Ink Bombs

HOW TO PLAY:

setup (pictured):

You (x) start with 3 health ([]), one poise (-), and 5 bombs (o)

You BEGIN in the center of a 3x3 room with 4 doors facing in the cardinal directions.

DISCOVERING the next area, there are 6 different “room types”, which are hopefully easily remembered - I initially chose six thinking of some sort of dice mechanic, wich is still an option for personal exploration, but I had another thought.

these are the ROOM TYPES (pictured):

1. one square space, enclosed except for entrance, nothing inside
2. 1x2 space, enclosed on left and right, nothing inside
3. 3x1 space, open one space in cardinal directions, one monster inside
4. 2x2 space, enclosed except for the entrance, 2 bombs inside for you to collect (tbd where in the room the bombs are.. maybe you collect the bombs just by stepping inside.. which would mean there are 2 bombs even if some of the room is cut off? unsure)
5. 5x1 space, closed on far wall, nothing inside.
6. 3x2 space, closed except for entrance, 6 enemies inside (each square contains an enemy)

In general, I think you will be playing with a list of room segments, so in some sense you know what’s coming

a “level” might look like one of the following:

1. 5,5,5,6,4
2. 3,1,2,6,2,4
3. 6,6,3 - (no loot rooms)
4. 3,4,5,6
5. 4,4 - (no enemy rooms)
6. 4,4,6
7. 3,6,2,2,2 - (no loot rooms)
8. 4,1,5 - (no enemy rooms)
9. 3,5,3,5
10. 2,6,1,4
11. 3,3,2,1,5 - (no bomb or loot rooms)
12. 4,2,6,3,5

you could potentially carry these on 3 cards in your wallet

you can cause rooms to appear in the correct order but then not enter them, strategically avoiding enemies, or intentionally plowing through enemies, shaping the map how you want with the list provided.

When you stand beside an open wall, this does not automatically trigger a room segment to appear in that direction, you have to decide where you’d like to discover a new area. This is not a “turn” and the enemy cannot advance or attack during it.

You could also roll a d6 for each room you discover. or challenge yourself with a list of all 6’s, or explore with a list of all 5’s

you can discover a room in a space that is not big enough for it. the applicable tiles appear - without enough space, the other tiles do not

As soon as you begin moving, the little MONSTERS (.) start following you. There is nothing too fancy about their following pattern in general. They can’t exactly predict where you’re going. They also don't move diagonally. they just leave a trail behind you. so, yes, there is “always” one right on your tail, but they're not just spawning, they're multiplying. if you move 20 spaces, there are now twenty enemies behind you, from where they started to where you end up. They also move ar the same speed as you - if you've gotten rid of several behind you, and there is a 6 space gap between you and them, and then you move 20 more spaces.. there is still a 6 space gap.

so if you keep moving in a straight line, you have nothing to worry about. but if you enter a room full of enemies, you backtrack, or you travel right alongside of an enemy, they can attack.

POISE - you have 3 health and 1 poise. poise is a mechanic I stole from Moonring. before losing any health, which would stay lost, the enemy first has to get through your poise, which regenerates after two turns of safety

BOMBS - 

a bomb explodes ten places in one direction (in a perfect scenario, down a straight narrow hall, with no hallways)

if there is an open hallway in the direction of the bomb’s destruction, the explosion travels down the hall 3 squares (if possible), subtracting 3 potential squares from the end of your explosion. an open area that is undiscovered is considered closed, and no explosion travels in that direction

There IS backsplash. the most likely example of this is that you discover a room of 6 enemies, blow them up, and then 3 spaces behind you are also blown up, clearing the room as well as giving you 3 poise.

using two bombs does not double the distance of the affected area.

If you blow up 10 enemies in one direction, the best way to keep track of this is to consider yourself to have gained 10 poise. it’s not quite true, but it works the same for now. just make sure you delete poise as you backtrack. the one real one remains until you’ve actually overlapped with an enemy.

You use a bomb to break through walls as well. you need to be standing directly in front of a wall, and then all of that bomb’s energy goes directly into bursting through the wall. if you are standing back from the wall it will not break through the wall. if an emeny is behind the wall, they will not be affected. 

when you use a bomb, it is not considered a “turn” exactly - the enemy cannot use this moment to attack. you can stand in one place and use bombs in all different directions without fear of them advancing

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I like that it is not random and that you can memorize strategies and break the game.

1 is actually kind of a cool room type, you can bomb in all directions and discover partial rooms and do some cool things

If you are in the entryway, and discover a room in one direction but don’t go that way, and head to the next open door, you will be hit (using a poise) if you skip that room as well, and continue to the next open door, you will not reach there in enough time to have regained your poise. so without other strategies applied, you will have already lost one health. rough start.

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the GOAL would be to take a varied list of “levels” and see if you can get all the way through. alternatively, go ahead and use rooms 2, 4, and 5 (or whichever) over and over and over if you so choose, and just have fun with it.

as far as a victory - I guess you’re just going for a high score, or even basically just a large, sprawling map of intricate layouts

One thought was that you “win” by making a loop - intersecting back through a wall of an area you’ve already been through - and then of course doing it again.

maybe designate checkpoints on the undiscovered map for you to reach on your journey.

you can keep track of how many enemies you’ve killed, as another type of high score

you can use different colors or a pencil or a highlighter etc, if it helps.

I had hoped you maybe didn't need actual graph paper or dot grid, but I haven't had luck on a blank sheet

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new thoughts... (work in progess)

I think I'll be adding a 7th room

I want this to be basically open source. Play it however you want on your own. Tell me what you think would make the system better.

At some point I want to add more about my influences and hopes for this project.