caught my attention. LOVE the art, and the gameplay is surprisingly in-depth for such a simple concept. My only gripe is that certain abilities are way overpowered IMO. I was struggling to get to the boss until I began a run with Bubbles, and from there I got some good upgrades and just destroyed everything. Felt good though! :D
(EDIT: ALso, excited for the mobile version, and more content :D)
I'm glad you enjoyed it!:) incidentally I usually don't like multiplayer games haha. Ahh yes Bubble has been a balancing issue since day 1, I decided to leave it as it is but maybe I'll need to tweak it just a bit more for mobile!
This game is fantastic! Just got it from the Equality Bundle. There are only really two complaints I have, and they're both minor (there would be three, but the creator has already said the mobile version will add more content). 1) Ammo and health almost never increase substantially. Maybe lower the starting health but make max hp upgrades more plentiful? 2) Each time it loads something while in windowed mode, it forces itself back into the center of the screen at full window size. "Full window size" meaning that 80% of it is just red to the left and right, constantly forcing itself into a size that it doesn't even use most of.
Oh, and just beat the final boss. Creepy, fantastic.
Hi there, thanks for playing the game and supporting the bundle! I'm glad you enjoyed it:) And I appreciate the feedback! You must be the first person to play the game in windowed mode haha nobody else noticed that! I've gone ahead and fixed that. As far as stat upgrades go, I do think I'll tweak HP a bit, but the thing about the game is that ammo upgrades can quickly become ridiculously overpowered. Because I need to make it so that any weapon can, at most, cost as much as the starting ammo stat (for obvious reasons) it means that the base ammo stat needs to be fairly low, and so consequently even increasing it as high as 5 can make ammo management trivial.
Yeah, I more so mean HP. (I've had a couple runs just today where I ended up with so much ammo it literally went off the screen, but by that point I didn't need it because I only accumulated so many upgrades through obliterating the shopkeepers. I did so by brute-forcing the first one with whatever I had, and then just cheesing the ones after with Riches because they don't get harder or have more health later on.)
Also, just a suggestion: maybe some of the extra items and weapons added in the mobile versions could be unlocked first so that unlocks go beyond just more palettes?
Edit: Turns out the border problem still occurs, but only when exiting (and possibly entering) Settings while de-bordered. The solution would probably be to just have the game start up without borders if windowed. Eh, it's a minor annoyance on an otherwise fantastic game.
Hmmm before release I did consider making other things unlockable (besides palettes), but ultimately decided against it since it's a small game anyway so it would feel kind of limiting. I might add like, a new game+ in the future when you beat the boss, but until then I think I'll just stick to palettes only for unlocks:) Also when I said I fixed the window issue I meant in my version of the code haha I haven't uploaded the updated version on itch.io (there's a lot of stuff I'm in the middle of adding), so for now you'll just have to bear with it, sorry about that!
Four months and a mega update later and this game is still fantastic! (Also the new weapons and items are just great- especially the new 8-cost ones, though that may just be because of how hilariously strong they are.)
In terms of the unlocks and new game plus thing: This might literally already be a thing once you beat the boss now (I don't know, I haven't managed to get back to it in the newest version), but what if the new game plus was more... expansive? Instead of just four fights, a chest and a shop, what if it had a rudimentary branching path system akin to other roguelikes like One Step from Eden, and each world had a boss? (...though this would be such a significant change that it's probably going to be reserved for DLC or a potential possible sequel, both of which I'd also be excited for.)
I'm glad you're still enjoying the game this far after release!:) Haha I gotta say, that would of course make the game more interesting, but also would be a tremendous amount of work for me, and to be blunt, isn't gonna happen. I do have... something related to level/world progression planned for a future update, not quite as complex as what you're describing, but I think it'll be interesting all the same!
Really great, really fun, having a blast each run! It's such a refreshing blend of genres with a great style. Can't wait for the mobile release, seems like it'll be a real natural fit!
Thank you very much!:) it was really designed with mobile in mind from the beginning, so it's pretty exciting that now I have the means to port it to mobile!
Hey thanks, I'm glad you liked it!:) Nope, you've beaten done it all, nice job!! I'm working on the iOS/Android version right now which will have some content additions, so that'll be cool!
Actually yes! I'm working on porting it to both Android and iOS soon, and the iOS/Mac port kind of go hand in hand. Not sure how soon it'll be ready, but it will happen!
Oh shit thanks for making that video, it was awesome watching someone other than me play it! Glad you seemed to be enjoying it! I hope you'll get your triangle back on your next playthrough haha
Nice! There aren't any lifesteal-type powers, I experimented with the idea for a bit but ultimately it didn't end up working out very well, it was just too easy to recover huge amounts of HP
if you compile to HTML5 game then you can wrap it using Web2Executable which won't require having OSX but you can test its performance or something :) Hope this helps.
Well I made the game using Gamemaker Studio 2, but since I haven't purchased the HTML5 module I can't export that way. I might look into it at some point, since it would be cool to be able to export games for web anyway!
Hey thanks, glad you liked it!:) I'm definitely not done with this game yet, ideally I'll be adding more content in the future to celebrate the mobile release
← Return to game
Comments
Log in with itch.io to leave a comment.
Fantastically fun game! Looking forward to Android :)
Thank you so much!:) I'm looking forward to it too haha
I really really dug this gem of a game. If this was on Android I would easily pay to snatch it up in heartbeat.
Thank you!:) Good news, it'll be coming to Android pretty soon!
Very cool concept for RPG battle mechanics and neat game in its own right. As it is, you can win after getting the hang of it in a few tries and it offers replayability by allowing you to unlock a few different color skins, which is a perfectly fine motivation for this type of game. As for mechanics: You choose an area on the screen you want to shoot at, pick your preferred shot, wait for the right moment and then shoot. Simple, but surprisingly enjoyable.The variety is amplified by different shot types and bonusses you might find during a run, which are all genuinely fun to figure out and use. After your turn, you will need to deflect the attacks of your enemies that come in a variety of different patterns. Its all rather refreshing really and I could easily see this as a core mechanic in an Undertale/Paper Mario style RPG. 3,5/5
More Racial Justice bundle impressions and ranking:
https://itch.io/c/915453/quick-impressions-bundle-for-racial-justice
Great game and had fun playing it! Definitely should expand on the content within the game ex: adding more bosses, different weapons and abilities, etc. but overall really fun game and hope to see it expand in the future
You absolutely should update the game with more content for just make a sequel that expands on everything & is more ambitious. Amazing concept, great sound, charming graphics and of course I love it as a Downwell player. Though, if you do make a sequel, consider expanding on the graphics.
Fun little game. The duplication item is overpowered, but it's a lot of fun. Has a lot of space for expanding.
This is JUICY! The sounds and graphics are so rich. Wow. Quite a fun and creative game. Loving it!
Thank you very very much!:) It makes me very happy that you enjoyed my game so much!
Huge respect to you for making such a great little game! I just keep coming back to it, even with so much other choice from that bundle!
Thank you so much, hearing stuff like this makes it worth all the work!:)
This is a pretty great game. I did notice two things that I think could stand to be a little better:
1) If a hornet is the last enemy on the screen and kills itself by firing its stinger, that screen doesn't end until you take an action. I've used this to get some free reloads, but I think it might be a bug.
2) So far, I've played it on two keyboards, a trackpad, and a mouse, and how well blocking works varies heavily based off what I'm using. I think the timing could stand to be a little more forgiving? I might just be a bad - I usually die by the end of the Coast, and I haven't managed to kill the shopkeeper yet.
Other than that? You did a fantastic job.
Anyway, I recorded a couple of runs:
Thanks for playing, and thanks for the video! It stresses me out watching people play my game haha but it's also a lot of fun at the same time. The bee thing I noticed after launch and it'll be fixed in the next build, woopsie! I'm not really sure what to say about the blocking, I know that my trackpad was quite shit at blocking so I always used my mouse, but unfortunately I only have so much control over the inputs that get passed to the game so that's probably why you're getting such different results!
Very nice little game, i emjoyed it a lot : )
Thank you!:)
So far, one of my favorite games from the bundle! It's a lot of fun, but now that I have beaten the boss, the total length seems just a tiny bit short. Otherwise, great game! Was going to suggest a mobile port but then saw the update you posted. Keep it up!
I'm glad you enjoyed it!:) With everyone beating it so fast, it seems like I might've made it a little too easy, so I hope you're all ready to get destroyed on the mobile version:) I'm also adding a new game mode that you can unlock after beating the boss the first time that'll hopefully add some longevity!
That sounds fantastic! I look forward to seeing what you come up with!
Got to the end at my 10th try, what a ride! I grew up playing and loving turn based rpg's but if any of them had a battle system like this I just know they would have been infinitely better. Such a unique concept, it really keeps you on your toes!
Wow, thank you so much and nice job on beating it!:) It would be really interesting to make a game with a similar system but focused more on the RPG aspect (since I was inspired by Downwell, I focused more on the projectiles themselves for this game). Thanks again!
I would throw my money right through the screen if an RPG would come out with your battle mechanics, just so you know :)
i have some problems when launching the game, it launches on a very small window and I can't click on anything, I checked if there was some configuration i had to change in the options file but doesn't seem to do anything.
I turned off the full screen optimizations on the compatibility menu and fixed it.
Huh, I have no idea what caused that but I'm glad you got it working!
I like the idea of the the monsters moving when you are taking your turn, fun cute game. The soundtrack at the end of the game is amazing, super jazzy. A separate download for the song would be appreciated so i can listen to it at other times.
NVM i found them in the files in the alternate download. Should have done some digging before commenting. All the songs are great.
Thank you:)
I'm glad you had fun! And yeah the music is amazing, I love Mid Air Machine! I felt pretty fuckin lucky that I was able to find such good stuff free to use!
Such a fun, fresh game. Like everyone else here, I am very excited for a mobile (Android) version. Would that be availiable if we have paid for the PC version already?
Thank you I'm glad you're excited!:) You'll need to buy the Android version separately from the Play store if you want it on mobile
Alright, Cool. Will definitely support once it gets on the store :)
Thank you, that really means a lot to me! As an independent dev doing literally every piece of work on this game, support from people like you really helps keep me motivated and working hard :)
I love this game. Even if I'm soooo bad at blocking attacks. xD I really love the art style + palettes.
Thank you so much, I'm glad you like the art and are having fun!:) haha blocking is tough but you'll get it, keep practicing!
Instantly hooked on my first play. Love the mixed gameplay mechanic of turn-based, aiming, reaction blocking and trying out new skills. Great game! Also gives me 'Downwell' feels, so I might get addicted :)
Thank you very much:) I originally conceived the idea by thinking "what if Downwell was turn-based" so that makes sense haha
This game is an absolute blast to play. I had fun trying out all the weird guns, the art is pretty as heck, and I can't wait to see more :D
Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed it so much!:)
This game seems really fun!. Any plans to bring it to mobile if it isn't already? I'd love to buy this for my android phone ^_^
Thank you! I personally think it's fun: ) Yep I'm currently working on an Android/iOS release that'll hopefully be done within the next 2-3 months!
Will the mobile game have any form of monetization? If we buy the game here, would we also have to buy it on mobile?
The mobile game will be some amount of money (probably $1-3), and you will have to buy it separately on your app store if you want the mobile version!
This game is fantastic! I love the simplistic style!
Thank you!:)
WOW! I'm 100% hyped for the Android version!
That makes 2 of us!:)
Absolutely fantastic. I don't even like single-player games that much, but this one caught my attention. LOVE the art, and the gameplay is surprisingly in-depth for such a simple concept. My only gripe is that certain abilities are way overpowered IMO. I was struggling to get to the boss until I began a run with Bubbles, and from there I got some good upgrades and just destroyed everything. Felt good though! :D
(EDIT: ALso, excited for the mobile version, and more content :D)
I'm glad you enjoyed it!:) incidentally I usually don't like multiplayer games haha. Ahh yes Bubble has been a balancing issue since day 1, I decided to leave it as it is but maybe I'll need to tweak it just a bit more for mobile!
I love this kind of proposals that dare to go beyond the limits of the known and play with several genres simultaneously.
Thank you very much:) I've always loved the idea of combining real-time and turn-based gameplay so this was a lot of fun to work on!
This game is so fuckin cool lol. I'm in love with it, I'm excited for the mobile version :)
Haha thank you, I'm excited too!:)
This game is fantastic!
Just got it from the Equality Bundle.
There are only really two complaints I have, and they're both minor (there would be three, but the creator has already said the mobile version will add more content).
1) Ammo and health almost never increase substantially. Maybe lower the starting health but make max hp upgrades more plentiful?
2) Each time it loads something while in windowed mode, it forces itself back into the center of the screen at full window size. "Full window size" meaning that 80% of it is just red to the left and right, constantly forcing itself into a size that it doesn't even use most of.
Oh, and just beat the final boss.
Creepy, fantastic.
Hi there, thanks for playing the game and supporting the bundle! I'm glad you enjoyed it:) And I appreciate the feedback! You must be the first person to play the game in windowed mode haha nobody else noticed that! I've gone ahead and fixed that. As far as stat upgrades go, I do think I'll tweak HP a bit, but the thing about the game is that ammo upgrades can quickly become ridiculously overpowered. Because I need to make it so that any weapon can, at most, cost as much as the starting ammo stat (for obvious reasons) it means that the base ammo stat needs to be fairly low, and so consequently even increasing it as high as 5 can make ammo management trivial.
Yeah, I more so mean HP. (I've had a couple runs just today where I ended up with so much ammo it literally went off the screen, but by that point I didn't need it because I only accumulated so many upgrades through obliterating the shopkeepers. I did so by brute-forcing the first one with whatever I had, and then just cheesing the ones after with Riches because they don't get harder or have more health later on.)
Also, just a suggestion: maybe some of the extra items and weapons added in the mobile versions could be unlocked first so that unlocks go beyond just more palettes?
Edit: Turns out the border problem still occurs, but only when exiting (and possibly entering) Settings while de-bordered. The solution would probably be to just have the game start up without borders if windowed. Eh, it's a minor annoyance on an otherwise fantastic game.
Hmmm before release I did consider making other things unlockable (besides palettes), but ultimately decided against it since it's a small game anyway so it would feel kind of limiting. I might add like, a new game+ in the future when you beat the boss, but until then I think I'll just stick to palettes only for unlocks:) Also when I said I fixed the window issue I meant in my version of the code haha I haven't uploaded the updated version on itch.io (there's a lot of stuff I'm in the middle of adding), so for now you'll just have to bear with it, sorry about that!
Four months and a mega update later and this game is still fantastic! (Also the new weapons and items are just great- especially the new 8-cost ones, though that may just be because of how hilariously strong they are.)
In terms of the unlocks and new game plus thing: This might literally already be a thing once you beat the boss now (I don't know, I haven't managed to get back to it in the newest version), but what if the new game plus was more... expansive? Instead of just four fights, a chest and a shop, what if it had a rudimentary branching path system akin to other roguelikes like One Step from Eden, and each world had a boss? (...though this would be such a significant change that it's probably going to be reserved for DLC or a potential possible sequel, both of which I'd also be excited for.)
I'm glad you're still enjoying the game this far after release!:) Haha I gotta say, that would of course make the game more interesting, but also would be a tremendous amount of work for me, and to be blunt, isn't gonna happen. I do have... something related to level/world progression planned for a future update, not quite as complex as what you're describing, but I think it'll be interesting all the same!
Really great, really fun, having a blast each run! It's such a refreshing blend of genres with a great style. Can't wait for the mobile release, seems like it'll be a real natural fit!
Thank you very much!:) it was really designed with mobile in mind from the beginning, so it's pretty exciting that now I have the means to port it to mobile!
this game is such a cool mix of genres that come together really well, glad it got included in the bundle!!
Thank you!!:) I'm so glad you had fun! And thanks for getting the bundle, your support is appreciated!
This game rocks!! The pixel animations are so good
You rock!!:)
I love this game!!!!
just a question, ive beaten abyss. are there any more level, secrets or anything?? going to replay it until my 80s thou
Hey thanks, I'm glad you liked it!:) Nope, you've beaten done it all, nice job!! I'm working on the iOS/Android version right now which will have some content additions, so that'll be cool!
Really great game, is this Unity? I would love to work on it someway, cool concept :D
Any chance it’ll be available on Mac or Android? Looks fun but I’m not sure I’ll get to use a Windows machine anytime soon :-(
Actually yes! I'm working on porting it to both Android and iOS soon, and the iOS/Mac port kind of go hand in hand. Not sure how soon it'll be ready, but it will happen!
That’d be awesome, looks pretty mobile friendly. Nice art style btw, keep it up!
Thank you, I will!:)
Finally got my hands on it, worth the wait. The game is as good as the art! Keep it up :-D
Thank you so much, glad you were able to give it a play!:)
We enjoyed your game!
We want to 2nd.
This video is amazing, I love it! Thank you so much!
Thank you for your reply!
It was seriously fun :)
ima beat dis soon! (maybe)
i dig it so far
Oh shit thanks for making that video, it was awesome watching someone other than me play it! Glad you seemed to be enjoying it! I hope you'll get your triangle back on your next playthrough haha
haven't found it again just yet, but i did get that sweet lightnin weapon.
are there any lifesteal powerups in this game?
Nice! There aren't any lifesteal-type powers, I experimented with the idea for a bit but ultimately it didn't end up working out very well, it was just too easy to recover huge amounts of HP
souunds like i need to get a hek of a lot better at shielding
i've been trying to get better so i can upload a more interesting video, but man i suck D:
lol don't give up, I believe in you!
I wish I can play that game, may osx version or html paid version might be helpful :)
Oof, I wish! I wanted to release it for OSX but I need a Mac to make the build, and I only have a PC:( but hopefully an OSX build will come some day!
if you compile to HTML5 game then you can wrap it using Web2Executable which won't require having OSX but you can test its performance or something :) Hope this helps.
Well I made the game using Gamemaker Studio 2, but since I haven't purchased the HTML5 module I can't export that way. I might look into it at some point, since it would be cool to be able to export games for web anyway!
Good luck, I wish I can play ur game :) it looks awesome :)
sick mean good?(doghead)
Did you make this awesome game all on your own?
Haha almost! The only thing I didn't make is the music, unfortunately I have no musical skill whatsoever!
May you do this game on Android?
Yep, the next goal for this game is porting it to iOS/Android!
Very cool. Good luck
This game is brilliant! I can't wait to see more of it!
Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed it!:)
Awesome game! A unique take on turn based rogues for sure, would love to see it updated to be longer/harder for sure.
Hey thanks, glad you liked it!:) I'm definitely not done with this game yet, ideally I'll be adding more content in the future to celebrate the mobile release
The art style look sick !!!!!!!
Thank you!!:)