Gift Guardian
Controls
How to Play
Protect the gifts from being stolen for as long as possible. Collect the cookies dropped by baddies to level up and upgrade Santa's attacks. Make strategic choices in what you upgrade in order to survive the many waves of north pole baddies no matter how cute they are.
If you manage to beat the game, you'll be shown how many gifts you were able to survive with. Let that be a score you can attempt to improve on or compete with your friends, but survival is your first goal.
Attacks and Upgrades
Candy Cane Cyclone
A swirling spiral of sharpened candy canes shanks cuts enemies in a minty maelstrom.
- Upgrade 1: Increase number of candy canes.
- Upgrade 2: Increase attack damage of each cane.
- Upgrade 3: Increase the orbit radius & speed.
Peppermint Projectiles
A punishing blast of peppermint power that kills baddies but leaves them smelling minty fresh.
- Upgrade 1: Increase number of mint shots.
- Upgrade 2: Increase attack damage of each mint.
- Upgrade 3: Decrease the cooldown between shots.
Reindeer Rampage (A.K.A. Slay Sleigh)
Call in the cavalry charge, sworn to plow and protect.
- Upgrade 1: Increase reindeer & attack range.
- Upgrade 2: Increase attack damage.
- Upgrade 3: Decrease the cooldown between calls.
Credits
Code, Art, and Music by Nerdy Teachers
Special thanks to:
- bikibird for coordinating the PICO-8 Advent Calendar 2024.
- Werxzy for sharing his
smooth_move()function. - Thanks to my students for their playtesting and suggestions!
Lore
written by: Ome
There was a family of Gift Guardians...
There was a family of Gift Guardians who lived in a country filled with snow, which were planning to set sail and explore new places. A kid named Nic dreamed to go on adventures with his family, "can I please go too?" Nic asked. Nic's family always said no, the family drove to the Wilkless Market, where their boat is. They drove there and went on the boat, getting ready to set sail. But Nic had different plans, he snuck into barrels filled with stinky fish. The family planned to visit Gogle Isle, a deserted island.
They set sail and explored the seas, after 10 minutes of silence a storm appeared. The boat shook. Barrels flew out of the boat, people were holding on for life, and suddenly... The barrel that Nic was in flew out of the ship, his family saw him and jumped to help, they slipped in the rain and failed saving Nic. The storm was too powerful and they were overwhelmed.
Nic decided to start a new life. He saw peppermints, candy canes and reindeers. Nic only brought his 21 favorite toys wrapped in presents. The presents have been passed down for generations, suddenly walking snowballs with grumpy faces quickly tried to steal the presents, because those presents are worth a fortune. Nic saw 3 items he could pick up, but he can only choose 1 item. He could choose between, Peppermint Shooter, Spinning Candy cane and Reindeer Burst.
After every time he picked up an item he would need his energy fueled back with cookies that drop after you kill the enemies. If Nic got enough cookies his energy would be fueled back, he could either choose between an upgrade or a new item. After a while other enemies were appearing like, elfs, robots, penguins, toy soldiers and lastly snowmen. Some do more damage, some are faster and some have more health.
Every item might not look as strong once obtained, but after upgrading every item is strong in their own way. Nic is still protecting his presents till this day, he was so familiar with fighting all the time he forgot his own name, so he gave himself a new name called Santa Claus.
Comments
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I found this outside of the game jam - really nice game, very charming and well polished!
Thanks!