Unstable Magicks by Untitled Studios

made by Untitled Studios for Ludum Dare 49 (COMPO)

:book: PREMISE :book:

Something has gone terribly wrong. Upon performing the demon summoning ritual, all magic in a nearby area has become unstable: your access to magic has gone haywire. Now, stuck with a rotation of three spells, you must defeat the demons and harvest as many of their souls as you can.

:fire: HOW TO PLAY :fire:

Fight demons using your spells: an indicator on your mouse shows if your current spell is charged.

Charging -
Fully Charged -
Overcharging -

If a spell is used too early or too late, you will be stunned temporarily.

Demons drop souls when killed. Collecting one will recharge your current spell immediately.

Tip: Killing demons in quick succession will net you additional souls because ??? video games

:videogame: CONTROLS :videogame:

| | | |------------|--------------------| | Move | WASD / Arrow Keys | | Cast | Left Click / Space | | Quit | Shift + Q | | Fullscreen | Shift + F | | Mute | Shift + M |

:filmframes: GAMEPLAY :filmframes:

https://youtu.be/j1jan2oDEUg

:camera: SCREENSHOTS :camera:

Screenshot 2021-10-03 175028.png

Link	https://drive.google.com/file/d/170mQLIfWiJpF8kInN3b9moO5CvNohwoB/view?usp=sharing
GMS2	https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UdCAb5nMkGjqtas5kcdYJ5vfqaddyGuR/view?usp=sharing
Original URL	https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/49/unstable-magicks

Ratings

Overall	83^th	3.895⭐	21🧑‍⚖️
Fun	11^th	4.25⭐	22🧑‍⚖️
Innovation	281^th	3.325⭐	22🧑‍⚖️
Theme	283^th	3.55⭐	22🧑‍⚖️
Graphics	108^th	3.9⭐	22🧑‍⚖️
Audio	62^th	3.825⭐	22🧑‍⚖️
Mood	84^th	3.737⭐	21🧑‍⚖️
Given		18🗳️	14🗨️

Feedback

baldwinthree

04. Oct 2021 · 01:04 UTC

This game was so fun! It reminds me of teleglitch which is always a good thing. Once I got the hang of the spell timing I was hooked - got up to 81! (hopefully that's a decent score). The only thing that I don't like about this game was that you have to alt-f4 to exit - but other than that it rocks! Great job!

Also I'm convinced you had some sort of logic preventing enemies from spawning on the side of the map you were at - is that true???

🎤 Untitled Studios

04. Oct 2021 · 01:31 UTC

@baldwinthree No such logic! Just good luck, I guess. Whatever the case, I'm glad you enjoyed, and yes I totally ran out of time for a quit button (although, maybe if people can't quit they'll play the game for longer- *cue evil laughter*)

p.s. 81 is a quite good score actually

Nebiros

04. Oct 2021 · 11:59 UTC

I loved it so much ! I had to fight myself to not play it over and over !
Graphicly, I have nothing to say, it is great !
For the gameplay part, the movement, spells and all very fluid and fun to use

I only have 2 points that I think could make the game a bit more fun for me (this is just personal of course)
- Instead of switching spells every shot, why not make a powerup system with collectibles ? It would make something to look for in the arena to feel even more powerful !
- Maybe display the score after death too, so we can keep track of our best score easily

Overall, I had a great time !

Michael Feldman

04. Oct 2021 · 12:54 UTC

This game's a keeper! Felt like a modern arcade shooter with lots of timing, strategy, and skill elements. It kind of just throws you in there. It's quite different from anything I've played with the spell rotations, the timings, and the soul collection - highly innovative.

Very well balanced, though the challenge curve is a bit steep, and the runs are short. Great for the game jam audience, but maybe a little intense for the casual arcade audience.

spudboy

05. Oct 2021 · 02:29 UTC

Pretty good overall. It was quite confusing to work out how to read the cursor to know when I could cast, but once I did cycling between the spells was fun.

I wish it showed your score after you died! I was somewhere between 20 and 30 points but not paying that much specific attention to it.

🎤 Untitled Studios

05. Oct 2021 · 02:48 UTC

@spudboy glad you enjoyed! Definitely wish I had it show the highscore after death. Also- we have the same pfp haha

Jake Marks

05. Oct 2021 · 03:44 UTC

Definitely gives me 2d Devil Daggers vibes. Really fun and very cool music.

VOD Link: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1167820239

Mathiouza

05. Oct 2021 · 22:13 UTC

Really really cool! Would have been nice to see my final score on the try again screen though x)

Nothing to say. Like, really, it's very polished, the art is simple but fits well. The gameplay is juicy and it's really interesting to play.

Great work! :clap: :clap:

Tygrak

05. Oct 2021 · 22:31 UTC

That was cool :)! The game looks great. The spell effects are really really satisfying. Chaining together multiple enemy kills is also awesome. Good job on the game overall!

RefraX295

06. Oct 2021 · 06:50 UTC

Fun game with simple but satisfying graphics. Well done!

Kage

06. Oct 2021 · 23:06 UTC

Really great simple concept, switching spells is really fun. Got to 300 if anyone wants to try and beat it :3

Heiach

07. Oct 2021 · 00:45 UTC

I liked shooting the little pig faces!

GoogleFrog

09. Oct 2021 · 05:25 UTC

Great moving and shooting. I love the pixely lireo-style graphics. I got to 364.

JoeRenglish

09. Oct 2021 · 05:30 UTC

Super cool little game! The effects and simple pixel graphics are really charming. The only criticism I have is it's a little difficult to tell when a spell is good to cast or not. I really like having the charging me on the curser, but the current animation makes it really difficult to tell at what point the spell's charge is at. If I play it for longer it might start clicking with me though. Really amazing job!

Harmadillo

10. Oct 2021 · 10:25 UTC

Fun game. Moving and shooting was nice and responsive. Having to time the shooting with the magic recharge made a nice run/shoot rhythm to it.

Alexthehuman2

10. Oct 2021 · 16:54 UTC

Everything feels polished, the 3 states of charging felt really smooth, the spell system was well designed and fits the theme, with me being able to tell which spell I'm casting just by looking at the colour, which brings in to the graphic, it is well contrasted and I can tell who is enemy and what are bullets, and who is me. Over all a very well done compo that is comparable to many other great games I've seen, well done!

yikescloud

10. Oct 2021 · 16:59 UTC

Very cool mechanic! I love the random shooting type, you need to keep focus on the monster and your mouse same time, it gives the game more dynamic and fun! Good job!

C0nt

11. Oct 2021 · 16:51 UTC

I'm a sucker for simple arena shooters with elegant designs. The presentation was nice. Made me want for more.

mborecki

13. Oct 2021 · 13:39 UTC

Very fun game.