AfflixrElixr

Controls

• Movement - D pad (by default WASD)
• Use top card in hand (top left of the screen) - Y (by default SPACE)
• Reset puzzle - X (by default LEFT SHIFT)
• Skip/Navigate Levels - Left and Right Bumpers (by default MOUSE 1 and 2)

You can change these defaults by clicking on the controller rebind 'book' in the top left! Simply click on the corresponding controller button then press another button to rebind the keyboard.

How to Play

      AfflixrElixir uses a rock paper scissor system, where green beats red beats blue beats yellow beats green. In order to beat a level, you must acquire a card in your hand that beats your active curse, and activate it. You can progress your current curse by interacting with an enemy of the directly stronger type. You acquire a card in your hand when you attempt to interact with a guy who is directly weaker than your status effect. Acquiring cards in your hand is neutral. 

You can use cards:

1. from the top with Y, effectively storing and reusing an interaction with said little fellow.
2. from the bottom by acquiring 4 cards, bumping you back down to the limit of 3, while using the discarded card similarly to #1

The only way to "lose" the puzzle is:

1. End up with 2 status effects (center left) of the same parity (across from each other), soft locking you from any other status transitions.
2. Running out of little guys to interact with, and having 0 cards in your hand (top left), with a status effect, leaving you incurable.

#2 is supposed to be a punishment while #1 is admittedly less restricted than we would have liked. Many puzzles can be solved in shorter solution paths than designed by using multiple cards with Y at the right time. Unfortunately, we struggled to restrict #1 in a way that wasn't too frustrating, confusing, or rendered puzzles impossible.

Additional Details

The art style of the game and its mechanics are inspired by humorism, the early medical belief of 4 humors/fluids that regulated the human body. The game itself is a love2d game written in fennel, with sprites done using the pixel art software pyxel edit.

Galblad-green

Heart-red

Brain-blue

Spleen-yellow

(The chunky boi)

Source Repo

Moved to Codeberg: https://codeberg.org/the_dot_matrix/gamejam2025