Controls

The Arrow Keys are used to move the character in the world and to select options during battle.

Z to open the menu and to go back.

X to select.

CTRL+R to Reset the Cart.

Rules

Once you start the game, a new Kobold character will be generated, together with a randomly selected name. You begin at Level 1 with 7 HP. You start out without any weapons, so be careful - you won't be able to do damage with your bare hands.

Your objective is to guide your character through the dungeon and to get to the last room.

Gameplay is divided into two main scenes:

World Scene

You observe the map of the dungeon from a Top-Down perspective and must guide your character toward the exit of the current map.

MOVEMENT

You move through each map with the arrow keys, and interact with the world by simply bumping into things. You can bump into...

SIGNS

If you see a sign in the map and bump into it, a message will appear at the bottom of the screen. It's usually important tips!

CHESTS

If a chest contains an item, you will have to make a choice. The bottom dialogue box will display what equipment the chest contains. 

X will exchange the currently equipped item for the one in the chest. If you have nothing, you will simply take the equipment and leave an empty chest.

Z will leave the chest without exchanging anything.

ENEMIES

Enemies are spread around the maps, and coming into contact with them will initiate a battle!

Things in the maps you can walk over...

POTIONS

Will be added to your inventory, and you can use them to recover 5 HP.

KEYS

Necessary to open the locked doors around the dungeon. Will be automatically used when bumping into a door.

STAIRS

You must walk into a stairs tile to be able to advance to the next map.

Info Display

The Z button while in the world will display over the screen your character's info.

Name, face, current HP and Level.

It also shows your current equipment and its value. Weapon will deal that amount of damage, and Armor will decrease taken damage by it's defence value.

Lower down its the amount of keys and potions you have. You can press X to use a potion from this menu. 

To quit the display and keep on playing, simply use Z to go back.

EQUIPMENT

WEAPON

The weapon your character wields. It will damage your enemy in battle equal to its DMG value.

You start off empty-handed.

ARMOR

The armor currently worn by your character. Any time an enemy tries to hit you, the damage will be reduced by the DEF value of the armor.

You start off without armor.

Battle Scene

After bumping into an enemy, the screen will transition to the Battle Screen.

You will see your character to the left, and your enemy to the right.

ACTION SELECT

Using the Up and Down Arrow Keys, the player scrolls between the different options, and selects with X.

The player can pick 3 options:

ATTACK

Your character will use their turn to attack the enemy.

POTION

Your character will use their turn to attempt to use a potion. This will fail if you don't have any more potions in your inventory.

RUN

Escapes the battle to return quickly to the World Scene.

TURNS

The Player Character always acts first, followed by the Enemy unit.

You will damage the enemy or use a potion depending on what option you picked earlier. The enemy will then attack and hit you.

If both characters are still standing, you will return to the action select.

VICTORY

Once enemy's health has gone down to 0, they will be slain. Your character is awarded an amount of EXP, and might Level up once you hit a threshold. Raising in Level, your Max HP will go up.

DEFEAT

If your character's health drops to 0, you will lose the game. Once slain, you have no choice but to Reset the Cart to try again. CTRL+R to reset.

Behind The Scenes

This Prototype has been completed in a week! 7 days, plus a few hours for extra refinements...

I've always wanted to make an RPG game by myself, but I never quite made it to a point where it was playable. There are so many little things to take into account, and it felt a bit daunting to take in.

This week, I challenged myself to complete something and just to post it as it was. And boy, it was fun! Pretty hard at times, but fun. I am very proud to be able to say I programmed a little RPG System from scratch.

Credits

Game made in Pico8

Design and Programming by KaaSnake

Music and SFX by KaaSnake