The Woods - 2022 7DRL Entry

It's time for the annual Seven-Day Roguelike (7DRL) challenge, hosted on itch.io. I try the challenge nearly every year. The last few years have been tougher to find the time.

This year I have submitted The Woods - which is far from a full game, but at the very least a successful roguelike experiment.

In The Woods, you control a squad of woodsmen protecting their forest against an evil incursion. Here is how to play.

How to Play (Strategy and Concepts)

As the player, you get one action per turn. This can mean moving any of your units, or having any of them perform an action. However, unlike traditional tactical turn-based games, there is no set order. You can move the same unit as many times as you want. So long as they do not get too far away from the other units. "Too far away" is measured both in distance and time (turn count).

If one unit gets too far away (or far ahead) from the others, they will no longer be able to move or perform actions (unless that move brings them closer to the squad).

So keep your squad together. If they get too far apart, you can use the Rally commend to sync back up, as long as (1) they can see each other, and (2) there are no enemies in sight.

You can also have your units follow a leader, using the Follow command. This saves you from having to move them independently if you don't need tactical movement.

Since the woodsmen use bows, they must Reload after every Attack. Make sure you set up your squad in such a way that they are not overrun by enemies - remember you only get 1 turn among your entire squad vs. each enemy getting their own turn.

All units have Stamina, which is used up when they attack. It also serves as a health buffer. When you Rest with no enemies next to you, that squad member will restore 1 unit of Stamina.

Health is limited and cannot currently be restored, so be careful.

Each unit has a special Bullseye attack (which must be reloaded independently). It will kill any enemy with a single shot (multiple-heart enemies show up shortly after the game starts) but at the cost of all of their remaining Stamina.

Right now the game ends when all squad members die. The enemy squads will get tougher and bigger every 50 turns (as measured by the 'Difficulty' level). Enemy squads will constantly spawn as you play. Score is measured by how many enemies you can kill before your squad is wiped out!

Commands

WASD or Arrow Keys: Movement (4-directions)

Normal Game

1: Action Menu

2 or SPACE: Rest

3: Switch to Next Unit

4: (reserved for future use)

Menu

1: Confirm/Select

2: Cancel/Back

3, RIGHT, D: Next Menu Item

4, RIGHT, A: Previous Menu Item

When Targeting

1 or SPACE: Confirm/Fire

2 or ESCAPE: Cancel

WASD or Arrow Keys: Select Target