The Lich Ruin

For years, the wise Magelords ruled Harberia in peace. 
But now, everything is in danger. 
The evil lich lord Afgorkon has taken up residence
in the old ruin on the island of Funeris.
A young magelord (you!) sets off on a journey to
challenge the lich and banish it from Harberia.

The Lich Ruin is a turn-based, real-time strategy game where you must challenge Magelords and other creatures to win spells and other rewards, in order to build up an arsenal powerful enough to take on the lich lord Afgorkon and restore peace to Harberia!

In these challenges, there are three lanes. You can spawn creatures from your spells in these lanes (using the arrow keys), but each spell costs a certain number of crystals. You gain one crystal each turn (every 2 seconds), and there are also two crystal towers that will yield an additional crystal to whoever controls it for 5 turns.

You can toggle unit info by using the left arrow, and Z (or C or N) and X (or V or M)  to select which spell to cast next. In the overworld, use the arrows to move and Z and X for interaction,

Good luck, young Magelord!

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This cart is by far my largest PICO-8 undertaking so far. The spritesheet is filled up to the brink, the entire map space is used, and all the sound and music patterns have also been used! A lot of time was spent on optimising the code to get as much content as possible into the game. 

There are over 30 different challengers to take on, more than 15 different spells to find, and atleast 5 different upgrades that you can use to customise your spells.

The game was originally made for the 4th Alakajam,  although that was just the core challenge gameplay. Since then the overworld and all the interactions and upgrades have been added. Enjoy!