Spooky Squad (for Playdate)
A downloadable game
Just in time for Halloween, the Spooky Squad are on your 1-bit screen!
Business is booming for the Spooky Squad. More and more clients are calling in to report their paranormal infestations.
It's up to you to take on their cases and bust... erm, exterminate some gho... specters.
Spooky Squad is an isometric twin-stick style action game. Use the d-pad to move your chosen character, and the crank to aim your spook blaster.
Keep an eye on the heat gauge though. If your blaster fully overheats, it takes longer to cool down.
Collect power-ups on each level to upgrade your blaster's range and power output.
Featuring 7 levels of increasing intensity, and different types of ghosts, all with different behaviors. Blast through them all while enjoying the catchy Spooky Squad tunes.
The game also includes a dynamic map that will be updated as you explore each location.
So what are you waiting for? you've always dreamed of exterminating paranormal entities. Grab your blaster and get blasting!
A game by....
- INTERNATIONAL SYNAPSE -
- Code & Game design: Rob Seto-Patchett
- Producer: Patricio Land (Space Indie)
- Pixel Art & Animation: Emilio Almiron
- Music: Matias Olmedo
- Additional Art : Johns
Visit us at www.internationalsynapse.com
Purchase
In order to download this game you must purchase it at or above the minimum price of $6 USD. You will get access to the following files:
Development log
- Version 1.01 released47 days ago
Comments
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The best Playdate game I've played yet. What an accomplishment. Don't want it to end!
Thank you so much! this is beyond all we could expect and dream!
A brilliant game in every aspect, one of the best on Playdate. I hope more levels are added in the future, or a random level generator—it's so good that it feels too short, a true marvel.
Wow, high praise. Thank you so much.
The levels take a long time to make, so I wasn't able to include too many. But at some point, I would like to add some more.
Thanks again for buying and enjoying our game.
Wow! Thank you so much for your kind words! We discussed the possibility of add new levels on a future version (among other goodies) and I'm happy to confirm that I'm working on the extra content right now!
We’re excited to announce that we’ve added a new optional aim-and-shoot system to the game mechanics!
Some of you asked for it, and we’re thrilled to meet your requests.
Just press the menu button on your Paydate to activate or deactivate the alt aim mode.
This looks great! Are you planning to submit this to the Catalog? (which makes updating it easier)
Thank you.
It has already been submitted.
We are waiting for Panic to let us know if it will be added.
I understand if you prefer to wait for it to arrive there.
Fantastic game. I love the retro feeling and it’s the Ghost Busters game I wanted for the NES.
As much as I wanted to love this game more, I have a few issues with it:
Two issues with the controls. First, I wish we can get a second mode for controls. A control mode where the ray gun blast is controlled by your direction rather than the crank. So no crank control at all.
Second, the crank controls can be improved. I would also make it so that when you press A to start the ray gun, the ray blasts the same way as you are facing. Rather than blasting where the direction the crank is. It’s very disorienting and it takes awhile to get used to it.
Also wanted to mention that I was playing this game and my wife overheard and asked me if I’m playing a game about throwing up. And I agree the death SFX sound bad, could that also be changed?
Overall great game. Looking forward for more games from you guys.
Hi,
Thank you for buying our game. And thanks for taking the time to give us your feedback.
Regarding the controls,
This game is a twin-stick shooter. Dodging enemy attacks while also shooting back at them is a key feature of the genre. Any twin-stick shooter would be impossible to play if you could only attack by walking directly at enemies.
And for having the blaster begin firing in the direction you are facing when you turn it on; I believe this would also be a bad idea. The direction the blaster fires is tied directly to the direction of the crank. If the crank is pointing up, the blaster fires upwards (relative to the screen). If the relationship between the direction of the crank and the direction of the blaster was different every time you used it, I think the game would become virtually unplayable. Imagine if there was a twin-stick shooter on a console with analog sticks, and every time you tried shooting, the aiming stick's direction was changed relative to the direction you were moving when you started firing. I don't think it would work.
I'm sorry not to be receptive to your ideas, but sometimes you have to (twin-) stick to your guns.
If there are any other players reading this who have any thoughts on this topic, I would love to hear them. If more people feel the same way, then I will have to reconsider.
Obviously, I am extremely biased, but I believe the controls in the game are actually really great, and are what makes the game fun.
Regarding the sound effect.
There is a sound that sounds similar to vomiting (more of a burp though really). But that's for one of the enemy's attacks.
Is it one of the sounds for when ghosts die that you are referring to, or one of the player characters getting hurt?
Thanks again for taking the time to share your thoughts. I do appreciate it.
Hello again,
After further consideration, I think we are going to add an alternative aiming mode.
When fired, the blaster will aim in the direction the player is facing. And then the crank will move the blaster relative to that starting point.
This will be an optional, alternative firing mode that users can choose to activate.
I think I should be able to have this ready some time next week.
Amazing, thanks Rob, I think that having both options for the control scheme will be fantastic!
Hi,
I have just released an update to the game that adds the new aiming style that you requested.
I hope you like it.
Thanks.
Awesome! That was fast! I will try it out later today.
Hello! 😊Are you planning to create new levels?
Hi,
It's certainly a possibility.
I want to see what players think of the game, and use that information to guide any future updates.
If extra levels are what people want, then I'll try and add a couple of new ones at some point.
After just a few hours online, we are very happy to see that many Playdate users have already purchased their copy. This fills us with excitement to keep creating additional surprises for Spooky Squad! and new titles for this amazing console! Thank you all very much!
The game is live.
Please let me know what you think.