Guardian Duty by robotabc773

[raw]
made by robotabc773 for Ludum Dare 46 (JAM)

CoverImage.png

Lore:

You are a Guardian Angel. The job pays well, the hours are nice, and it has dental, but it comes with a downside: Mondays. Today is Monday. That means it’s your shift for Guardian Duty. For the next 24 hours, you need to give it your all to protect a worthy soul, a humble farmer named S. Coartie.

As it happens, S. Coartie is making his way to market to sell some hay. On his way, he is passing through a particularly nasty forest, full of evil Fey, creatures of the night, and fearsome being: a Dragon.

Go forth, and protect S. Coartie!

Instructions:

The monsters will try and attack S. Coartie by charging at him or shooting projectiles. You must defeat the monsters before they kill him. You can block projectiles with your sword, which gives you mana to cast useful spells to dispatch with the monsters. You can kill the monsters with your sword, but the spells do much more damage. Use your mana wisely and keep S. Coartie safe!

Controls:

Movement: WASD

Select spells: Number Keys (1-7) or Scroll Wheel

Aim: Move mouse

Use a spell: Right Click

Use sword: Left Click

Spells:

  1. Smite: Fire a quick projectile that hits for low damage.
  2. Light of Torment: Deal moderate damage to enemies in front of you.
  3. Growth of Sword: Enhance your sword’s speed, power, and size for a short time.
  4. Aura of Damage: Conjure a damaging aura around yourself that harms enemies for a short time.
  5. Tornado: Create a Tornado to redirect enemy attacks.
  6. Heal: Restore 10 points of S. Coartie’s health.
  7. Planar Sanctification: Kills every enemy and removes all projectiles on screen!

Ratings

Overall 1549th 3.354⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Fun 1451th 3.217⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 909th 3.438⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Theme 480th 4.021⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 1383th 3.5⭐ 27🧑‍⚖️
Audio 930th 3.313⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Humor 758th 3.25⭐ 24🧑‍⚖️
Mood 1174th 3.42⭐ 27🧑‍⚖️
Given 26🗳️ 4🗨️

Feedback

radow
21. Apr 2020 · 02:07 UTC
I enjoyed that there is lore and the multitude of spells at my disposal. Using them frequently was quite limited by the mana gauge though and I'm not entierly sure when you get mana back. Time based? After defeating a wave?
png
21. Apr 2020 · 02:11 UTC
I like the graphics. a bit to hectic to learn and compare the spells for my liking.
JimjarOfTheDice
21. Apr 2020 · 18:32 UTC
You get mana back by deflecting projectiles with the sword.
albertnez
21. Apr 2020 · 21:32 UTC
The game is very fun, and surprisingly has a lot of spells and enemies and even a final boss! I also liked that different situations required different spells.
I found the game very well balanced, to keep me entertained and quite challenging.
I had to read the description of the game to understand that mana was recharged by deflecting projectiles, but then the game got pretty interesting.
The music gave a nice mood, but I wished it matched better with the quick action of the game later on.
I also didn't expect the ending, but I liked it.
Well done!
Tony_Artz
22. Apr 2020 · 04:04 UTC
I really enjoy the various spells and attacks you have at your disposal, it spices up the gameplay a lot, especially how each spell has advantage over certain types of enemies. The soundtrack was also really well done. Overall and Innovative and Fun game.
Geojax
05. May 2020 · 03:38 UTC
Dude this game was really cool! The art was really well done, I absolutely LOVED the music, the gameplay was satisfying, great job! Make sure you rate other people's games, because that will make sure that your game is recommended more often by the site's algorithms. You gotta get people playing your game!

If you were to keep working on the project, I would explaining the mana bar to the player -- I didn't even know it existed until I saw your comment. Maybe there is an explanation somewhere, but I missed it, so if it is there then just make it more obvious I think or even put it in the game, like a little tutorial before you start. I'd also recommend adding sound effects. For the sword swing and maybe for when you make contact with an enemy -- you don't have to go crazy with them because I feel like the music should be in the spotlight. Really great submission!
Samuli
07. May 2020 · 19:30 UTC
Good and polished entry. Music especially was nice and variety of spells kept the game fresh for a while.
chaotikza
09. May 2020 · 15:52 UTC
Great entry - I quite enjoyed that!

Perhaps a bit too easy for those that read about how to get mana back, but I'm not going to complain too much about that - many more games to go play...

Some sound effects would've been great, but other than that, great job!
loginaut
09. May 2020 · 19:58 UTC
This was a fun arcade-y game, I enjoyed it a lot. I definitely forgot what the spells did early on in the game, but most of the icons were designed in a way that I could figure it out. Perhaps greying out spells that you don't have mana for would make it easier to read at a glance what you can cast.

I also liked that the object you were protecting acts as a barrier to interrupt your movement, it definitely made the gameplay more interesting.
yy404
09. May 2020 · 20:33 UTC
Love the design of Spells. Nice entry!
Unimaginable_Code_Studios
10. May 2020 · 01:06 UTC
Great game and solid entry! I love the music and adore the graphics. The game idea is cool and love the mechanics in the game. Awesome! Well good luck!
Adam Clayden
10. May 2020 · 17:29 UTC
Nice game! Lots of cool effects but my only grip is the movement speed. It's quite difficult to navigate from one side of the cart to the other and I lost a lot of health because of it. If there's a way to balance that then it'd be pretty solid. Good job overall!
eduardogacn
10. May 2020 · 22:20 UTC
I like your game.

It was easy to understand and control.

Nice job