Founded in Fellowship

A challenging point-and-click historical town management sim for the Game Boy filled to the witch's brim with puzzles and riddles to solve. Created for and submitted in Game Boy Showdown 2023!

Here you play as a young witch in a small New England town many years ago. You use your powers for good, helping the townsfolk and creating a prosperous village. The goal is simple, make sure there's enough food and people are happy enough for the town to grow. Be careful, though, suspicion grows quickly in this age, especially if you are spotted using your powers around town.

	Map Controls
D-Pad	Move cursor around map
A	See options for location
B	Get info about location
Start	Game Menu
Select	View Stats

Made with GBStudio. Of course was made quickly, so please excuse any rough edges. Hope you enjoy!

Additional Information and Tips

Given the short development window, some mechanics ended up a bit more obscured and cryptic than I would have liked. Perhaps it makes for a more authentic old-school point-and-click experiences, but for the sake of the game jam judges' and general players' sanity, below are some tips and general information about the game to hopefully help players along.

Gameplay revolves around performing various magic spells, offerings, potions, and seances around town to help the townspeople and encourage the town to grown. You win by growing the town to max population. You lose by raising the town's suspicion to the max. You should go around town each season and speak with each of the townspeople to hear what they need. There are 8 opportunities each season to help the town:

1. Help crops grow: A townsperson will complain their crops are doing poorly. You must apply  a growth potion at their house to help them.
2. Console townsperson: A townsperson will mention they miss a departed love you. You must perform a seance at the graveyard to help bring the townsperson peace.
3. Help with romance: A townsperson will mention their son having trouble finding a partner. You must apply a love potion at the townsperson's house to help.
4. Return lost colonists: A townsperson will mention hunters or sailors missing. You must cast a protection spell at the Beach or Forest as appropriate.
5. Trying for child: A townsperson will mention their daughter is having trouble conceiving a baby. You must perform an offering at the townsperson's house to help.
6. Hunter's bounty: A townsperson will complain that the hunters have been bringing in less food lately. You must perform an offering at the Forest to help.
7. Disrepair: A townsperson will complain their home is in bad condition. You can help by performing a restoration spell at their house.
8. Evil spirits: A townsperson will confide that they are being visited by a malevolent spirit. You can help by performing a seance at their home.

The exact language needed for each spell, offering, or seance will be different for each of the 4 seasons of the year. Books in your home teach you this magic for every season, but they are written cryptically. The books will also teach you have to make love and growth potions, which require ingredients from the Forest and Beach. 

Completing magic successfully (i.e., the right spell/offering/seance for the season in the right location) will help the town by altering stats in a beneficial way when you progress to the next season. The stats tracked are population, food, happiness, and suspicion. Magic will increase food, increase happiness, or reduce suspicion, all of which contributes to increasing the population, the core goal of the game.

Performing magic is risky, and you may be seen by townsfolk, which will raise overall town suspicion. Spells, offerings, and seances also drain your mana. You can restore some mana by resting at the beach, but you will be limited each season by your mana. When you are out of mana, you can continue to the next season via the Game Menu.

Viewing Stats shows the town's current levels, your mana, and any items you hold. Items are candle, potion, herbs, mushroom, shells, seaweed. You begin with these four base items your first season, but must collect them after. Items are collected by pressing the right combination of D-Pad directions at either the Forest or Beach. Mother's Journal on your bookshelf tells you the directions for each item in each season.

	Candle Used for seances, gather at home
	Potion Two kinds: love for romance and growth for crops, made at home
	Herbs Used as offering or in potions, gather from Forest
	Mushrooms Used as offering or in potions, gather from Forest
	Shells Used as offering or in potions, gather from Beach
	Seaweed Used as offering or in potions, gather from Beach