Forest Roguing

A continuous roguelike where you are lost in a forest and trying to find your way out.

No matter which way you go, you just find yourself heading deeper and deeper in the forest. Keep going, survive long enough, and you might just find your way out. 

This game was, strangely perhaps, inspired by Justin Smith's Desert Golfing. I was playing the recent sequel Golf on Mars and wondered if I could translate the 'continuous world' sensation to a roguelike sort of game where, instead of travelling through discrete 'levels' of a dungeon, you just gradually end up deeper in the forest. This is the result!

This is probably the most systemically complex game I've ever made. There's a bunch of different magic spells and types of enemies with different statistics and ways of moving. You get experience points to level up and gold to spend at shops.

The ending, if you survive that long, is a bit anti-climactic because I hit the code limit of what Pico-8 let's you do sorry lol.

I suspect it's not perfectly balanced. I would be keen on feedback on what is too easy or too hard!

I think I resolve any game-breaking bugs. If you do get one, though, I'd greatly appreciate a screenshot of the error message!

Considering the amount of work I put into this game, I am charging a minimum price of $1.

HOW TO PLAY

Controls
Use arrows to move. If move towards an adjacent enemy, you attack them. If you move towards an adjacent merchant, you open the shop.

Hold 'Z' to open the radial menu. Use arrow keys to highlight a selection then release Z to select.

In menus, use X to make a selection.

If you get Game Over, press Z or X to reset. 

Enemies
As you move around, enemies will spawn and move towards you. Some enemies have different kinds of behaviours for you to figure out. 

Magic
If you come across a mage, they will gift you with a new spell. You can only have a maximum of 3 spells, and must replace an old sell with a new one. Spells include:

1. Bolt - Zap any square
2. Fireball - Blast a square on same row or column of grid
3. Teleport - Move to a random square
4. Dash - Move in a straight line til hitting an obstacle or edge of screen.
5. Shockwave - Push back enemies
6. Freeze - Make an enemy skip a turn
7. Heal - Heal some health

Items and Merchants
Merchants have various wares for sale. Potions recover HP. Ethers recover MP. Elixirs increase your stats permanently.

Levelling up
Once you get enough experience points, open the 'Stats' menu to apply your skill points and level up.