Bob the Brawler by itsdanidre
Objective:
Start with nothing but your fists, and punch your way into becoming the ultimate brawler!
Explore numerous maps, fight off endless baddies, and collect powerups/item drops; they make you stronger
Max out your score to win!

Drops:
Potion- adds potion to inventory; Space to consume; (heals increase with difficulty)
Package- increases max health; gives walls and potions
Strength Powerup- exponentially increases attack power; (lasts longer with difficulty)
Barrage Powerup- enters a barrage of auto attacks; (lasts longer with difficulty)
Range Powerup- increases attack range and view distance; (lasts longer with difficulty)
Controls:
WASD- Move
Space- Heal
Left Mouse- Attack
Right Mouse- Build
Q/P- Toggle Pause
M- Toggle Mute
R- Restart Game
K- Toggle Fullscreen
Story:
A grave disagreement with the Ski Mask Baddies forces Bob to end his building career for good. However, dissatisfied with just his unemployment, the Baddies are out for his life! Now, Bob the previous Builder becomes Bob the Brawler; living only to defend himself from the Baddies that are breaking into his warehouse, in hopes of regaining his positions, and...punching off... some steam!! (>:[=)
Post your scores below!
Credits:
Programming/Design- @itsdanidre
Art/Audio- @AXLplosion
Made for Ludum Dare 45. Best run on Chrome's latest browser
Edits:
Bug fixes:
- Fixed play screen
- Players/Baddies/Items no longer get stuck in walls
- Players can clearly see the direction they're aiming
- Sfx no longer crash on some browsers
Changes:
- Easier controls
- Added package timer visuals
- Tweaked sfx
Added:
- Power-ups!
- Difficulty increases over time
- Minimal varying maps
Edits #2:
Changes:
- Increased map size
- Adjusted difficulty over time.
Added:
- Scroll-able screen
- Screen-shake
- More power-ups!
- Mute
Post your highscores below:

Don't forget to use your potions! (space)
Ratings
| Overall | 541th | 3.473⭐ | 114🧑⚖️ |
| Fun | 417th | 3.438⭐ | 114🧑⚖️ |
| Innovation | 861th | 2.784⭐ | 113🧑⚖️ |
| Theme | 1052th | 2.383⭐ | 113🧑⚖️ |
| Graphics | 380th | 3.795⭐ | 114🧑⚖️ |
| Audio | 334th | 3.444⭐ | 110🧑⚖️ |
| Humor | 413th | 3⭐ | 106🧑⚖️ |
| Mood | 650th | 3.241⭐ | 108🧑⚖️ |
| Given | 122🗳️ | 171🗨️ |
Is the game getting harder over time? I'm not sure but it felt like enemies started to have a little more health at some point.
@iori-branford yes, I am increasing the player hitbox. All enemies have a fixed health. It's probably the hitbox made it seem as though you attacked when when you did not, so yes I will adjust that.
@arielle-stroman @AXLplosion is amazing with the art! And faster right away? :cold_sweat: That's definitely the definition of quick paced the game should represent :grinning: I'll work on it!
Thanks for the ratings guys! Give me time to adjust the game and get to your games as well okay! :smile:
**Suggestions**
* Make it easier to place walls where you want them. It's hard to place in the heat of battle
@fragment-games Thanks! :smile:
@taylor-reynolds that was an audio bug that I fixed. Do check it out again if you have the time :sweat_smile:
@mad-brokli Walls block enemies and create fun navigations. And since I fixed the aim bar, it's easier to see where you're attacking/placing! :grin:
@lone-wolf you can now place walls at will in the heat of the battle! :stuck_out_tongue:
@feingehacktes Thanks for playing! :slight_smile:
I am going to try out everyone's games now!
I like how heads get left behind, so instead of you punching the heads off guys it's kinda like you're punching the bodies out from under the heads. Truly a strong man.
A simple but effective entry. Nice work.
high score: 14838
(1) at first i thought Q was punch because the game told me to press that at the beginning. I would have liked a button to show up on screen at the start to give me a hint. that would avoid the moment of confusion of not knowing the controls
(2) its super satisfying to beat up the masked guys
(3) animation is really cool and music fits really well
(4) i dont know what the potion or the box do but im glad it shows how much time is left to collect it
overall really cool game, just needs more content
As I mentioned on Discord and as others have mentioned in the comments here, the walls aren't very useful as it stands now. Since enemies will tear it down in a heartbeat, it doesn't help very much with blocking enemies off. They were also a bit difficult to place. Moreover, you also don't gain any points for placing walls, which basically just means you're stalling progression by blocking yourself from the enemies. Maybe if HP would passively regenerate after X seconds out of combat or if you got points for every wall placed they would be more useful.
Overall the game controls really well and is fun to play. I love the small circle that indicates where you'll hit the enemies, it feels really responsive and it never feels like it's the game's fault when you die. Solid entry, well done :smile:
*****
@lunardust as it's mostly a brawler, I'd more add powerups that increase brawling capabilities, over weapons, but suggestion noted. :slight_smile: Thanks for playing!
*****
@vaibho Dude you found a cheeky way to survive! xD (I will update the AI's intelligence, in an effort to combat that! (>:]=)
*****
@shieldgenerator7 woah thanks for playing! Let me get to you:
1 The play screen has a list of controls right where it says Q to play :sweat_smile:
2 Glad you like it!
3 Thanks! @AXLplosion worked really hard on it!
4 Collect potion drops to add it to your inventory. Use space to consume such potion.
*****
@gamers-blood-entertainment @neowhoru thanks for playing!
*****
@marcus-otterstrom Yo quite the review! :smiley: You definitely beat my highscore though :joy:
I really appreciate your suggestions on wall usage. The potions were meant to be the HP generation, since sometimes I found issues in balancing where the player would forever have 100 health, or enemies would punch too hard :laughing: But I will also adjust the scores to give an incentive for placing walls! :smile:
*****
### Thanks for playing guys, I'm going on to playing your games now! :grin:
Bob would benefit from some more knock back, I think!
The controls were a little tricky because you had to use your mouse and WASD and Space at the same time.
I would recommend to use Q instead of left click and E instead of right click
@nikita-demidov I tried balancing the knockbacks to prevent him glitching through walls :sweat_smile: I think the Q and E would be trickier though, because you've need to figure out how to move up and left at the same time, while using those fingers to press q or e. But with mouse, one hand (left) can be on the WASD, the thumb finger on Space, and the right hand on mouse with left and right click accessible right there and moving the mouse as the aim. The reason I put Q as pause is because that break away from quick paced moving you can stretch your finger to pause right there and take a break, without having to find your hand all the way over to the P button.
But if I keep working on this game, I'll definitely add options for customizable controls :slight_smile:
I'm glad you like it!

Here's my score!

I find the trick of putting yourself in the end of the corridor at the map's edge really cheaty... Most of the bad guys are comming from the corridor entry and always get punched. And only a handful try to get in through the wall - and these are not really hard to fight off. And it looks like I can stand there pretty safe for a long time.
I guess you can experiment with control options to make them more intuitive. I found myself pushing Q when I didn't wanted to - options like that better move to the other part of the keyboard.
Having both left and right mouse clicks don't work well for Macs with touchpads only - you can introduce some alternatives to these options. Also, maybe having a mouse to point the hit direction could be avoided altogether - you can just hit in the direction of the last movement.
*****
@coffeedrinkers thank you! You came close to a full score of 10s xD
*****
@mrpiedpiper brawl or be brawled :sweat_smile: Yes, clicking outside the game stage cancels the action since...well since it's off screen :rofl:
*****
@invader whew extensive review! I guess that is a cheaty way..later on in the map enemies force you to move around though, but I will think up a way to prevent such campers. P is another button to pause, but due to hand limits it was betteer keeping it next to where all our fingers are, so you won't take too long locating the pause button in this quick paced game.
I've also never considered devices with touchpads only. When expanding the game, I will include different control sets. Although, one of the problems with the hit based on direction, was the need to constantly move left to run and right to punch for a split second, then left to run again. But I guess I will make it a controls option in the future.
*****
# Thanks for playing! :grin:
Nice work.
But hey, you can post your highscores to see who is the best Brawler! :stuck_out_tongue: I do plan on adding more content/goals soon. Any suggestions?
*****
@mharring I guess I can add a bit to the attack animation instead of one quick frame. I'll look into it! But thanks for playing! :smile:
*****
@sver glad you enjoyed it!
*****
@trevor-shoe Yeah I didn't get too far as it was a game jam, so I fine tuned the story around all limitations I had :sweat_smile: But hey, glad you like it! And thanks for playing! :grin:
Lots of cool mechanics in this game. I wasn't able to using the building as effectively as some people but it does seem like it can help control enemy positions. The pickup system works although it's relatively unclear what each pickup does.
I think the main problem I have is that the game is too repetitive. One type of enemy, one type of player attack (as far as I could tell), and the gameplay stays more or less the same throughout the whole game. The best way to improve it is definitely more variety.
One other thing: it's possible for a whole bunch of enemies to stack up and kill you in like an instant. I think a player invincibility frame would be a good addition.
*****
@brandon-anderson thanks for playing! Expansions are a surety; may I ask what features you'd like added?
*****
@mrerdalural thanks for playing! :grin:
*****
@jin9310 I appreciate the bias you had for my game :joy:
*****
@umsee can you give me more onit being 'less juicy'? :grimacing:
*****
@coldsanwdich189 thanks!
*****
@pestodesign get shanked! :sweat_smile: I'm not sure how to avoid that yet, but I'm experimenting ideas. Suggestions appreciated :grinning:
*****
@honey-pony trapped? That's odd. I will add to the description what the power-ups do :sweat_smile:
I barely got the pathfinding working so it released as limited as is with the time limits, unfortunately. Thus, the only way I saw to make it difficult was to increase variables relative to score and call that 'difficulty'. But I do plan on adding a new enemy soon...we'll see if that expands the story, as it was made to collectively grasp Bob's current limitations :rofl:
Player invincibility is definitely a power-up I've contemplated adding, but now I have a greater idea on it's implementation, so I'll get to it! :smile: Thanks for playing!
*****
@gord10ahmet thanks for playing gord! :slight_smile:
If there was continued development post-dare, would definitely say you could introduce some sort of puzzle element with the wall building. A puzzle/action arcade game. :smiley:

# Juice it or Lose it!
1. I think it would have been more fun to have a **Screenshake** here and there with your game being something like a ***reverse Bomberman*** with an action element. I would have loved a little screenshake :heartpulse:
2. Also I think that the enemies could have used a little bit of **variation**. Like changing the color of their masks and shirts just a tad and they could have been randomised through code (not at all a new object or enemy sort of fashion, because I see you contemplating that)
3. Also **Permanence**(I'm making this up if you haven't figured it already, I am no expert in these things). you could make the masks of the dead enemies linger a little while longer.
4. I played the game again to make sure of this. The Popups could use some animation. as in and elasic easing and it could grow into view from the bottom. (*like a paper from a printer-ish*)
Don't get me wrong. I loved your game. This is just my inner critic exposed by you asking for it.
P.S: THis is just one pet peeve of mine, I was absolutely annoyed by the way these masked men walk could you make their legs move sideways rather than up down.
Were there walls surrounding you, or did you escape the map somehow? :sweat_smile:
*****
@lexyvil the difficulty does increase over time :grin:
- Baddies spawn faster, stronger, higher health, in greater amounts, punch harder.
- Powerups become more frequent, lasts longer, becomes stronger/more efficient.
- Potions give more health as well, to compensate for the stronger enemies.
*****
@pestodesign :joy: you have to use powerups to combat that :grimacing:
However, I'm looking into adding AoE powerups soon, to combat that.
*****
@johnnysix a puzzle game! That's really a unique big brain idea. I've never explored puzzle games before, and it's often challenging (and sometimes fun) to play those types of games myself, but I can definitely do something along the lines of adding levels and you'd beat a certain amount of baddies before proceeding. Then I can create other challenges as well. Sounds good! :thumbsup_tone4:
*****
@sawtan Haha, yeah I made the objectives with an attempt to encase the limitations and possible features of the game :stuck_out_tongue: Thanks for playing!
*****
@umsee Woah! Another sweet review! Haha, we all have those inner critics. :sweat_smile:
1. Effects is one thing I've never done before, and really looked forward to it for this game. Thank you for reminding me! That'll be a while coming, as I currently would have to get back in contact with the artist, but the screen shake should definitely be possible now, as I've made my own custom vcam! Great idea! :smiley:
2. I draw the enemies off sprites by images using JS, so I'm not sure how I'd render/manipulate said images. What would be easier though, is splitting the head/body into separate sprites, and upon each baddie spawn, they'd have a property of which combination of sprites they are....customization! :grin:
3. Health sometimes drops when they die, which is registered after they vanish; that's why I left it for a short time originally. But I do now (just thought up) know of a way I can make their heads remain a longer period of time, nice suggestion.
4. I'm no art genius and again would have to see if I can get @AXLplosion into animating that. But what I can do at the moment is have a mini glow lingering in place of where the powerup will spawn for a couple seconds. And if that powerup is off screen, have a few arrows on the screen's side indicating that a powerup is over there. (similar to that one missiles phone app where you see which direction the missiles are coming from) Great idea!
### Thank you for the review, and the many ideas with it! Fortunately, those things are within the range of my skilset, so with time, I'll see to it that they're done!
*****
# Thanks for the reviews guys! I'm adding those ideas and suggestions to the game soon.
## But for now, I've got maaaany submissions to rate! :^D

> So I'll get to these first!
@umsee I use plain HTML and Javascript :stuck_out_tongue: Prior to the event though, I also made my own Game Engine, which is what you see with the canvas (full screen or not, resizable for all sizes) as well as the game audio (simple APIs I created prior which made everything easier) Adding audio I put the file srcs, and just load it in and call functions like audios.playLoop('audioName') and it'll look for that audio and play it! :grin:
But everything is done using Javascript, and drawn onto HTML5's canvas! :thumbsup_tone4: so the spaghetti code is all open source either way, lol.
Like this - but you'd have to fight off the masked dudes AND solve the puzzle. :anguished:
(http://www.arcademachine.com/core/gamedata/java/A0137.gif)
However i felt that the game could have a bit more content in it, in the form of levels to beat, different enemies that appear over time or something that improve the experience. The audio could also use a bit polishing in order to improve the experience, but it already are in no way annoying.
The game also starts to lag after sometime. It is a bug or something?
Very nice entry. Congrats on a good job!
The audio was rushed at the end too, thanks to @AXLplosion. And enemies are also planned to be broadened on. :slight_smile: We cut it close jam end.
Lag you say, :thinking: I've never experienced that. But I will look into optimizations as a result.
### Thanks for playing! :grin:
*****
@karrar-home-student Thanks for the review! :smile:
*****
@artyom-volkov Thanks!
*****
@johnnysix that's definitely a unique mix :anguished:
*****
@honey-pony I've adjusted the wall collisions, so hopefully that does not happen again :sweat_smile:

I did much better in my second try:  ;)

Regardless of that run though, the game was a great experience. I love when a game is consistent on all fronts. The fonts, the gfx, the music all came together so well, probably because it was done by 1 person. But the gameplay was also very cohesive too. Before I cheated the game I was really enjoying scrambling around, picking up hurt walls and either replacing them quickly, or keeping them around for quick deploys like a Jackie Chan fight or something lol. I'm shocked you guys have so few LD games under your belt, this seems like something a much more experienced team would pull off, so an amazing job to you!
*****
@hkspadez the shake effect is one of my favourite things :grin: Thanks!
*****
@jaun nO BOB it's Bob the Brawler, not Building! :rofl: No fortress buildinggg!! :stuck_out_tongue:
*****
@danilo-freire thanks!
*****
@gullyngames Sweet score! I do plan on more baddie varieties, yes. (I've also considered baddies collecting powerups, but that's a program for another day :joy:)
*****
@untitled-studios thanks! Glad you think so!
*****
@peachtreeoath
All 9s :open_mouth: **you beat the game!!** :astonished:
Surprisingly enough, I tried that method (corner spamming) but it didn't work out for me...I guess your twitch-mashing finger skills are much superior to mines :sweat_smile: I guess a way I could counter that is by having a delay in the clicks as well, but for this LDJam I'll leave it as it :grin:
It was an amazing experience developing this game! I was able to use years of tutorials I learnt; finally understanding what they do, as I browsed my mind for methods to do this or that and remember a video I watched in the past :rofl: Lots of **big brain stuff**
It was also my first time collaborating for the making of a game , and the artist was able to take my concept and create art that set the game up as it is now:
## Before Art-

## After Art-

But yeah, he's a professional, so he really was able to make the music/art/sfx sync :relieved:
# Thanks for playing!
A few notes a gameplay mechanics:
- having to mash LMB to fend off the enemies is just way too tiring in the long run, with this many enemies and so much of their health attacking repeatedly by holding would have worked better, I think
- on my first playthrough I got a large map, on my second one the map was smaller (no scrolling, just as large as the screen); the random generation of permanent walls already adds a risk of unfairness between playthroughs, but getting drawn different sized maps exaggerates that even further (or maybe it's a bug?)
- I couldn't quite decide whether I'd rather fortify myself behind a wall or go collecting things; the walls promote static gameplay, the collectibles promote dynamic one; maybe it's not a bad thing, though
- the fact that a wall once destroyed by baddies is lost forever discouraged me from getting the wall; maybe if the destroyed wall became a rubble I can collect, I'd be more eager to place them around (with a restriction that I can't place a wall on a baddie)?
- on both playthroughs, I was doing pretty well for a while, and then I got caught in the loop of baddies punching me, swiftly leading to game over; with that, it barely feels like health is really that significant if getting hit once leads to many subsequent blows; maybe the main character could have some invincibility frames or something?
- the game could definitely use some more variety aside from punching the same brand of enemy, sometimes with shinier helmet but otherwise acting the same
Also, I don't really feel much of a theme here. I mean, technically the protagonist starts with no potions nor walls of their own, but still has his magnificent fists. Throughout the game, I didn't really feel so much more powerful than I was at the start.
Aside from that, the general idea behind this game is pretty workable, and audiovisuals are spot on. Maybe you could expand that concept into something more?
*****
@shaurya-juneja good luck! :wink:
*****
@ryusui Fortnite, aha. The strategy was intended indeed. Sadly the end result wasn't. :sweat_smile: I guess I really did not make a lot of the controls very clear:
- When you destroy walls you also collect walls.
- You receive walls from collecting packages, and have a random chance to collect one from baddies.
*****
@alphish woah, there! Okay, first off, thank you for this extensive review, it's really eye opening. Let me get to you.
- There's a barrage powerup that does auto attacks for you. The auto attacks are faster at later stages, so it's the big help for beating baddies.
- In addition to that, there's a strength powerup that insanely boosts your attack power. Combine that with a barrage powerup for insane one shots.
- As enemies scale later on, powerups do too, that was my plan to get players roaming for them; but I guess it was not well intuitive :sweat_smile:
- I learned mid-production how to draw maps from pixel-images; the first few maps were just the screen size; I used array 1s and 0s for those. I thought keeping them there along with the larger maps would have added for variety; especially as a player can simply **R**estart that one level if they're not satisfied with it...but I guess I should have made that clear as well.
- You receive walls from collecting packages, destroying walls, and also have a random chance to collect one from baddies. But wall rubble; that's **definitely** something I can add. (well, more of a wall drop) though the challenge would be seeing to it that you don't collect too many walls at once (max is 99)
- There's already a restriction that you can't place walls on baddies...unless you found bugs I somehow missed? :eyes:
- Invincibility is definitely something I thought about adding. More like an invincibility powerup for a brief period of time. The challenge to adding it to *whenever the player gets hit* is that in earlier stages, it's almost impossible for baddies to hit you before you brawl them to death; so the challenge would be balancing early gameplay with scaled difficulty later on. :thinking:
- :rolling_eyes: originally it was one enemy sprite. But people (myself included) longed for variety. Unfortunately, the artist had moved on from the project, so I used my pixel skills and drew 3 different coloured faces :rofl: but HELMETS TOO! :sob:
I plan on so many varieties, but I need an artist. :pensive:
The character gets stronger in terms of health, and powerups become more powerful, starting from nothing. So I guess I should have made it clear, that the powerups are the driving force behind the game, and from nothing to something. Also, there's an ending at **9999999** too :grin:
As for expanding, I'm [working on a version 2 of](https://trello.com/b/HgDlN6cd/bob-the-brawler-20) the game outside from the Ludum Dare, and I'm adding all the suggestions around. (adding your wall rubble drop as well) So the future game will have those things considered.
Sorry for the extensive reply, but a whole hearted thank you for the review. I shall adjust my game description to be clearer on everything! :thumbsup_tone4: :smile:
Maybe it would be a good idea to have a maximum amount of enemies limit (if there already is one, I haven't noticed). Sometimes while trying to rest from punching I'd walk around a bit and just got too swarmed really fast.
First time I've played (without reading the info) I just punched my way through. On my second atempt though it was much better.
Congratulations!

The potions thing was interesting, it was good the way it kept me moving around and forced me to take some risks.
If there was one area that didn't shine that much it was the enemies. They were a little bland, and made a lot of different situations feel kind of samey, and I found myself wishing to be a bit more scared of them or have some variety.
Beyond the interesting design, the aesthetics are on point, too. The song is grooving and the sound effects are great, and then there is nice art, and best of all the movement feels great and all of the interactions have a nice punchy juice without going overboard.
All around very well done.
I have two issues with the game as it stands. The first is that the building mechanic feels somewhat redundant; I never actually used it at any point. The second is that the gameplay feels rather repetitive; the enemies are all identical, you only have one punching move, and the power-ups don't seem to spawn frequently enough to be able to mix up the gameplay effectively.
Also, as endemic of the arcade genre, there was a point in the game where I simply felt like giving up because the number of baddies becomes too overwhelming. This did make the game less fun for me. On the plus side, the typical game length didn't feel too long or too short, so the spawning progression felt pretty good.
https://youtu.be/No9PjQTpi0s
Progression is paced well, hits feel juicy and you feel your impact on the world when you see tones of heads
around. I didnt see any bugs and mechanics work like they should.
I specifically like AI navigation and map generation, well done on those they are great!
Music and sound just do their job, they fit the game but nothing extraordinary.
What I personally didnt like is that enemies barely have knockback after a while, I think limit to how little knockback they have should be reduced, like make it simpler for us not to die longer, the game is fun as long as you dont die for long time!
Overall nicely done, an end goal would be amazing, like even a small text after some time saying you won bla bla bla, so that people have a goal in the game.
Also thank you for rating our game, I did not know it was you until I came here from the stream! I read every feedback and take it into account for the future, you even left a comment on itch.io which is very nice of you, cheers!
Bob the Brawler is an impressively complete experience. The music is good, the feedback is satisfying, and the core gameloop appears well made.
My main complaint is actually the basic control of using click to punch. As far as i can tell the character punches as fast as you can press the button. I found that the biggest factor in how long I stayed alive was how furiously I was willing to mash the mouse button.
I wonder if the orange blocks are a bit too weak? It seemed me that setting up more walls of any value takes some time, wherein enemies can spawn. It feels a bit for nothing when enemies break through the walls rather quickly and sometimes from multiple angles.
Again, this is a great game. I would recommend adding some limit to the rate at which the player can punch, and perhaps making the walls just a bit stronger. Not much, just a bit.