LATCHBOW:

A twin-stick arena shooter where you control a character who wields a Latchbow.  You fire magical grappling hooks out of your bow, quickly pulling enemies to you.  Once they're in your grasp, use them as a meat shield or hurl them back at other enemies for big damage! 

CONTROLS:

WASD - Movement
Tap Left Mouse Button - Knockback Blast
Hold Left Mouse Button - Charge to shoot a grappling arrow
Right Mouse Button - Dodge
Both Mouse Buttons at the same time - Execute (while holding an enemy)
As mentioned below, there are plenty of other actions using these buttons.  We encourage experimentation.

GMTKJAM:

This game was made for the 'Game Maker's Toolkit Jam' in 48 hours.  We took inspiration from the Jam's 'Downwell' video along with the GMTK episode on 'Versatile Verbs' as the two videos went hand-in-hand.  You control a character with a versatile, intuitive moveset which is filled with options.  Every situation presents multiple options to maximize player expression.  While holding an enemy, you can use them as a shield, use them as a weapon, use them for mobility (vaulting off of them), or execute them to restore your health.  You can dash really far or really short.  You can shoot a grappling hook, or can shoot a projectile with knockback (to hit enemies into each other), or use a quick short range knockback.  Every button performs multiple actions and each mechanic affects the game state in multiple ways.

DESIGN:

While the game has a plethora of options, we hoped to make it intuitive by designating certain buttons to certain actions.  Left click is always an aggressive option, right click is always a defensive option, and pressing both (while holding an enemy) results in an instant-killing execute that heals the player (both aggressive and defensive).  

FUTURE DEVELOPMENT:

We hope to expand on this game in the future to have levels, a variety of enemies, and some type of progression.  For the purposes of the jam, we focused on creating our versatile, intuitive, and elegant player character.

CREDITS:

David Allen - Music, Sound Effects, Design
Henry Wheeler-Mackta - Programming, Design, Sprites
Josh Mace - Sprites

All music is original
All art is original
All code is original
All sound effects are either original or modified versions of sounds from the 'Sound Ideas' effects library

Built in Unreal Engine 4.16

Follow David on Twitter: @fraudSound
Follow Henry on Twitter: @Whackta