CranKnight (for Playdate)
A downloadable game
About
Spin to win on the Playdate! CranKnight (Crank-Knight) is a short but challenging, chaotic rogue-ish/survivour-ish hack-n-slash game where you fight waves of enemies while upgrading your weapons. Use the power of the Playdate crank to swing your weapons to fight and block!
- Select from 5 unique weapon types, with multiple upgrade options
for each! - Hold up to 4 different weapons at once to come up with endless
combinations to fight your way to victory! - Upgrade your armour to 3 different styles, changing up the way you play!
- Complete achievements to show what you've accomplished (and unlock secret weapon upgrades)!
Controls
| DPad | Move |
| Crank | Spin Weapon(s) |
| A | Accept (in menus), Spin Clockwise |
| B | Go back (in menus), Spin Counterclockwise |
Install Instructions
Note: This game is only playable on the PlayDate console.
Following the official guide: https://help.play.date/games/sideloading/
- Log into your Playdate account: https://play.date/account/sideload/
- Upload the "CranKnight.pdx.zip" file downloaded from this page
- On your Playdate, go to Settings > Games. Hit the "Refresh" button and select "CranKnight" when it shows up.
- After it's done downloading, you're ready to play!
Credits
Programming, Art, Sound, and Music by me (Caden Marofke / Dinosire).
dpaint_8, peridot_7, ruby_12 fonts Copyright (c) 2022 Scott Lawrence. Used under MIT license.
Special thanks to all the people I bugged to play early builds and who provided essential feedback, especially:
Karina Lebedeva, Eric Himbeault, Morgan Epp, Jon Gaudet, Cody Edwards
Purchase
In order to download this game you must purchase it at or above the minimum price of $3 USD. You will get access to the following files:
Development log
- ButtonKnight (v1.0.3)28 days ago
- v1.0.245 days ago
- Thank You! (And some bug fixes) v1.0.151 days ago
Comments
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Hey, really enjoy the game! I was wondering if you considered adding a hold down a or B to rotate weapons option for those who maybe aren't as crank friendly?
Hey there, I’m really glad to hear you liked the game! I can take a look at implementing that, thanks for the suggestion!
I was able to quickly try out adding the accessibility option you mentioned (hold A to rotate clockwise, B to rotate counter clockwise).
You can download it now in version 1.0.3.
Let me know what you think, and thanks again for the suggestion!
Thanks! I really like it this way. The only comment I have is it can spin faster with the crank than the buttons. I wonder if could have two speeds, a faster one by double tapping the button? I dunno. Anyway great game and looking forward to future updates.
One other comment. I find it hard to spot when I get damaged. I dunno if could have a flash effect or something when it happens?
Good point about the damage, I agree that it could be more obvious, as I don’t always notice when I’m playing either hahaha, I’ll see what I can do! As for the speed, I’ll play around with some control schemes, I’m concerned double tapping could lead to some accidental behaviour, but I’ll see what I can do. While I agree the crank can get faster, I hoped the buttons would be at least a fairly balanced speed.
Anyway, thanks for the continued feedback and support, I super appreciate it!
Here's a review if anyone wants to see it in action. I had fun with it, it's obviously limited in scope being a playdate game and a bit of a linear progression than the game which inspired it, but it's a good take on the genre and uses the crank well to freshen things up a bit. A clear should last a little over 10 minutes if you're lucky, and with a bunch of achievements, it's a good title for short bursts.
Thank you so much for the review! I’m really glad you enjoyed the game, great analysis! You brought up some good points that I thought I should clear up:
Thanks again for the review, I really appreciate it!