Day 326 - Wizard vs Dragon
Dungeon Crawler, Bangers, TRANSPLANT ·
Skeeter’s Take:
Wizard Vs. Dragon is outside of our usual wheelhouse of assuming the game was created by children, by confirming and providing proof that it was actually created by children.
There is something so charming about seeing kids inspired to create a game. And Link’s Awakening? That game rules. Nobody told me these kids were BASED.
That description does not lie - pretty much every asset seems to be created by the kids themselves. Hand drawn backgrounds, acapella background music,they even used their own voices to create the sound effects. I love this. It’s an impressive amount of work, and it perfectly captures the imagination of a child.
Even the monster design felt inspired. There are 8 different bosses in total. My favorites were the bowtie wearing ghost that would periodically disappear, and the Prize Wheel boss.
There is even a two phase dragon boss and a memory puzzle. Wizard Vs. Dragon is a short game, but a complete experience that is lifted to great heights by its art, sound effects, and music. For real, that battle theme makes me want to get up and boogie.
Nice job, Kids!
Recommend: Yes!
Replay Percentage Chance: 5%
Time Played: 11 minutes
P.S. I died 9 times during my run.
Sam’s Take:
First of all, I am a God gamer and obviously destroyed Skeeter:
But more importantly, this game bangs so hard that I have become a puddle on the floor of my office. So many games (especially Zelda games) try to capture the essence of childhood in some way, but there just isn’t any way more honest than having your kids make all the art assets and sound effects. I could not stop smiling at every new enemy drawing and every new sound effect. This game is simply adorable.
What tips it over the edge is that it’s also… kind of legitimately good. There’s a point where I had a bonus lighting bolt that triggered every 3rd attack and a rainbow beam every 4th attack, and I caught myself trying to keep track of when they would both trigger at the same time. There are several different bosses all with unique mechanics and design, and beating the game without dying would absolutely be a feat, but it would totally be possible. Wizard vs. Dragon isn’t just great because a dad let his kids help him make a game, it’s great because he took that game 100% seriously as a game.
I’ve been playing Red Dead Redemption 2 recently, and it’s pretty good. Has some solid characters and several fun moments in camp, but honestly I felt so much more emotion playing this game for 15 minutes then I have at any point in the first two chapters of Red Dead 2. It’s the most pure and honest thing I’ve played in a long, long time. One of the best games we’ve played for this project. It’s music and art have earned a spot in the doom WAD.
Recommend: Yeeeeeeeeeeeesssss
Replay Percentage Chance: 5%
Time Played: 15 Minutes
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