HAZEL STICK

When the little friend Crumb was taken, Hazel sets off to search the world for them.

[ A SHORT, SIMPLE TURN-BASED RPG ]

• HAZEL STICK has a top-down pixel tile style and there are no action elements.  It takes roughly 3 hours to play the whole game.

• Enemies on the map move when you do and a battle begins when you touch one. Then, you take turns attacking and casting spells to win a battle and get stronger.

[ FIND STICKS TO GAIN THEIR POWER ]

• Spread all over the world are 52 Sticks in all shapes and sizes to find hidden in corners, caves or even guarded by tough Bosses.

• Equip a Stick outside or in battle to use its effects such as raising stats, improving certain spells or even granting special passive abilities.

• Reveal the location of new Sticks on the map by defeating the rare Beasts that wield them.

[ LEARN SPELLS BY DEFEATING BEASTS ]

• Each of the 52 types of Beasts know some of 25 types of Spells that you have a chance to learn if you defeat them.

• Seek out Beasts to learn their Spells to expand your options in battle and exploit the weaknesses of other Beasts via elemental damage, stat changes, and other effects.

• Beasts you've defeated before can be Befriended and follow you around. This changes your base stats to theirs, allowing for an extra layer of strategy.

[ WALK ANYWHERE, ANYTIME ]

• While there is a clear order of regions to visit in this world, you don't always have to follow the path.

• Reach dangerous places earlier than you should, or Mosey back to them later when you're strong enough.

• Replay the game to try different paths and access different combinations of Sticks, Spells and Friends.

[ OPTIONAL OPTIONS ]

• You can adjust Sounds and Visuals, but also Gameplay settings such as Infinite HP,  Manual Encounters or even Fixed Level, so you can play the game however you want, whenever you want.

• Finish the entire game to start New Game+, ramping up enemy Levels, or press [W]/(Select) on the title screen for Wither Mode, a comically unforgiving challenge I made as a joke.

HAZEL STICK was made in about half a year using GameMaker Studio 2.

Based on Isle Solate, an RPG Maker MV game I made in 2020.

Sound effects made with LabChirp.

Music made with Bosca Ceoil.

CONTROLS:    [Keyboard]/(Controller - Xbox buttons)

[Arrow Keys]/(D-Pad) Move, Navigate Menus

[Space]/(A) Hold to move faster, Select a menu option, Attack in battle

[Escape]/(Start) Open the Main Menu, Close any menu

[C]/(B) Open/Close the Spell Menu in battle, Zoom in the Map

[X]/(Y) Open/Close the Stick Menu

[Z]/(X) Wait on the map, Flee from battles, Zoom out the Map

Keyboard-only hotkeys:

[M] Open/Close the Map

[B] Open/Close the Bestiary

[T] Open/Close the Tips Menu

[O] Open/Close the Options Menu

[S] Open/Close the Save Menu

[Q] Open/Close the Quit Menu

[F11] Toggle screen size