Guardian Duty by robotabc773

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:
- Smite: Fire a quick projectile that hits for low damage.
- Light of Torment: Deal moderate damage to enemies in front of you.
- Growth of Sword: Enhance your sword’s speed, power, and size for a short time.
- Aura of Damage: Conjure a damaging aura around yourself that harms enemies for a short time.
- Tornado: Create a Tornado to redirect enemy attacks.
- Heal: Restore 10 points of S. Coartie’s health.
- Planar Sanctification: Kills every enemy and removes all projectiles on screen!
| Youtube | https://robotabc773.itch.io/guardian-duty |
| Original URL | https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/46/guardian-duty |
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🗨️ |
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!
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!
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!
I also liked that the object you were protecting acts as a barrier to interrupt your movement, it definitely made the gameplay more interesting.
It was easy to understand and control.
Nice job