(Please note: This game is not perfect and has many, many flaws, though some are left in as intentional features)
The Game where 2 people Combat Each Other is a game which I designed, prototyped, and created as my 2024 Science Fair Project in grade 9. This post explains the lore and explanations behind the game mechanics, as well as the credits (Because I forgot to program it into the actual game).
The basic premise on which this game operates is as follows: you play as a cleric or rogue, against your friend on the same computer. Both characters have their own special abilities, their own advantages, and their own strategies. There is a curse which you must pass to the other, which receiving, you take damage at a constant rate. Once you lose all your HP, game over. Think of it like Hot Potato, or Tag.
Player characters
Cleric
Rogue
The two player characters in this game are the Cleric and the Rogue. Essentially, the Cleric has more health and stuns, while the Rogue is faster and more mobile. Both players receive the ability to double jump, world-wrap, and killbind.
The Cleric is slower and jumps lower than the Rogue, but has two strong abilities. Shield Bash allows you to dash extremely quickly in a direction, and upon contact with the Rogue, stuns him for 2 seconds. The Charge is an ability that sends a charged projectile that homes in onto the Rogue, which stuns for half a second.
The Rogue is faster, and jumps higher. His abilities are the Dash, and the Smoke Bomb. The Dash, like the Cleric’s Shield Bash, displaces you along the x-axis very swiftly, and though it doesn’t have the stun ability, has increased range. The Smoke Bomb, well, spawns a smoke bomb at your feet, which expands into a cloud, hiding anything inside it, as well as freezing the Cleric’s Charge (if deployed).
The Curse
While you have the curse, your HP drains slowly, marked by your HP bar. The goal of the game is to make sure the enemies health is drained all the way before yours is. Now, here is the most important part of the game: the curse-transferring mechanism. The curse will only be fully transferred to the other person if you are moving towards them and they aren’t moving towards you. Or else, it will be transferred back and forth. There are situations that might make it seem as if one person should’ve been transferred the curse, but haven’t been, that can all be explained with this rule. The few upsides to being cursed include: faster speed, increased jump height, and faster ability charge rate.
Maps
This game has three maps to offer: the Forest, the Caves, and the Castle. The Forest is set in a forest (obviously), and the platforms themselves are placed in a manner where there are tight corridors as well as free space. The Caves map has platforms with a jagged underside, a mostly even floor, and various alcoves hanging throughout the cave. The Castle has vertical platforms as well as the horizontal ones, but this map has been intentionally designed to be difficult to traverse. A wrong step, and you’ll fall to your doom and lose half your current HP bar. (This applies to all maps, but especially this one.)
Strategies and Mechanisms
Some things are so essential to the gameplay but aren’t mentioned previously. These were discovered through the trial and error of our play-testers, and changed the playing field by a lot. First, the simplest. We refer to it as “Tanking”. You tank when you are being chased by the cursed, but instead of running as you should, you stand your ground and move towards them and remain in contact. This applies equal damage on both sides, which is advantageous to the player with higher health (usually the Cleric) because they’ll be able to outlast the other, hence, “tanking” the damage. Second, a counter to tanking, the “Market Garden”. This is a term borrowed from Valve’s Team Fortress 2, and is used in a similar context. If you are on top of your enemy, they will be locked into position. They will be cursed and will be unable to move, which forces them to killbind (another term borrowed from TF2, meaning to respawn). Killbinding takes away half of their current health bar, spawns them at the top of the map, and curses them, which is also what happens anytime you fall off a map. If you are being chased, or being tanked, you can jump, and then smash down quickly while they are still under you, “Market Gardening” them. This is especially effective against tankers and aggressive players.
Final Words
I’d like to thank Ms. I for approving my project, as well as Prince, Evan, and Michael for serving as play-testers and providing feedback. Below is a zip file which contains 2 files. To access the game, first make sure you are on a computer with a keyboard - then, download and unzip the file, open the .exe file and enjoy! Remember, this game is incomplete and buggy. It might take a bit to get used to the controls. But in the meantime, find a friend and have fun!
| Controls | Cleric | Rogue |
| Left | A | J/Left Arrow |
| Right | D | L/Right Arrow |
| Jump | W | I/Up Arrow |
| Ground | S | K/Down Arrow |
| Bash/Dash | Hold Shift + Direction | Hold ‘/’ + Direction |
| Charge/Smoke | C | M |
| Killbind (Respawn) | Z | , |
(make sure you are on a computer)
