A Dream's Command

A Dream's Command is a little RPG that just barely fits in a PICO-8 cart, using all of the available code, texture, audio, and map space.

It takes 45-ish minutes to beat, by my estimate.

- - - BASIC CONTROLS - - - 

NOTE: The icon for the Z key in-game looks like (O), as is standard with PICO-8.

Menus:

• Up/Down: Change Selection
• Left/Right: Change Skill Tab (only in battle)
• Z/X: Choose Selection

Overworld:

• Arrows: Move
• Z/X: Interact (when prompted)

If you stand still for a few seconds, you can view your current status.

- - - COMBAT - - -  

You have three basic types of skills you can use in combat: Attacks, Spells, and Actions. In order to use a skill, you will have to perform a quick minigame to determine its effectiveness. As you level up, you will unlock more skills.

Attacks and Spells are offensive. The base damage they deal is determined by how well you execute their minigame, but the final damage dealt is also affected by the enemy's defense against the chosen type of skill. Higher-tier Attacks and Spells are more powerful, but also harder to execute.

• To perform an Attack, you will have to stop a series of moving sliders on the highlighted sections using Z/X.
• To perform a Spell, you will have to quickly sort a series of runes by color (orange or blue). If they're orange, hit Z/Left, and if they're blue hit X/Right.

Actions are defensive, and there are only two available: Flee and Recover. Flee exits a battle (if executed correctly), while Recover restores up to half of your maximum health and can cure status effects (but has a 2 turn cooldown).

• To perform Flee, rapidly hit the button shown. Pay attention, since the required button may change after each successful press!
• To perform Recover, you have to keep a meter balanced in the center using Left and Right (or Z and X). The amount of health restored will vary depending on your maximum HP and how effectively you executed the minigame. As long as you don't let the meter fall too far to either side, it will also cure any status effect you have.

Lastly, there are three status effects which enemies can give you: Poison, Dizzy, and Panic.

• Poison deals gradual damage over time.
• Dizzy has a chance to halve your base damage when you use an Attack or a Spell.
• Panic makes minigames harder to execute.

This game was originally released on the PICO-8 website in July 2017. 

You can still find and play it there: https://www.lexaloffle.com/bbs/?tid=29727