Hello lexaloflle BBS !
---v1.0
This the 48h compo version ! Including growling bear :3
---v0.2
Now with sounds :) And better gameplay + Fx
---v0.1
First of all, thank you a lot to Joseph, this lonely 48H LD session sounds like teamwork thanks to him !
So here's my first version of Hug Arena. I still have 20h to work on it, but not so much chars left.
No sounds in game, I just spent 1-2 hours last night to design music but I'm totally unsatisfied so I will have to make another music session today...
Instructions
- Hug those monsters until they become your friend.
- You're vulnerable when you hug stuff
- Friends will heal you if you are close enough
- A level full of friends is a completed level
- Earn 1 of 3 perks at the end of levels 1-3-6-10-15
Control
arrow to move
hold [z] near a monster to hug him
This game increased my love meter. I like how the monsters come running when you're hugging one of them... like "What d'ya think you're doin'... get off him...". Ha. Great music and sfx too!
This game rocks!
Really neat if you add a random level selector, which I did and is one of the reasons I love the PICO8 platform :)
Excellent game, I really enjoy the character and concept. Gameplay rocks to boot!
sometimes then u get hit next level monsters show up but old ones not disappear
The Snuggler ! The videogame.
I just realised I never commented on this classic!
Really love the way how the arena shooter was simpified, really clever controls and mechanics.
One of my favourite BS games, alongside Mistigri <3
Hey there, I think I found a glitch. At the end of the second level, I went to hug the shooter and I died. However, the game split, where it spawned the powerups and started the next level, but it also thought that I was on the second level. I kinda expected the game to break a lot more than it did. Nice game!
Think you made an update - totally broke it - the easy guys now shoot... no fun, and the shooting guys can shoot after you've begun the hug... no matter how I time it I get hit... extra no fun!
Hi @benjamin_soule I can't find the voxatron version to comment there. I found a bug: The upgrades get further and further apart no matter if the game over is reached and a new one starts. To alleviate this I have to reset the cartridge every time.
@benjamin_soule I just found this game and it's great!
One day I would love to turn this into a little bartop arcade machine! I wish there was background music though.
Its a great game, but I always preferred the Voxatron version. That had much more charm.
I find it so tricky and vexing to dash in right when they shoot, because you don't teleport.
I returned to this game a week ago because I realized I never beat it before. Still haven't beat it, but I am determined to get it. I've made it to level 18 so far.
What are the names of all the creatures? I'm calling them bears, pots, omnipots, chargers, Aubreys, and Terminators.
Fantastic game. Intro screen is very reminiscent of lynx games, both sound wise and visually with the zoomed sprites effects.
The game is actually much more subtle than it looks at first, here's a few tips to get better :
-
reach is the most important upgrade, closely followed by speed. Once you have those two, I recommend choosing extra lives as it gives you more chances to train on the later levels.
- When pressing hug, the bear will rush to the target, this can't be cancelled so don't do it if there's a bullet in the way or if you're far and the enemy is about to shoot.
Once hugging, you should always press a direction where you can safely escape. If you run out of love, you'll get a speed boost in that direction, if you are in danger (non hugged bear too near or bullet hail from plant incoming), releasing the hug button while keeping the direction pressed will give you a cancel speed boost. A successful hug will not give you a speed boost. If you cancel a hug without pressing a direction, the cancel speed boost will be back towards where you where when you pressed the hug button. It's an interesting move but the risk is that if you finish a hug without pressing a direction, you are slightly booted out of the newly allied unit's hit box in a random direction. This can easily be fatal so I'd recommend not risking it. It's important to train the moves and cancels in the early levels. Do some hug/cancel V shapes in series, for example. You can press the cancel direction in advance while the bear is rushing to hug. If movements are mastered, level 10 is easy, otherwise, it's likely the last level for you.
About the other upgrades :
- Regen is very useful to mitigate the love drain from the robot(L13) and should be taken once you consistently reach it.
- Love is useful so you can convert a rusher robot in one go, and so you can more easily make some room at the start of a stage, but patience is key and an extra life is more chance to train.
- Power is a trap : yes, you'll hug faster witch can be useful for beginners, but you'll need as much love as before you got the upgrade and won't get as much close call cancel training, witch you'll need since you don't have enough time to hug enemies in one go at the start of later levels.
Different enemies have different shooting frequencies. It's usually a good idea to wait for the moment when they attack at roughly the same time to get more hug time before needing to cancel.
The player's hit box is a tall rectangle so it's easier to avoid rings of bullets from above or below so the exposed side is the small one.
Sometimes you get unlucky with the position of static enemies. When that happens, push allied units and use them as shields.
If you play differently and disagree with my upgrade recommendations, I'd love to hear your take on the game.
Misc trivia :
the game has 23 levels
level 20 has two love draining robots. Not the hardest but an absolute chore if you don't have regen.
If you want to be fully upgraded, you can't take extra lives but you should at least drop power for one, and maybe another instead of taking love upgrade. There is nothing special happening for being fully upgraded.
Winning level 23 just gives you a congratulations text message but still feels like a major accomplishment.
@joealarson
L18 can be cruel : it's the only level with 3 plants so the chances of two being right next to each other is high. I often lose one or two lives there when unlucky. You can pass the level with the allied shields strategy even with a bad plant positioning, but the rarity of the situation makes it hard to train, and you are usually pretty stressed when you are so far in the game and on your last life.
@RealShadowCaster Interesting thoughts. I would always go for the order: speed (you only need one), power(as many as you can get), love(as many as you can get), reach (only need one). I never bothered with Regen, but maybe I should revisit this.
Did you ever play the Voxatron version? Personally I preferred that but don't use Voxatron much these days
@phil
Never tried Voxatron. My childhood was during the 8-bit era, (Lynx, Game-Gear, NES, Master System, Amstrad CPC, C64, game boy...), so Pico8 hits the sweet spot for me while a voxel based system feels like a limited 3D software library rather than an imaginary console. I know it's arbitrary and based on memories. For example, I'd feel the same about a vector based imaginary console, even though the vectrex actually existed, because I have never played on one before.
Back to the game, you can't get more than one power up of each on the Pico8 version. Guess you're following the strategy of the Voxatron version.
This is an early banger for the system. Besides anything mentioned before, I think it has a great roguelike learning curve, which is extremely satisfying for the player. It's an amazing concept with many subtle gameplay mechanics that you discover during your attempts. Highly recommended. <3 ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ
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