Introducing Spirits of Equivex
In the world of Equivex, one rule reigns above all: Equivalent exchange!
In this Deckbuilder meets Puzzle game, leverage the power of possession through sacrifice to turn foes into allies and defeat waves of enemies.
Each campaign level start with a predefined lineup of units and you have to get through multiple waves of enemies. To get through the wave is crucial to use Exchange: An equivalent exchange deal where you sacrifice some of your units to possess some of your enemies. Through this, your lineup will be constantly evolving as you progress on your campaign.
Taking it to it’s perfect conclusion is where the challenge and puzzle lies. For every campaign level, there is a path where you perform no killing and clear the mission through only exchange. Of course, if it fails, you can always brute force your way through with might!
There are currently over 30 unique cards with plans for more to come.
Cards work as units with 3 main stats Health points, Attack and Spirit Level. Spirit level is the value of the unit for equivalent exchange. It can be of two type: Sum (red) or Product (purple) and it determines the means of possessing the card.
Units can also have some skills and abilities: from simple buff and debuffs to complex possession restrictions or spirit level changes they can help turn the tide around.
The core mechanic of the game. You can select any enemy for possession and their total value will show up at the top. Depending on the spirit type, it will either be the sum or product of all selected units. (The two types cannot be mixed in one exchange) You then have to select your own units that add up (or multiply) to the exact same value. If you can set up this equivalent exchange, you will sacrifice your units and gain possession of your opponent’s.
This is very powerful and simple way to wipe out enemy waves, but remember it only works if you can create a perfect spirit level matchup.
This is a project I’ve been working on for a while. It started as a Jam entry from LD41 (Theme: Sacrifice) and it’s been one of the Jam game’s I’ve been the most fond of, always feeling like it had a bit more potential and was worth revisiting.
I’ve spent a lot of time giving the whole game a massive overhaul, but the gameplay remains largely the same. A bunch of new units have been added with new abilities and spirit values to spice things up as well as more campaign levels. There has also been some rebalancing, overall I feel this new iteration gives a much better idea of the game.
I hope this project managed to get your interest and you will stick around to follow it’s progress. It’s pretty far along and should have a demo ready relatively soon, so stay tuned & share along!
Oh and I made a (fresh)twitter, follow me! @joh_games
you can also follow me on itch: https://johgames.itch.io/