Poacher (2012)

Poacher is a platform game by Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw, famous for his adventure games developed with Adventure Game Studio. This is his first game made with Game Maker.

The protagonist is Derek Badger, a poacher from Sutton upon Derwent, who one night trespasses on the property of Gamey, a local landowner. When Gamey tries to catch Derek, suddenly the ground collapses below him and he falls into the hole. Derek, feeling guilty, jumps into the hole to help him and finds himself in the strange underworld. While searching for Gamey he becomes involved in the conflict between Kingdom spirits and Dark Ones, creatures dwelling in the realm.

At your disposal you have your trusty shotgun with unlimited ammo and later you acquire ability of throwing grenades, but these are limited and must be replenished. Enemies, when shot, leave coins (which can be later spent on upgrades in the shop), grenades or portions of energy and they respawn each time you enter the particular screen. Game is largely linear, however some sections can't be visited unless you possess certain ability, so sometimes it is required to visit an area once again. There are also boss fights. Game can be saved, but only in special save points. Saving game also replenishes health and grenades.

Game was originally released with only one difficulty level. Version 1.1 features various bug fixes, optional easy mode, customizable controls and achievements to collect.