The game · Dev note · 2 min read
To heal, take your armour off
A rule from the prototype: only the bare creature can pick up healing, so you have to leave your shell to get it.
The rule
Enemies sometimes drop a small orb of healing when they die. A shell cannot pick it up. You can stand a shell right on top of one and nothing happens. Only the creature itself can collect it, so to heal you have to climb out, on purpose, in the middle of a fight.
How it plays
Out of the shell you are fast and fragile. Nearby orbs drift toward you. What you collect is banked, up to a limit, and handed to the next shell you climb into. Orbs do not last forever: they blink for their last few seconds and then they are gone.
Why we like it
Healing in most games is a button, or a pickup you walk over. Here it is a decision with a price: you give up your armour for exactly as long as it takes to collect. Greed gets punished, and every heal is a moment of real tension.
Where it stands
This comes from the 2D prototype. Whether it carries over to the isometric game unchanged is something playtests will decide.