Inner Demons by seanarooni
Semi experimental strategy game about fighting ones inner demons and escaping vicious cycles of self loathing. Inner demons attempts to explore ideas such as consumerism as escapism or self soothing to combat or hide from negative thoughts. The game is played with a mouse, drag items down to the large box below them to snap them to a grid in this item management & deck building inspired entry. The demons attack scales aggressively, build up the perfect deck to survive their onslaught and achieve total victory.
Your goal is to survive the demons onslaught while dealing 99 damage to them. Each turn you are given some money to buy items with (by dragging it to the square below the shop). When you buy an item, you gain its attack and block bonus immediately, and at the start of each round for as long as you hold that item in your inventory. You can also "use" your items by dragging them on to the enemy demons. Doing so grants its block bonus again as a 1 time effect, but then the item is removed from your inventory. This is a good way to get the necessary block required by later rounds. Some items refund for cash to use on the next buy phase, or you may want to use an item to free space in your inventory, or remove an item with a negative effect.
| Youtube | https://seanarooni.itch.io/demons |
| Youtube | https://seanarooni.itch.io/demons |
| Youtube | https://seanarooni.itch.io/demons |
| Original URL | https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/47/inner-demons |
Ratings
| Overall | 416th | 3.229⭐ | 26🧑⚖️ |
| Fun | 332th | 3.229⭐ | 26🧑⚖️ |
| Innovation | 145th | 3.667⭐ | 26🧑⚖️ |
| Theme | 526th | 2.935⭐ | 25🧑⚖️ |
| Graphics | 387th | 3.208⭐ | 26🧑⚖️ |
| Audio | 285th | 3.125⭐ | 26🧑⚖️ |
| Humor | 103th | 3.391⭐ | 25🧑⚖️ |
| Mood | 262th | 3.271⭐ | 26🧑⚖️ |
| Given | 33🗳️ | 21🗨️ |
Luckily the game was very well done (I especially liked the graphics) and enticing that I tried until I got it.
What you should explain more explicitly:
If you buy something, you get its +attack/+block immediately. You do not get its block value subtracted again on "the next" demon, unless you use it. It is only one consistent enemy you are playing against (with 99 life until dead, no matter how many rounds that takes).
(correct me if I understood anything incorrectly)
And, to gloat a bit:

btw: lol, "anywhere but here" ^^
Loved the graphics and the humor
Takes a bit of time to figure out, but learning is enjoyable and after that the game is very nice. I managed to finish it on 2nd try.
Love the art and background music. It kept nice, intense atmosphere.
Cheers!
Well done! I especially liked the attack sentences of the demons, and I loved how together with the items this makes a compelling statement about everyday life and society grinding you down bit by bit. UI-wise it's a bit hard to figure out, and survival does hinge on what items you get (same as with many deck building games), but other than that I wouldn't change anything about this game. :slight_smile:
As others have mentioned, I found figuring out when to use items and when to just hoard them a bit confusing but I think that could easily be fixed with some UI tweaks. Overall it was really fun to play once I got the hang of it.
You seem to really like rainbow gradients! :D I think the music worked well with the art. Good game overall, well done!