A downloadable game

YANCY is an NES style action adventure that follows a small protagonist in an open world full of danger, swords and rewards.

Much of the game is challenging and intentionally obtuse; for maximum fun play alongside a friend and share what you discover!

The current demo contains a large chunk of content early game, with several weapons, bosses, NPC's and upgrades available.

Arrow keys to move.

to interact.
to attack.
C to heal.

Escape to open the menu.

Q and E to navigate menu screens.

You can press Z and X to equip two swords at a time and swap between them with Shift.

Pressing Z in front of ore deposits will mine them (If you have a pickaxe.)

Large red X's will occasionally block your path. These routes have been closed off for the demo.

You can change the game's resolution and volume with the left and right arrow keys in the options menu.


Game design, and art by myself.
Music and SFX by DEADi.

Please leave any feedback in the comments. Enjoy!

Download

Download
YancyDemo2023-05-07.zip 5 MB

Install instructions

The game is in a compressed file, along with several necessary additional files. Export them all to the same directory and run "YancyDemo.exe". Please enjoy!

Development log

Comments

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(+1)

Here is my feedback: 

- It would be nice if you could defend against projectiles like the bones by hitting them in the air. The "energy balls" on the other hand should not be able to be hit in the air. Adds variety and rewards skillful play. 

-There is some kind of bug with the dialog, glitches weirdly at the edge of the box some times as words are spawning. I think it happens when the last word of a line cant fit and is moved down, it looks weird. 

- Quite like the humor and appreciated the small animations like the shopkeeper shaking his head. Great job.

- There is a small animation when a coin is dropped, you get the coin and the graphic disappears. It would be more fun to pick it up. You could even keep the time of removal so you have to hurry to get it. 

- Music is great, but this demo needs an overworld theme. 

- Mantrees create a interesting gameloop where you try to bait them out. 

- I kind of want the pushback on the rockeaters to be further, so you can "juggle" them. Actually kind of want pushback to be further overall.  

- Rocks and other obstacles should block "energy balls" so you can hide behind them.

- Would like a dashbutton. 

-Can you get yourself out of the petrified condition? I get fucked so quickly I am not really sure. Otherwise if its not already there, buttonmash to be freed. 

I am going to continue working on my own shit now, but I will play this further and get back with more thoughts later on! 

Its good shit.

You obviously have great taste, because a ton of your feedback is already implemented! The overworld theme is done, energy ball projectiles are always blocked by walls, getting out of petrify is easier (you're intended to mash the movement keys but I've made it less strenuous) and coins have a new more satisfying collection animation in the game on my end. I'm planning on releasing a 1.1 version of the demo with all of this and a new boss ASAP :)

I'll post some more thoughts on the thread.

Thank you so much for playing!

I will eagerly wait for the next version then before I play further!

(+1)

Saw you post on agdg, I am going to try your demo today and give you my thoughts. It looks cool and cozy, inspired by the original Zelda I assume? 

(+1)

Was good to see you at K Days. Thanks for letting me try it out.

(+1)

"OMG WTF IS THIS MONKEY?!?!" - me, terrified upon stumbling into a seemingly innocent cave as @GamesWorthJack cackles in discord...

Seriously fun, can't wait to see more content and play the full game :)

I look forward to adding more and getting everyone’s feedback!

I just played the most recent demo of Yancy, and it was >2 hours of fun with sprinkles of rage (I am bad at games). Its combat was almost aggravating initially and became fun and rewarding after some practice. Additionally, the game has many swords to craft that change your stats and approach to combat. To top it off, the art is very cute and leaves you desperate for more. Yancy is engaging and doesn't ask for more time than it is worth, I would recommend playing the demo.

[Disclamer]
I have been friends with the developer for over a decade, although this was my first taste of the game he has poured his soul into for years.

Yancy does not hold back any punches, it is a challenging game, but failure leads to a minor setback and a quest for redemption. At first, I struggled to beat the simplest of enemies, but over time, I learned the controls and how to exploit enemy attack patterns, which allowed me to progress much faster. In many RPG's your character mainly gets stronger through levels and gear, but in Yancy, you as the player must "get good." Yancy also has progression mechanics, such as max health increases and sword crafting, but after all, the sword is only as strong as the person who wields it. Overall, Yancy is a tough yet rewarding game with tight mechanics begging to be mastered.

So what is this about sword crafting, you might ask? Well, Yancy has numerous swords, each with their own mechanics that you can craft or sometimes find. If you want to shoot projectiles, there is a sword for that. If you want to do a ton of damage but swing slowly, there is a sword for that. If you want a long-reaching attack that looks like a fleshy pool noodle, you guessed it ... there is a sword for that. There are so many swords with different strengths and weaknesses that it makes you want to try them all. The sword crafting mechanic is simple and adds tons of gameplay options to the game.

Yancy's characters and visuals are very cute, and the demo leaves me wanting more narrative. Yancy doesn't have a lot of music, but what it does have is quality. Notably, I couldn't help but jam and sing the melody during the Rock Lord boss fight. The narrative and music are great, I hope we can see more in the final product.

The Yancy demo proves its mechanics and narrative direction, and I can't wait to see more. The combat is tight and rewarding, the sword-crafting system is fun and adds variety, and the narrative and music are well-designed. I can't wait to see more content, and Yancy will definitely remain on my watchlist. I don't believe it is fair to rate a video game demo quantitatively, so I will leave it with my qualitative experience. Yancy has many enemies to fight, swords to collect, and bosses to conquer; if you have the time, I recommend picking this demo up.

Love this guy. Love this teapot. Love the things he says about my game. :)