Bad Rooms

by kjscott

Play:


* 1-4 players vs 0-3 CPU players (max 4)
* Winner is last Wizard standing

Controls:


* P1: X/C cycle spells + Arrow keys to move (alternative keys for X/C on some keyboard layouts may include Z/V)
* P2-P4: Controllers

Summons:


* Goblin A - Fast melee only goblin who attacks closest enemy
* Goblin B - Ranged goblin who backs away from nearby enemies
* Goblin C - Tanky goblin who moves slowly
* Fireball - Damaging ranged attack with a slower recovery time between spells
* Buff - Grants player increase damage resistence, increased melee damage, or a ranged weapon

Comments23

Waterspirit28 Apr 2024, 15:44
Very cute graphics that all fit well together for a great little 8bit style game! I love it :)
RhysT28 Apr 2024, 15:55
Distinctive gameplay, nice graphics. AI was surprisingly decent too.
CiaranW28 Apr 2024, 15:59
This one was really cute and fun - and I found it to be surprisingly well balanced: all of the different spells seemed useful. The AI was pretty good too, so even though I was playing by myself it was really fun. Would be a fun party game with others I'm sure though. It was quite a challenge to win! I think it worked really well as a pico-8 game too, it fit the platform well and didn't feel like it was held back. Nice entry!
cosmic_dust28 Apr 2024, 16:59
Nice look and fast gameplay. I would have liked to play a larger level. Maybe start next time with only one comp enemy and the increase number of enemies over time.
kjscott
kjscottauthor28 Apr 2024, 17:03
@cosmic-dust I hadn't thought of having variable/increasing number of computer enemies, I will definitely add that into the post-jam version.
Knatt
Knatt28 Apr 2024, 17:19
Fun quick game. got it immediately and it was satisfying to implement all the different spells.
JamieOK
JamieOK28 Apr 2024, 17:55
Very simple, easy to jump into and immediately fun! Embedded into the page is wonderfully convenient and ran like a dream. Enough depth with switching between various spells to where I had a couple of games and enjoyed each one more than the last. Great work!
Tomssuli
Tomssuli28 Apr 2024, 17:59
Nice small game. It was simple but fun for what it was. Cute minimal animations.

All other spells felt useful, but I'm not entirely sure how buff helped. Did not notice cpu players using it. Also I would have expected X and C roll the spells in different directions, but they seemed to do the same thing.
kjscott
kjscottauthor28 Apr 2024, 18:24
@tomssuli buff did one of three effects, shield which halved damage (and reduced chance to be damaged in first place), bow which fires continuously providing chance to cause damage at range while casting other spells, and a weapon which allows increased chance to hit and damage but risky to pull as you can get hit too.

X/C does roll different directions for me. What keyboard layout do you have as might have affected play? (I use UK/US layout)
Tod Semple
Tod Semple29 Apr 2024, 04:09
Nice! It took me a bit to figure out how to get it started. Pressing "x" then holding the right arrow seemed to work. My best strategy was cycling through all the a, b, c minions. It seemed strong. I assume because it covers all the bases. Great Job!
Tomssuli
Tomssuli29 Apr 2024, 06:13
@kjscott Thanks for the reply!

I have scandinavian keyboard layout and now when I tried it again, X or C just rolls the spells forward but V rolls them backwards. Probably pico has different presets for different keyboards or something. I didn't try a controller but I expect it to work properly.
kjscott
kjscottauthor29 Apr 2024, 07:11
@tomssuli thank you for the confirmation! I will update the page to reflect the additional possible keys for all keyboard layouts as best as I can.
Romulo_Developer
Romulo_Developer30 Apr 2024, 00:18
It was such a fun little experience. I would really like to have played this with some friends, but the AI was so well made I had some challenge killing the last dude. And, it's Pico-8 so an automatic W for me.
TheLastSlowpoke30 Apr 2024, 16:20
It's not really obvious to press the right arrow to start ^^ When prompted, the first thing that comes to mind is a *start* button on a controller. I had fun though! It's not trivially easy and it's not super hard. I had noone to play with, but it would seem that it'd play very intense. I like the graphics!
Prepe30 Apr 2024, 16:27
How is this game close to not getting into the ratings? Really great game love the concept, the sound is well balanced and is nice to play with headphones. Controlls are also well set and even alone the AI is fun playing against.
kjscott
kjscottauthor30 Apr 2024, 17:04
@thelastslowpoke Yeah, the right to start I wasn't happy about that much either but as I wanted to have the last 7 days of voting I shipped it as it. That was like the third iteration and I was hoping the text would just be enough (and looks it it just about worked). I will add some actual in-game instructions for the post-jam version to explain how to start playing XD Glad you figured it out and had fun though!
kjscott
kjscottauthor30 Apr 2024, 17:09
@prepe that would be partially because I released it so late! Was only 3 days ago when the big flurry of playing is long over.

I purposefully kept sounds low so as not to be overwhelming and glad I got that about right for headphone users, can never be quite sure myself.

Everyone seems happy with the AI, as am I. The wizards have a super simple script. I have a heatmap that decays over time. The AI calculates distance+heatmap*2 for each rough 16x16 px block and then picks one with lowest value (ignoring blocks close by). If you hit the wizard they are set to flee exactly away for a while. And that's it. Gives them the appearance of dodging and trying to find a place to launch attacks from. Plus the chaos going on also helps!
Prepe30 Apr 2024, 18:19
@kjscott I told my team to check out your game so you should get a few more votes ;)
frankiesmileshow2 May 2024, 23:44
Took be a little bit to realize how summoning works, ha. But this is fun, a bit hectic! could use a bit of in-game explanation of the different spells.
kjscott
kjscottauthor3 May 2024, 04:58
@frankiesmileshow you know, there isnt even an explaination outside of the game. It's all just in my head hoping people magically get it from a few names and images... oops, I think I forgot that whole part. I will definitely do that! (And also add in a description now to game page too!).
Zinkler
Zinkler3 May 2024, 18:51
Great little game, very fun to play even against CPU opponents. I really like projects like these that make a simple yet highly functional game. The game would benefit from some simple UI for example for spell icons or cooldowns. Overall, great work!
kjscott
kjscottauthor3 May 2024, 19:18
@zinkler, the cooldown timer (and a casting timer) do appear behind the spell name but I dont have any numbers displayed to show how long that is (or for instance fireball has longer cooldown than all other spells). But as you mentioned it I should probably add a "spellbook" in-game which explains the details of all the spells you know and what they do.

I hadnt actually thought of having icons, it would have been sooooo much clearer than the sometimes hard to read text. I will immediately start to add that to the post-jam version.

Two very useful ideas I will see about adding! Thank you.

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