LudumData

You've Kidnapped the Wrong Prince! by SketchyGalore

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made by SketchyGalore for Ludum Dare 50 (COMPO)

You've Kidnapped the Wrong Prince!

This is a autobattler/defense game, where your objective is to protect your castle for as many rounds as possible from a hero who will inevitably save the day, as heroes always do! Between automatic battles, you hire and upgrade minions to stop the (unstoppable) hero.

  • Controlled entirely with the mouse. Remember to drag and merge units to power up their stats!
  • 4 different units (out of the dozens I couldn't pluck out of my brain in time!)
  • A random knight name generator for some reason!
  • Lightly inspired by some of my favorite autobattler (and similar) games, such as Monster Train and Super Auto Pets

You've Kidnapped the Wrong Prince! was made by Evan Good for LD 50: "Delay the Inevitable". This is my sixth entry after a LONG break (last time was LD 36 in 2016)! My idea for the theme started as some sort of "bad guy always loses" scenario, like how Bowser sets up all of those obstacles for Mario, just to have Princess Peach inevitably rescued. I figured making an autobattler would be a good way to shake off my programming rust, since it was something I had no idea how to make! It definitely turned out a bit basic compared to what I think it could be, but I'm happy to have made it as far as I did in the 48 hours! If I was to go back to it, I'd want to flesh out a lot more of the content, add more units including ones that appear later in the game. I'm also fairly certain the balance could use a lot of tweaking, so please play this as a proof of concept!

You've Kidnapped the Wrong Prince! was developed using the following tools/resources: - GameMaker Studio Pro 2 (with HTML5 export) - BFXR sound generator - Audacity audio editor - Clip Studio Paint (with a cheapo tablet!)

HTML5 Version Available to play here!

No pre-existing art, code, or assets were used.

Dedicated to Broden the Corgi, canonically the prince of this game.

Thanks for playing and congrats to all the other entries!

Known Issues: - The restart game button breaks some of the shop controls, so the game needs to be restarted by reloading the browser!

Development Screenshots: Clipboard07.png Clipboard06.png Clipboard05.png Clipboard03.png Clipboard02.png Clipboard01.png

Link https://www.dropbox.com/s/ve4ce00hyxgnd1g/LD%2050%20-%20You%27ve%20Kidnapped%20the%20Wrong%20Prince%20-%20Source%20Code.zip?dl=0
Link https://evanbgood.itch.io/youve-kidnapped-the-wrong-prince
Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/50/youve-kidnapped-the-wrong-prince

Ratings

Overall 369th 3.333⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Fun 221th 3.548⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 414th 3.048⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Theme 237th 3.762⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 469th 3.048⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Humor 163th 3.35⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Mood 411th 3⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Given 26🗳️ 23🗨️

Feedback

She Wrote
04. Apr 2022 · 17:04 UTC
The graphics are simple, but the gameplay is engaging, and it is funny. I made it to round 14!
Common
04. Apr 2022 · 18:02 UTC
I really enjoyed this game. I played for like an hour and finally got to round 16. The one thing I wish was different was if the money obtained from previous rounds transferred over.![Round 16.png](///raw/df3/44/z/4aa4a.png)
zantze
05. Apr 2022 · 21:56 UTC
It's goooood! Autochess is defineately an ambitious idea and I think you executed it well here! I like the monty python reference too
Hawke Games
13. Apr 2022 · 00:04 UTC
I guess I wasn't the only one to make a "Tower Defense" game Lol. This game is pretty cool, the graphics look nice and the strategy is cool. Also, I absolutely love the story and the humor :D. The only thing the game really needs is some music and more sound effects.

![Screenshot 2022-04-12 195615.png](///raw/345/34/z/4df1d.png)
TopperVideoGames
19. Apr 2022 · 21:59 UTC
Nice strategy game! I think this fits the theme very well, as the only goal is to see how long you can last against an ever more powerful enemy. I went with a melee-archer-miner set up to see how well that extra coin paid off. I got to round 9 with it, which seems decent enough. At that point the knight one shots everything, so the only hope was to get it in three stages!

This was a fun experience, I could see some potential and being able to buy more spots for bigger strategy. Good work!
Fionnabhair
19. Apr 2022 · 23:34 UTC
I made it to round 8 with a miner-archer-wizard team. I would have loved being able to buy more than 3 units for my team. But I suppose if wouldn't be thematic if the player won, right? Great game! I enjoyed it.
🎤 SketchyGalore
19. Apr 2022 · 23:43 UTC
@common Seems like 16 is the record so far!

@fionnabhair Thanks! That was actually the top cutting room floor thing, unfortunately. If the compo was 52 hours, I would have tweaked it to 5 character slots! The code is mostly there to do it for the most part, but I would have had to adjust things graphically to make them fit, along with the extra balance complications. If I were to pick this game up again, that would be my first stop along with some more curated unit variety (tiers and such).
Quinn_Patrick
20. Apr 2022 · 00:03 UTC
I was impressed with the amount of strategic depth that this game has. Everything seems really well thought out and the number of interacting systems is truly impressive. I also had a lot of fun playing and experimenting with different strategies. I tried using the wizard once, but he disappeared from my team after one round. Is that supposed to happen? If so, there isn't much point in using him. Also, the game didn't work when I restarted, all of the clickable icons became inert. I had to refresh the page to play again.

At first I thought there was no possible way to get past about level 9, but seeing someone make it to 16... maybe there is some value to the wizard, lol.
🎤 SketchyGalore
20. Apr 2022 · 00:49 UTC
@quinn-patrick Thanks for your feedback! The disappearing unit problem is strange... I noticed it once in a recent replay, and thought it might have had something to do with a click being registered in the transition between the two scenes, causing a unit sell before the button is visible. But, there's a lot of hasty code in that transition held together with duct tape, so it could be anything! The game restart thing is one I just noticed today, so I put up a disclaimer. That one I know what I did wrong, unfortunately! The control that handles mouse actions in the shop deletes itself when it goes to the battle, then restores during the transition. Because the object only exists at the start of the game or from that transition, clicking restart means the mouse controls are dead - doh!

As for the score, I actually don't know how they did that :sweat_smile: My best is 10!
shared
20. Apr 2022 · 03:13 UTC
Very fun little game, though I have no clue how someone reached wave 16. What I did was 2 miners and a skeleton, which took me to wave 11, but with slightly better luck, I think I could have reached 13-14, but 16 I have no idea how to. I like the concept of the game, it plays well, though I feel the units you get could be a bit more balanced. With how much the attack from the hero scales, I did not find a use for the goblin, while I could have a miner instead, and unless the wizard has a secret, he is just a worse skeleton.
I actually have an idea on how to make it further, will be trying it.
shared
20. Apr 2022 · 03:21 UTC
![unknown.png](///raw/cab/1/z/4e34b.png)
Turns out my idea worked
🎤 SketchyGalore
20. Apr 2022 · 03:55 UTC
@shared Balance in general was one thing I regrettably had to rush, which is why I'm so pleased people have been digging into it so much with different results, so thank you for that! People actually liking it enough to play it a few times is an awesome feeling

And in that regard, I'm quite curious what tactic made it all the way to 20! :smile:
shared
20. Apr 2022 · 04:08 UTC
@sketchygalore It was actually the same monsters I used before, miner/miner/archer. However, what changed was my strategy around money, I was very agressive with my re-rolling, aiming for skeletons above all, and spending my leftovers on a miner stack.
I think (and this is my opinion) I would have given the goblins 3 attack and 2 health (or 2 and 3), to make up for the fact that a ranged unit will hit at least twice, while with how fast the enemy attack scales, a melee unit will very likely die in a single hit after day 5 or something.
For the wizard, I would have seen him with at least 5 attack, maybe 6, to make up for the awkwardness of his price (they're pretty hard to budget around)
Anyway, these are just my opinions, and I am not telling you how to make your game.
But yeah, very fun entry, fun enough for me to play it 3 times.
🎤 SketchyGalore
20. Apr 2022 · 04:25 UTC
@shared Not at all, I appreciate the feedback! It's really important to know what works if I wanted to tinker with this project more. The big takeaway I've found is that more complexity in abilities would help a lot (more units like the miner that do something other than simply fight). The wizard is definitely in a weird place, as it was designed as the start of my idea of "tiers", like you'd find in other autobattler/autochess games, but I wasn't able to flesh that idea out in time to justify the cost. Goblins, as well as the concept of playing defensively, also needs a lot more to it. I'm pretty sure I'd change a lot about how the knight deals damage and such in future plans, do something about the "one shot" nature of melee and such. But, in general I think this is the sort of game that could use a lot more content and a TON of playtesting like you did, so the LD is really just a proof of concept. Thanks again for finding the optimal route!
shared
20. Apr 2022 · 04:35 UTC
@sketchygalore Well glad you appreciate the feedback ! One easy change that would help bring melee back up to line, if they still got one shot that is, is to give them counter damage when they get attacked, though if this were to be a thing, don't buff the goblin's stats. Such a thing would be kind of hard to balance, but it would give melee a guaranteed 2 hits. Or maybe that could all be a special unit's power.
candlesan
20. Apr 2022 · 05:35 UTC
Good and effective take as an autobattler. I like being able to pick the formation. Would love to see more units and more enemies as you continue to develop this out.

Very resourceful for a compo to use animation of the units around the board to communicate the attacks. Very effective.
p0l4r
20. Apr 2022 · 13:43 UTC
Pretty cool! As other have said it would be great with some more units and more opportunities for fun builds. maybe the +1 coin from rats could stack? Maybe have a unit that buffs other units, or converts attack to defense?

I liked it, and played it a couple of times to test out mechanics and stuff, so all in all i say great job!