Fortress

Background: Fortress is an exploration game with different enemy and weapon types, puzzles, secrets, unique dialogue, and more.  There are 57 unique rooms in the game for you to explore.  Your character starts with no weapons or items and you progress through the game by finding items, solving puzzles, and interacting with NPCs.  The game is very simple to play, the majority of the time it uses the d-pad as you navigate a large fortress filled with monsters, people, stories, and traps.  The game utilizes the crank for one of the side quests and uses the buttons (or the d-pad or the crank) to progress through dialogue boxes.  Combat is based on your character's overall attack power, it basically looks at if your character is more powerful than the opposing character.  If your power is higher you prevail, if your power is equal to or lower than your opponent's power you die.  If you die in the game you keep the items you have collected and spawn in the mausoleum, an area of the fortress where the dead are kept.  It's very difficult to find all the secrets, tips, and tricks in one playthrough.  The only way to escape the fortress is through the front gate where you begin the game.  If you have never played the game before you should visit the library which is the first door on the right in the entryway where you start.

Spoilers: The Fortress Reference Guide is attached to this webpage.  Do NOT read the guide if you want to go in fresh and/or do NOT want spoilers.  If you get stuck or want to know where everything is, it's in the guide.  The guide is a high level overview that lists all of the items, rooms, etc.

Release Date: Fortress will be released here and on Playdate's catalog on October 8th, 2024 (sometime in the morning).  You can check out other Playdate games via the catalog website: https://play.date/games/catalog/

Ranking System: Here are the scores you need to obtain certain ranks in the game.  Rare treasures, gems, and number of deaths are evaluated upon completion of the game.  You get an overall score for each category (treasures, gems, and number of deaths).  S-rank is considered a perfect score for that category.  A similar chart like the one below is shown after you complete the game.

Credits: The game's card and some of the game's assets were illustrated by Beth Cooke.  The code, sounds, and generic art for the game were created by Alan Cooke.