Shovel Jam 2025 entry |
You are stranded on a dead planet that's been taken over by ancient artificial technology built by the planet's long-extinct native inhabitants.
Gather scraps around the crash site, reverse engineer the fauna's tech to build more Frames, and upgrade your Golem for new abilities to ensure your survival.
Will you live to see the light of another day?
Only your skills in the battlefield will tell!
🦀 ★★★★★ Rate the game on itch.io!
- Move Frames & Aim Laser
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🖱️ Mouse (Move)
🎮 Right Stick
📱 Touchscreen - Ability (Fire Laser)
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🖱️ LMB (Click) | ⌨️ Space
🎮 West Button
Use your 🖱️ mouse (🎮 Right Stick, 📱 touchscreen) to lead your Frames into battle! Collect scrap to buy upgrades, and beat the waves of enemies. Press 🖱️ LMB (⌨️ Space, 🎮 West Button) to use your Golem's upgraded arm. Persevere through enemy waves and beat mini-bosses until night 10.
| Concept Art | Details |
|---|---|
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We were inspired by the "getting an engine started" suggestion in the theme announcement video, and thought about robots/golems. We decided on a two-phase gameplay, similar to games like 9 Kings and Dome Keeper, but with a much simpler day phase, since we wanted to keep the scope very small for the jam. We also had plans for deck-building elements, we scrapped that idea! |
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We debated between a medieval fantasy or a sci-fi setting, and ultimately decided on mixing elements of both. Iron Giant and Pacific Rim were some of the mood directions we went for. |
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For the enemies, we thought that the concept of "artificial life taking over" was better represented by "nature" itself, so we went with animal-like robots, which ended up being crabs. We had plans to add more creature types and a unique boss, but we scrapped those due to the small scope. |
- Font: https://jotson.itch.io/gravity-pixel-font - Audio Engine: FMOD Studio by Firelight Technologies Pty Ltd. - itch.io CSS: https://nnda.itch.io/pitch