Drifting Statuary

Created for Ludum Dare 42

Once, the Drifting Isles were an idyllic place, where angels frolicked and merriment was endless. Today they are beset by demons who, for some reason, leave statues all over the place.

Drifting Statuary is a turn-based strategy game in an arcade style (in the sense that you play for score, and the game only ends when you lose). Lead a team of angels, two Assassins and two Bruisers, to fight back the demons as long as you can. Why did the idyllic land of angels and merriment have Assassins and Bruisers? Listen, you're gonna want to not ask so many questions about this game's backstory.

How to play

The Angels

On each turn, you'll move three of your angels. The number of moves you have remaining is shown on a counter in the bottom-left corner of the screen. If you have fewer than three angels remaining, you'll move each angel once. You must use all of your moves each turn.

To move an angel, click on it. Green boxes will appear depicting where that angel can move. Click on one of the green squares to move there, or click on the angel again to unselect it. You can move up to three spaces (no diagonals), but you can't move zero spaces. 

After you move, if you landed next to (again, no diagonals) a demon or statue, they'll be highlighted in red. You can click one of the red boxes to make an attack. You'll deal one damage, by default. If you don't want to attack, you can click on the angel again to not attack. If your attack kills a demon, you'll be healed one hit point and a statue will be left behind in the space the demon occupied. Killing demons also increases your score. 

If you aren't able to use all of your moves (if some of your angels are trapped) it's game over. 

The Assassin

Your team starts with two Assassins. Dangerous angels of the night, they can be identified easily by their black and yellow garments and dual blades. The assassin has three health, and normally its attacks do one damage. However, if the assassin attacks a target that is also adjacent to another angel, the attack does two damage instead. 

The Bruiser

Your team starts with two Bruisers. Thuggish angelic enforcers, they can be identified easily by their blue and brown garb, wooden club, and awkwardly small shield. The bruiser has four health, and normally its attacks do one damage. However, if the bruiser attacks after moving exactly one space, the attack does two damage instead.

The Demons

Once you have used all of your moves, it will be the demons' turn. Usually, two demons will act during the demon turn. Fewer demons will act if there are fewer than two demons on the board. It is also possible for three demons to act if there are six demons on the board (there will never be more than six demons, that's plenty, trust me). 

Just like the angels, a demon that is acting will move up to three spaces (not zero, and not diagonally) and then attack an adjacent unit if possible, doing one damage. The demons only attack angels, never statues. If, after a demon attack, there are no more angels, it's game over.  

After a demon moves, it leaves a statue behind on the island it used to occupy. The only exception to this rule is if that island has a sigil. Demons won't leave statues behind on sigils (though it is possible to get a statue on a sigil by killing a demon there). 

Once all the demon moves are done, slain demons respawn. Any demons killed this round will re-appear on a random sigil-island (the islands in the corners with the pentagrams) that has no other units or statues on it. Throughout the course of the game, new demons will be added to the board during the demon respawn phase as well. If a demon attempts to spawn but no sigil is available, a new sigil will be placed on a random empty island for it.

If the demons are forced to act with a demon that can't move, that demon spends its turn dying, and will respawn as normal. 

Statues

Statues are left behind when demons move or die. They have two health, and neither demons nor angels can stand on an island with a statue on it. The more statues there are on the board, the more points you'll earn when you kill a demon. However, let too many accumulate, and you'll surely be trapped.

Scoring

Whenever you kill a demon you get 50 points, plus 5 points for every statue on the board.
Additionally, at the end of the demons' turns, you get 2 points for every demon turn that has passed so far.