A simple story about saving a world of crystals

---

This game was made as the "root game" of EXEC//JAM 2.0, a game jam I hosted where all participants had to recreate a game they never played. This is the game in question.

---

Tutorial

Controls:

• Use mouse to interact with UI
• Press P or TAB (or ESC in desktop version) to open/close pause menu
• Press ENTER to skip intro

During an excursion:

• Click and drag with your mouse (left click or middle button) to pan the view
• Left-click a tile to interact with it OR Right-click and drag to interact with multiple tiles

Excursions and dungeons

An excursion is what you would call a "run" in many other games. When you start an excursion, you must choose which dungeon you will explore.

Once you enter the dungeon, you must place gold tiles to find tiles such as amethyst or memory crystals. Amethyst is a currency that is preserved between excursions. You may spend it to unlock new dungeons to explore.

You have a limited amount of gold tiles you can place. This number is indicated in the top-left corner of your screen. You regain your starting gold amount every excursion.

Accomplishments

Accomplishments are what allow you to get more starting gold. Once you complete an accomplishment, you may claim its rewards in the "home" (the menu in between excursions). If you don't claim them, you won't progress, so don't forget to do so!

Collectibles

There is a tab in home menu that allows you to see which dungeons have stuff left to collect. It tracks amethyst, memory crystals, checkpoints and devlogs. Remember to check every now and then so you don't miss out on some hidden stuff!

Tiles

   Gold

Gold is the most important type of tile. It allows you to explore dungeons by placing it near other gold tiles.

Interact with a tile adjacent to a gold tile to place a new gold tile. This costs 1 gold.

   Amethyst

Collecting amethyst is your main way to progress. It allows you to unlock dungeons in the home menu.

Interact with an amethyst tile to collect it. It must be adjacent to a gold tile. This costs 0 gold.

   Memory Crystals

Memory crystals are your main source of lore. They are not purely for flavor, though; they are required in an accomplishment.

Interact with a memory crystal to read it. It must be adjacent to a gold tile. This costs 0 gold.

   Lapis Lazuli

Lapis is a very useful tile. It reveals the tiles around it, allowing you to see much further. If it reveals another lapis tile, it activates it too, creating a sort of chain reaction.

Interact with a lapis tile to activate it. It must be adjacent to a gold tile. This costs 0 gold.

   Checkpoints

Checkpoints the tiles you will be the most happy to find. They turn into gold permanently, meaning that in your next excursions, it will still be gold. This will make you progress further!

Interact with a checkpoint to activate it. It must be adjacent to a gold tile. This costs 0 gold.

   Amber

Amber tiles are quite weird; they launch gold for you! If you find one, it will place 5 gold tiles in a straight line, opposite to the direction you activated it from. It may launch in two directions at once. It is too difficult to explain with words, so I will show you pictures instead.

Interact with an amber tile to launch gold. It must be adjacent to gold tiles. This costs 0 gold.

   Ruby

Ruby tiles are your biggest threat. They expand, just like you, and are able to convert gold to ruby. However, they are blocked by many other tiles (like calcium), so you might be able to block it with some clever tile placement.

You cannot interact with ruby tiles. They simply spread to all adjacent tiles every time you place a tile.

   Calcium

Calcium tiles do not do much. You may turn them into gold just like you would if there was no tile there. However, they block ruby from spreading, so they can save you if you use them wisely.

Interact with a calcium tile to turn it into gold. It must be adjacent to a gold tile. This costs 1 gold.

   Devlogs

Yup, there are devlogs in the game! They are completely optional, you may skip them if you want. Don't expect much, it's just a few mp3s explaining how I made some stuff.

Interact with a devlog tile to listen to it. It must be adjacent to a gold tile. This costs 0 gold.

   Calcite

Did you know calcite is made of calcium? Hmm... calcium? That sounds familiar :)

Interact with a calcite tile to launch 3 calcium tiles in a straight line. It must be adjacent to a gold tile. This costs 0 gold.

Can't progress?

If you ever happen to find yourself unable to progress, here are some quick "troubleshooting" steps you may take to find your way back to your quest for the GEODE:

• Did you forget to claim an accomplishment? There are 3 in total. The max gold you can have is 30.
• What are you missing? Check the Collectibles tab in the home menu! You will see what dungeons have something left for you.
• Do you have enough amethyst to unlock a new dungeon? It is possible that there are some tiles you can't reach. You'll be able to reach them later, once you've explored more dungeons and completed more accomplishments.
• Have you revealed every tile in the dungeon? There might be a single tile you haven't revealed that leads to a whole bunch of new stuff to collect!
• Ruby is giving you a hard time? Either try finding a way to block it off with calcium (using calcite) or simply outrun it by arriving before it does! Ruby advances by 1 tile every time you interact with a tile.
• Can't find how to get to a spot that is seemingly behind the walls? Remember: amber and calcite can pierce walls...

You got an ending and you don't like the consequences?

(Click the arrow to see the /!\ spoilers /!\ )

You may undo an ending by typing "RESET" on your keyboard.

If you type "RESET" in the home menu, the Conquer ending will be undone.

If you type "RESET" in the "You destroyed the world" screen, the Destroy ending will be undone.