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Solo game creator Mason Lindroth has released what he describes as a “recreational program with light JRPG elements” called Hylics. It’s available for $3 on itch.io.
He’s spent the past year making it in RPG Maker with physical materials, especially clay, to give the game its unique look. It has you playing as a character called Wayne as he ventures out from his home, leaving his cat behind, and exploring the rest of the islands. As you venture further into this strange world, discovering what the rest of the population gets up to, you’ll encounter people to add to your party. There are three of them in total: Dedusmuln, Somsnosa, and Pongorma.
There are bizarre creatures that will do battle with you in some regions, such as the Ambulent Skulls I came across, and you fight them in turn-based battles. Your main attack is to click your thumb and finger together. There are also special attacks that have extra effects such as hypnotizing your enemies and another that has a leeching effect – dealing damage while restoring your health. Consumable items can also be used, such as tube steaks, vegetables, juice boxes, and the most dramatic of all, dynamite.
Should you die in battle then you have to watch your character’s flesh melt away from their skin before they appear inside the afterlife. While there, you can nap to restore your “Flesh” and “Will,” which are your two types of hitpoints in the game. It’s possible to collect flesh and put it into a machine to get more flesh points. When warping back to life through the portal you’re able to choose which of the locations you’ve reached already (and activated the crystal there) you go back to.
Lindroth adds that Hylics contains about two hours of content and an overuse of random text generation. If this all is appealing to you then you may want to check out the rest of Mason Lindroth’s games as well as his Tumblr account.
