Only Speed

Tagline

Three captive mages. One stolen artifact. No time. Only SPEED.

Description

Only Speed is a one-thumb pixel roguelite for your phone.

You are Kestrel, an operative of the Stormstriders: the Crown's elite rogues, whose enchanted boots turn speed into a weapon. Three High Mages and a mysterious artifact have been stolen by the warlord **Malgrave**. You and Brokk, your gryphon pilot and engineer, are the advance team. The cavalry is hours behind. The clock is already running.

Drag anywhere and time slows to a crawl. Aim. Release and you blast across the room, cutting everything on the line. Short drags step, long drags dash. Kills refund your charges, so one good line chains into the next.

- Everything is speed. Every bonus and upgrade is a kind of speed: Recharge SPEED, Dash SPEED, Time SPEED, Pickup SPEED. You start slow; by the end of a good run your dashes burn red.

- Read the casters. Hexcallers fire volleys, Pyromancers spread rings of fire (dash through the flames), Stormcallers aim lightning, Chronowitches snare you in time. Cut a caster mid-spell to interrupt it.

- Bosses with phases. Each lieutenant shields itself and calls acolytes you must cut down. Every boss holds a captive mage.

- Beat the clock. Reach the summit before Malgrave escapes with the artifact, or watch him fly away. Two endings.

- Killing Spree. Fill the gauge and tap: blink from enemy to enemy, untouchable.

- The forward camp. Bring gold back to Brokk for permanent upgrades. Free the mages and they will bless your next descent with more time.

Controls

- Drag anywhere: slow time and aim (drag length = dash distance)

- Release: dash. A quick swipe is an instant full dash.

- Slide back to where you started and release: cancel

- Tap when the Spree gauge is full: Killing Spree

Made for **Slapjam #2** (theme: **Speed**). Direction: **Cfrog25**.

AI tools used

- Claude Code (Claude Opus 5.5): game design iteration, all code (Phaser 3 + TypeScript), UI, cutscene system, story script and dialogue, sound effects.

- PixelLab: all pixel art (hero, enemies, bosses, rooms, camp, cutscene scenes, portraits, title art, icons).

- Suno: the orchestral soundtrack.