Rat Dreams
If you want some cool sounds to go with your Rat Dreams, try putting on Stay False.
Special thanks to Kyle, Andrew, Rob, JW, Teddy, and Finne for feedback, ideas, and encouragement.
Produced entirely in PICO-8 between Oct 8 and Oct 28 2024.
Comments
Log in with itch.io to leave a comment.
This was a really fun take on ARPGs without a mouse, much enjoyed!
I didn't die too much, but that boss just insta-kills me when I enter the room (I maybe can walk around and dodge the oculu-things for 2 sec, then dead from what I don't know)
beautiful stuff! really enjoyed the simplicity and retro feel of this game. hard, but also lenient since damage persists after deaths. i think my favorite parts were the little bits of lore... who really is the final boss? what do our death messages mean? why do we get some items like a locket at the end? what are the little messages on those small specks we can pick up? a few things are fleshed out with environmental storytelling, and i'd love to see more.
i think i also got stuck once by dying on the first tile on the right room after the first room, and couldn't shatter the gravestone from the first room. otherwise, no bugs :3
bravo! what a fun time this is and an excellent pairing with Stay False <3. I greatly enjoyed the fun little secrets and sprite changes as you find new weapons which both serve as fun little character updates and also serve to inform more about some of the enemies (like that bastard butcher!)
Also, the split screen design where you are meandering back and forth through screens to access new areas is so fun and feels so satisfying when you figure out a path forward or realize you're back where you were 10 minutes prior. Really lovely stuff. Thanks, Adam!
hard, but made it to the end!
it was a beautiful rat dream…
I had fun! I died a Lot!! XD Very glad the enemies don't get health back when I die!
The soundtrack was very fitting and almost lasted the perfect time - I spent a while dying to the final boss. The spritework was extremely charming ^_^
I felt a little silly when I realized I missed the controls instructions in the first room - I just tried to blitz my way through the first like three rooms with only using the move key! ^_^;;; Eventually I thought to myself "I bet there's a reason the arrow keys give you an aiming reticle instead of moving you" and successfully discovered the other key! XD
Figuring out how to queue up the direction I wanted to dodge and waiting for the enemies to come over and then smacking them and backing up (or charging in, for the ranged ones) felt really satisfying! Sometimes my dodge didn't go off, but that might have been a lack of stamina.
Also I perhaps spent too much time carefully reaping all of the wheat.
awesome <3 getting that dodge/wait/smack balance was my big goal, glad that connected
This was really tough but I managed to finish it and had a good time! The look was perfect, the choice of soundtrack was excellent, and I really liked the aim->dodge/action mechanic. It would be cool if you could drop your previous weapon when you pick one up, so that you could swap back if you don't like the new one. I definitely had a hard time with a couple of the weapons (though I'm not totally sure how different they are).
funnily enough, i have a commented out unequip() function because i was thinking that was exactly how it would work. it ended up not suiting the level design or power leveling on the equipment sadly! i was so pleased w myself for figuring out a clever way to support it too
Fair enough! I figured there was a reason, but I ended up accidentally equipping an 'earlier' weapon late on because I went back through an earlier room, and that set me up for some difficulty. But that was on me for not wanting to just restart hehe. And maybe I'd have been wrong to do so anyway, if the 'earlier' weapons I wanted to keep would have been underpowered.
So charming, moody, with great suggested background music. Sadly, too hard for this gamer to get through! Loved the time I spent here, though. Thanks for making and sharing.
aw thanks! my pleasure 100%