WEBVTT 00:00:01.510 --> 00:00:05.760 Hi! This is Game Maker's Toolkit, I'm Mark Brown 00:00:05.760 --> 00:00:10.950 So a few months ago I made a video about controllers, and when I said "there is incredible elegance 00:00:10.950 --> 00:00:14.820 to be found in games designed around a single mechanic" I showed this game. 00:00:14.820 --> 00:00:18.330 And way too many people didn't know what the game was. 00:00:18.330 --> 00:00:23.990 So let me introduce you to Downwell: a stylish and brutally difficult arcade game, about 00:00:23.990 --> 00:00:29.580 plummeting down a randomly generated well. And it's also one of the most elegantly designed 00:00:29.580 --> 00:00:32.230 games I've played in a long time. 00:00:32.230 --> 00:00:37.100 And the reason I say that is because almost everything in the game serves two, or even 00:00:37.100 --> 00:00:38.789 three purposes. 00:00:38.789 --> 00:00:44.319 The game's creator, Ojiro Fumoto, was inspired by a Shigeru Miyamoto quote that goes "A good 00:00:44.319 --> 00:00:49.299 idea is something that does not solve just one single problem, but rather can solve multiple 00:00:49.299 --> 00:00:57.260 problems at once" - and boy, does Fumoto run with it. 00:00:57.260 --> 00:01:02.479 Take the jump button. Downwell was made with mobile in mind, so Fumoto only wanted three 00:01:02.479 --> 00:01:06.750 buttons: left, right, and jump. But because the jump button can do something else when 00:01:06.750 --> 00:01:11.800 you're in mid-air, that same button also fires bullets out of your boots. 00:01:11.800 --> 00:01:16.320 These gunboots serve multiple purposes as well. Not only do they kill enemies, and not 00:01:16.320 --> 00:01:21.300 only do they carve paths through blocks, but they also slow your descent and help you maneuverer 00:01:21.300 --> 00:01:23.500 in mid-air. 00:01:23.500 --> 00:01:27.060 Enemies are, well, enemies. They try and kill you from all different directions and you 00:01:27.060 --> 00:01:30.570 can blast them with your gunboots. But they also serve two other purposes. 00:01:30.570 --> 00:01:35.380 Your gunboots have a limited charge, but if you land on an enemy's head you'll instantly 00:01:35.380 --> 00:01:40.530 reload. And this will also start a combo chain: bop a whole bunch of enemies in a row and 00:01:40.530 --> 00:01:46.100 you'll get special bonuses like extra gunboot charges and more gems. 00:01:46.100 --> 00:01:50.550 Landing on the ground also serves a couple functions: it reloads your gunboots, and it 00:01:50.550 --> 00:01:52.690 finishes off your combo. 00:01:52.690 --> 00:01:57.390 The game is full of gems, which are used for a bunch of different things. Gems collected 00:01:57.390 --> 00:02:02.280 during that run can be spent in shops, and your overal collection of gems is used to 00:02:02.280 --> 00:02:04.950 unlock new game modes and visual styles. 00:02:04.950 --> 00:02:10.149 Plus, collecting lots of gems in quick succession unlocks "gem high" mode, where your bullets 00:02:10.149 --> 00:02:15.209 are bigger and do more damage, for as long as you continue collecting gems. 00:02:15.209 --> 00:02:18.599 These sub rooms give you a chance to breathe - especially if you're in the middle of a 00:02:18.599 --> 00:02:23.239 frantic combo. But they also let you pick up some more gems or, sometimes, get a new gun. 00:02:23.239 --> 00:02:26.909 If you've been paying any attention so far, you won't be surprised to learn that the gun 00:02:26.909 --> 00:02:31.319 pickups serve two purposes. They not only give you a new weapon to play with, but the 00:02:31.319 --> 00:02:36.079 pickup also boosts either your gunboot charge or your health. And getting health not only 00:02:36.079 --> 00:02:40.459 boosts your hit points but, if your health is full, starts building up towards boosting 00:02:40.459 --> 00:02:42.989 your max HP, too. 00:02:42.989 --> 00:02:47.170 You can also look at things outside of the main game. The styles, which are alternative 00:02:47.170 --> 00:02:52.670 ways of playing, make the game both easier and harder to play. Boulder style gives you 00:02:52.670 --> 00:02:58.060 more HP but fewer upgrade choices. Arm spin style gives you more gun upgrades but shops 00:02:58.060 --> 00:03:00.079 are now ultra rare. 00:03:00.079 --> 00:03:04.040 And the aesthetics don't just give the game a quirky, retro style but also make the game 00:03:04.040 --> 00:03:09.709 immediately readable at 100 miles per hour. Foes and obstacles show up in red, and enemies 00:03:09.709 --> 00:03:15.569 can also be all red if you can't jump on them, or just red on the bottom if you can. 00:03:15.569 --> 00:03:21.019 So, as you can see, pretty much everything in Downwell is working at least two jobs. 00:03:21.019 --> 00:03:23.700 And this carries some substantial benefits. 00:03:23.700 --> 00:03:29.109 For one, Downwell can offer a huge amount of depth with, essentially, half the number 00:03:29.109 --> 00:03:33.590 of moving parts. It doesn't need separate buttons for jump and shoot. It doesn't need 00:03:33.590 --> 00:03:39.579 a reload button or ammo crates. It doesn't need separate items for gun, health and charge pick-ups 00:03:39.580 --> 00:03:43.400 And this means you don't need to learn loads of obtuse systems and have to figure out what 00:03:43.400 --> 00:03:47.980 everything does because as long you understand the basics, the rest will flow. 00:03:47.980 --> 00:03:53.549 And it also allows Fumoto to nudge you towards playing Downwell in his intended way. Which 00:03:53.549 --> 00:03:58.620 is to play the game at top speed, turning the levels into a barmy dance of jumping from 00:03:58.620 --> 00:04:00.529 one enemy to the next. 00:04:00.529 --> 00:04:05.629 So if you collect gems to use in the shop, you'll also enter gem high mode which encourages 00:04:05.629 --> 00:04:10.409 you to act fast and quickly collect gems to keep that meter going. And if you bop on a 00:04:10.409 --> 00:04:14.969 few enemy heads to reload your gun, or because these jerks turn into evil nightmare skulls 00:04:14.969 --> 00:04:18.690 if you shoot them, you'll want to keep doing this to get a bigger prize, which makes you 00:04:18.690 --> 00:04:21.250 go faster and take more risks. 00:04:21.250 --> 00:04:25.310 These combo systems also act like a difficulty mode, without making you select it from the 00:04:25.310 --> 00:04:31.350 main menu. Want to make Downwell more difficult? Try getting a combo over 20, 30, 40 points. 00:04:31.350 --> 00:04:35.900 And they make the early levels more fun on your 50th go. Oh, Downwell is a roguelike 00:04:35.900 --> 00:04:39.290 with permadeath. Did I forget to mention that? It's basically Spelunky: 00:04:39.290 --> 00:04:42.750 four different worlds and then a boss. And like Spelunky, the first world eventually 00:04:42.750 --> 00:04:46.840 becomes so easy that it's a bit of a chore to work through. But in Downwell, you can 00:04:46.840 --> 00:04:51.850 use this first world to practice your combo skills, and build up a nice stockpile of gems 00:04:51.850 --> 00:04:54.220 and goodies for later stages. 00:04:54.220 --> 00:04:59.260 Fumoto also wants you to make tough decisions and, again, this is reinforced through the 00:04:59.260 --> 00:05:04.950 game's dual purpose design. You might not want to pick up the unpredictable noppy weapon, 00:05:04.950 --> 00:05:10.590 but you do want the health boost that comes with it. Hm! The styles come with tricky trade-offs, 00:05:10.590 --> 00:05:15.460 as do the upgrades collected between levels. Making your bullet casings deadly sounds good, 00:05:15.460 --> 00:05:18.970 but it could screw up your combo game. 00:05:18.970 --> 00:05:23.880 Downwell shows how a game can do a lot, with a little, as long as every part of the game 00:05:23.880 --> 00:05:29.460 is working over time. And it shows how a game can provide a lot of depth without being overly 00:05:29.460 --> 00:05:36.520 fussy and complex. And so all that, is why you really should have heard of Downwell. 00:05:42.650 --> 00:05:46.360 Thanks for watching. Game Maker's Toolkit is funded entirely through Patreon. Thanks 00:05:46.360 --> 00:05:51.100 to all my supporters, including these super special five buck a video heroes.