Maru Island
A downloadable game demo for Windows
Welcome to Maru Island by Fanfare Games! This is an early look at the development of a new indie action RPG inspired by games like the Mana and Zelda series, with a dash of bullet hell. Dodge enemy attacks and projectiles while positioning yourself carefully to strike back. Explore a high fantasy world full of challenges to overcome as a team of three heroes. Currently seeking playtesters - just download the demo and tell me your thoughts in the comments or at sara@pipkofanfare.com or better yet fill out our post-playtest survey (it's very short).
NEW: You can now play Maru Island in your web browser! Just visit https://gx.games/games/axprhn/maru-island/
I'm hoping to assemble a small team for this project - if you are an artist, programmer, writer, etc who thinks you might be interested, please contact me at sara@pipkofanfare.com
THIS IS A PROTOTYPE. Don't expect a lot of game YET - this is mostly a mechanics testing ground at this stage. But development has picked back up steam and our team is finally starting to grow, so expect more and more in the future!
Like the music? The soundtrack is now available!
Currently Implemented:
- 1-3 player couch co-op (with full controller support)
- Sword Combat
- Spear Combat
- Bow Combat (Archery)
- Items and inventory
- Basic enemies capable of melee and ranged attacks
- Basic character customization
- Basic XP/levelling
- The beginnings of a complex follower AI system
- Several tracks of original music in a high fantasy orchestral style (plus bonus tracks in sound test menu)
Coming Soon:
- Better keyboard controls
- Improvements to player AI
- A choice-based character progression system that will allow each player to develop their character differently from each other.
Longer Term Plans:
- Ensure gameplay is working, tuned, and FUN before committing to art, story, world design, etc
- After prototype is complete, work will move on to converting to proper story demo.
- Much, much, more!
Download
Install instructions
You can now play Maru Island in your web browser! Just visit https://gx.games/games/axprhn/maru-island/
Portable: Unzip directory wherever you want and run "Maru Island.exe" to play
Installer: Launch the installer and follow instructions.
NOTE: Save files are kept in C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\maruisland
Development log
- Prototype #57 - Ally AI upgradesApr 12, 2024
- Prototype #56 - Item Drops!Mar 21, 2024
- Quick FixMar 16, 2024
- Prototype #55 - Now with (placeholder) hair and clothing!Mar 16, 2024
- Prototype #53 - Credits, Platform-Specific FixesNov 18, 2023
- New: Play Maru Island in browser on GX.gamesNov 15, 2023
- Prototype #52 - Visual upgradesNov 15, 2023
- Prototype #51 has launched!Nov 12, 2023
Comments
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New coop action looks great glad you stuck with 2D .
This seems like a neat prototype! I like that you don't change screens to enter combat but just jump right into it, as well as being able to switch between weapons quickly!
One thing that bothered me while playing was not being able to see very far in front of my character. It made me a bit unsure of what was coming, and made battles a little trickier. Shifting the camera forward to show more ground in front of the player and maybe centering it a bit during combat I think would improve the overall experience.
You are doing a good job, keep focusing on gameplay first!
Thanks again for taking the time to share your thoughts!
Toyed around with it for a bit, looks great :)
Thank you so much!
Ooo
This looks to be coming along nicely.
Out of curiosity would you ever consdier selling a stripped down version of the mana like folower and battle systems for GMS once your done ? Of course using open source - royalty free assets to avoid any licensing conflicts .
I don't think that's likely, sorry. It's not really designed to be a standalone system, everything is pretty integrated with everything else and a lot of stuff is hard coded to values specific to this game. Plus I wouldn't be able to find or create equivalently high quality os/rf character assets, etc - Seliel put a lot of time and effort into making art suitable for this kind of game and there's nothing else out there quite like their Mana Seed assets.
understood and agree about the mana seed assets .
It's a fun prototype with a lot of potential. I hope everyone gives it a try 🤗
Thank you! And especially thank you because I would have never been able to build it so quickly - or so beautifully - without your art!
loved how theres an x gender :D
Thanks, it was important to me to include that as well.
^v^
Look awesome! Really liked the final boss and the fighting / sword combat is fun!!
Thank you so much!
Good work on the ai allies / followers .
Thank you so much!