{"id":2056,"edition":11,"categories":1,"features":0,"size":12507,"name":"Robin of Thirteensley","authors":[{"name":"Chris Subagio","twitter":"csubagio","login":"csubagio","gh":756253}],"description":"

The year is Nineteen Seventy Thirteen. The personal computer craze is just starting to really take off, and the most popular computers sold are… video games consoles. Inspired minds around the globe are racing to invent the future, and hungry corporations are eager to fund them.

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You’re a streetwise 13 year old, browsing casually through the broad aisles of ToysRSus, when you turn the corner into the gaming isle and there it is: Robin of Thirteensley, running on a demo station. You see animated sprites! Platforming! Swashbuckling! The gigantic 13kb cartridge, you learn from the prominently placed sticker, hosts untold adventure; basically the most realistic video game ever made. Your world narrows into focus: You. Must. Play. This game.

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This vintage action platformer is meant to be played on a desktop browser, with the arrow and space keys.

\n","source":"csubagio/js13k-robin","stars":28,"post":"https://github.com/csubagio/js13k-robin","comments":[{"at":347264004,"author":"Alexander Petrov","login":"baturinsky","gh":632779,"twitter":"baturinsky","text":"

Loved the swordfight, thought could use more diverse enemies requiring different tactics.\nPlatforming was ok, but nothing new or interesting. Would enjoy game more without it.\nOne thing I did not like was that I had to jump into the unknown several times. Though on the plus side in all those cases had landed safely.

\n","games":["Weird Cannon"]},{"at":348333547,"re":347264004,"author":"Chris Subagio","login":"csubagio","gh":756253,"twitter":"csubagio","text":"

Thanks for playing! I appreciate the feedback :)

\n"},{"at":347274698,"author":"Oliver Smith","login":"olvr","gh":2752443,"url":"https://thort.net","text":"

Absolutely captures the retro aesthetic but with modern sensibilities. The tutorial as part of the game is great, the progression is good and it is fun to play. Really nice job.

\n","games":["Exit the Castle"]},{"at":348333601,"re":347274698,"author":"Chris Subagio","login":"csubagio","gh":756253,"twitter":"csubagio","text":"

Thanks! I’m glad you had a good time.

\n"},{"at":347289379,"author":"Rob Louie","login":"roblouie","gh":5448110,"url":"roblouie.com","twitter":"rob_louie","text":"

Cool sound effect/music combo, and the presentation is cool. I liked the sword fighting, gave me prince of persia vibes.

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It fell apart for me when the platforming started. Too much momentum and gravity, and making me try to jump up to a tiny platform with fire on each side, die, then go back and fight the two purple dudes was just too difficult and time consuming to come back to after two tries.

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But still a cool game with interesting design, just some level design tweaks and it would be amazing!

\n","games":["Upyri"]},{"at":348333744,"re":347289379,"author":"Chris Subagio","login":"csubagio","gh":756253,"twitter":"csubagio","text":"

I’m sorry it ended that way for you, but it was the 80s and games were just mean. They really wanted you to put another coin in, and couldn’t shake the habit even when they made games you paid for once and took home!

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I think they toned it down in the sequel though, for what it’s worth. Thanks for playing!

\n"},{"at":347357750,"author":"Almar Suarez","login":"wololoa","gh":10622012,"twitter":"repunkgame","text":"

I didn’t manage to beat the game - got stuck in the swordfight (meaning: I wasn’t able to defeat my oponent), but I liked it. The “faith jumps” were cool!

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The post procesing, animation, and specially sounds are top notch.

\n","games":["Feast Night"]},{"at":348333904,"re":347357750,"author":"Chris Subagio","login":"csubagio","gh":756253,"twitter":"csubagio","text":"

Thank you for the kind words. Yeah, the swordfighters are jerks. They are super predictable jerks though… if you’re patient you can basically always parry them, and they’re guaranteed to be vulnerable afterwards, fools that they are. The feints are more of a random chance thing if you’re feeling lucky, flashy, or both.

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Glad you liked the over the top filter! I’m positive CRTs weren’t actually that bad back then, but they sort of feel like they were, 40 years later, don’t they?

\n"},{"at":347394161,"author":"Christopher Lis","login":"christopher4lis","gh":7675752,"url":"https://christopherlis.com","twitter":"christopher4lis","text":"

Played this game a few days ago. Sound effects here are incredible. Love the strumming sounds that come with sword swipes and hits—they really stuck with me and have legit thought about them during my day-to-day (lol). Cool graphics and easy-to-get-going controls.

\n","games":["Young Magi, Awaken"]},{"at":348333986,"re":347394161,"author":"Chris Subagio","login":"csubagio","gh":756253,"twitter":"csubagio","text":"

Thank you for playing! Sorry not sorry that the guitar was an earworm* :)

\n\n"},{"at":347507637,"author":"Christoph Schansky","login":"DerBenniBanni","gh":5499976,"text":"

I am impressed by the presentation, the crt-effect ads so much to the (really good) pixelart. The animations are great too!\nI also had fun with the platforming and the swordfights, only that giant pillar with the fire below is a big turndown. motivation-wise. BEcause when you miss the jump, its over without any chance of recovery.

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The music/guitar string-thingie fits very well. Also the storytelling below is great.

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I*d love to see a version with more (reachable) content .

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(And kudos for your game description :-) “Nineteen Seventy Thirteen” hehehe four years before i could lay my hands on my good old Amiga 500, of which this game reminds me of)

\n","games":["WitchCup1276"]},{"at":348334166,"re":347507637,"author":"Chris Subagio","login":"csubagio","gh":756253,"twitter":"csubagio","text":"

Thanks for enjoying the Nineteen Seventy Thirteen line, the dad joke corps appreciates your service.

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Also thanks for playing the game! Yeah, the fire leap was definitely a big difficulty spike. And it was so mean they put it after the big fights! I don’t know how we all survived the 80s, early game design was just so raw and mean. I blame Pitfall and then later Prince of Persia.

\n"},{"typ":2,"at":347659507,"author":"Luke Stapley","login":"CocosLuke","gh":53160446,"url":"https://cocos.com","twitter":"GameAddict","text":"

Wow, the graphics and sound design are intense. Very good job. The only issue is that fire death automatically takes a heart from your next life. Other than that, it’s great. Really good game design.

\n"},{"at":348334206,"re":347659507,"author":"Chris Subagio","login":"csubagio","gh":756253,"twitter":"csubagio","text":"

That is indeed a mean bug, but thank you for chugging through it! Much obliged at the kind words.

\n"},{"at":347846417,"author":"Jasper Renow-Clarke","login":"picosonic","gh":26137750,"twitter":"femtosonic","text":"

I played this game when it was first posted and enjoyed it a lot.

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The graphical style looks really good, and has a wholesome retro feel.

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The sound effects were nice and worked well.

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Some of the battles are quite tricky without knowing the exact way to defend and attack.

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Plenty of replay-ability, making me want to come back again and play some more.

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Great job on this game.

\n","games":["Princess of Corinium"]},{"at":348334255,"re":347846417,"author":"Chris Subagio","login":"csubagio","gh":756253,"twitter":"csubagio","text":"

Thank you kindly Jasper, I’m glad you had some wholesome fun here!

\n"},{"at":347893689,"author":"Grav","login":"merlinvsalfonso","gh":144820721,"text":"

Brilliant, especially the sound effects. Framing it as a retro demo was clever too. The CRT effect adds a lot.

\n","games":["Merlin vs Alfonso"]},{"at":348334932,"re":347893689,"author":"Chris Subagio","login":"csubagio","gh":756253,"twitter":"csubagio","text":"

Nostalgia is a heck of a drug, isn’t it? It’s weird how the guitar stuff is a totally a retro non sequitur*, but because it’s old timey, and the theme is old timey, and pixels on CRTs are also now old timey… it all sort of blurs together?

\n\n"},{"typ":2,"at":348704061,"author":"Joep van Duinen","url":"https://poki.com","twitter":"joepvduinen","text":"

What a great game! The old-style Atari 2600-like graphics, the lute music generated through your actions in the game, the cool swordplay; it’s all great!

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The platforming could be a little hit or miss at times, but that didn’t take away much from the game for me. Really impressive that you managed to pack so much into such a small game, great job!

\n"},{"at":348720242,"re":348704061,"author":"Chris Subagio","login":"csubagio","gh":756253,"twitter":"csubagio","text":"

Aww, very kind of you to say that, thank you!

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I agree, the half horizontal control while you’re in the air is a bit too mean, I don’t think most folks intuit momentum based jumping at all, so while it’s learnable, I’m now sure it’s not pleasurable for everyone, especially in the short period of a gamejam playthrough! A cautionary tale to others (and future me).

\n"},{"at":348716095,"author":"Gauthier Billot","login":"gogoprog","gh":1249453,"url":"http://gogopr.org","twitter":"gogoprog","text":"

Very impressive, everything is good in this game.\nSpecial mention to the dynamic audio/music!

\n","games":["Minipuyo"]},{"at":348720422,"re":348716095,"author":"Chris Subagio","login":"csubagio","gh":756253,"twitter":"csubagio","text":"

Thank you! It wasn’t the plan, but now that I’ve stuck my head into that rabbit hole, procedural music isn’t something I’m going to be able to avoid doing for a while now. It’s so bizarrely satisfying to see music and picture line up, especially when it’s a percussive moment. Here’s hoping next year’s theme has good synergy with music!

\n"},{"at":348828754,"author":"Mark Vasilkov","login":"mvasilkov","gh":140257,"url":"https://mvasilkov.animuchan.net","twitter":"mvasilkov","text":"

A really competent platformer! Sword fights are great, the reuse of controls for jump/parry is a nice touch.

\n","games":["Super Castle Game"]},{"at":348911987,"re":348828754,"author":"Chris Subagio","login":"csubagio","gh":756253,"twitter":"csubagio","text":"

Thanks! I was specifically toying with the idea that some enemies in a platformer could soft lock you into combat, ala Prince of Persia. That seems like a lost line of evolution that maybe would be fun to play with again? The wild boars are sort of the consequential opposite scenario: what do you after learning that combat is a mode switch, when the game then tells you, “no, these aren’t for fighting?”

\n

Maybe I (or someone better at this than me) will revisit these ideas again in the future.

\n"},{"at":348880205,"author":"Benjamin Boyd Austin","login":"bbaustin","gh":18755168,"text":"

This is awesome! Love the presentation (both graphics and sound)

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The sword-fighting feels like fencing (I mean, I’ve never fenced before, but I imagine this is what fencing feels like). It seems like there’s some forward momentum when you attack, so you need to reposition backwards a bit afterwards. Nice!

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I couldn’t get past the part with the fire, but… even that is fitting for a punishingly difficult 1980s platformer!

\n","games":["Parry"]},{"at":348911803,"re":348880205,"author":"Chris Subagio","login":"csubagio","gh":756253,"twitter":"csubagio","text":"

Aww, thank you for the kind comments. Yeah, it is a bit of an 80s brat. I’ve realized since publishing that because I’m framerate compensating, there are actually devices on which the math works out to make the double jump just ever so slightly shorter in height, which may have affected your playthrough, especially around the fire jump. It’s like the old NTSC vs PAL game speed bugs!

\n

tlrd; It wasn’t you, it was the game.

\n"}],"results":{"theme":{"rank":38,"min":1.08,"score":3.58,"max":4.38},"innovation":{"rank":17,"min":1.12,"score":3.46,"max":4.43},"gameplay":{"rank":24,"min":1.24,"score":3.42,"max":4.34},"graphics":{"rank":9,"min":1.21,"score":4.33,"max":4.73},"audio":{"rank":6,"min":1,"score":3.96,"max":4.32},"controls":{"rank":25,"min":1.29,"score":3.38,"max":4.23},"primary":{"rank":10,"min":7.57,"score":22.13,"max":24.7},"label":"Overall"}}