Scrabdackle
A downloadable game for Windows, macOS, and Linux
The Kickstarter is over, and 185% funded! Thank you, everyone. Please wishlist Scrabdackle on Steam!
You've never left the wizard academy before, but today you were knocked out the window! As a novice stranded in an unfamiliar world, undertake a journey to find your way back home. Along the way, get to know the land of Scrabdackle for the first time – and the impact wizardkind has unknowingly had upon it.
Scrabdackle is a hand-drawn action/adventure game about going exploring, with non-linear progression and a unique mix of skill-based challenge and accessible gameplay. It features a vast, intricate overworld, tight and responsive combat, cheeky banter, and pages of lore to discover – all under a coat of playful charm.
A 2D top-down action-adventure focused on exploration and combat, Scrabdackle is the journey of a novice wizard getting to know their own strange world for the first time.
"It's got a lot of that strange indie charm that only certain games evoke [...] It scratches the same itch that Undertale, Everhood, Underhero do and this feels like it's right up there with all of them." - Wanderbots
Scrabdackle is being published by Fellow Traveller.
- Discover new, intertwined areas like the Ducklands and Blustergust Peak. Find new abilities that allow you to push further into Scrabdackle, and find something curious behind every corner.
- See the world at your own pace, with rare progression gates and an emphasis on non-linear exploration. Although you'll need a full set of abilities to explore every nook and cranny, the order you approach things is entirely up to you.
- Engage charming enemies throughout the world, ranging from harmless-unless-provoked to hostile. Challenges are strewn throughout the world (some hidden), and "dungeon"-style areas will push you to your limits before rewarding you with new powers.
- Major challenge arenas and boss fights will test your skills, as your low health and damage never increase, and you'll overcome by leveraging your arsenal of quick-select abilities and learning patterns and telegraphs.
- Or, turn on the Mage Shield's invulnerability to focus on exploration, if reflexive-skill-based challenge isn't what you're here for.
- Talk to personable characters, or walk on by— control is never taken away during dialogue, although some characters may think you're rude if you just walk away mid-chat!
- Enjoy a whimsical soundtrack and lively, 2D cel animations hand-drawn frame by frame.
Controls, Accessibility, and Assist Features
- Playable with a mouse and keyboard. Controller support is upcoming.
- More accessibility and assist toggle settings are planned once the game has exited demo state.
Follow the project!
Scrabdackle is currently a vertical-slice demo, starting development in mid-May 2020, and becoming a full-time project in spring 2021. The "v2" of the demo launched in August 2022, and the full game (planned to be quite huge) still doesn't have a firm release date yet. Though all systems are complete, there's plenty more content to build, and I'd love to have you along for the ride!
👉 Join our community discord! 👈
Other ways you can follow:
- Kickstarter for the crowdfunding campaign! (Now ended, but updates are still posted there!
- Twitter for regular gifs and stills of development
- Here on itch for some devlogs! Click 'Follow jakefriend' in the top right.
Art, music, programming, writing, design by Jake, aka jakefriend. Built in Godot game engine. Full credits in-game.
Download
Install instructions
Note for Mac version: Since the game is exported on a non-OSX platform (Windows), you will need to tell your computer it is okay to run the 'unlicensed' game. Sorry for the inconvenience; it's a Mac-thing outside my control. It's substantially easier to just play the demo on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1578720/Scrabdackle/
Development log
- Fall 2023 and Winter 2024 double-updateJan 02, 2024
- The new 2022 demo is out!Sep 02, 2022
- May-June 2022 devlog! Ruining the Ruins 😎Jun 09, 2022
- April 2022 devlog - Visual leaps and bounds!May 03, 2022
- March 2022 devlog - Menus n' polish n' playtestingApr 01, 2022
- Feb 2022 devlog - UI for U & I!Mar 01, 2022
Comments
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I found a softlock lol. Idk if you already know, I just wanted to say, in the golfing mini-game if you hit the mote just right at the last stage, the map will disappear (cuz it says you won) but the mote will just keep respawning, as it thinks you missed the shot, and it will just fall and hit the ground, then move back up, and do it again (and the walls were still up so you couldn't leave, and you couldn't talk to the person). I had to go to the main menu, and go back in lol. (just wanted to say this, this may already have been addressed I'm not sure) (You have to hit it right between the water and the ground.)
I'm buying this game the day it comes out. ..Or whenever I have money a few months or weeks after.. But the demo is so fun, im very excited for the full game.
Very fun demo! Looking forward to the full game :)
I really like this artistic style and want to learn it. As a beginner in painting, could you tell me where I can find tutorials or the name and keywords of this artistic style? Thank you.
Thanks! It's actually less painting and more of a line art cartooning style - books on principles of animation would be more useful than on painting, I think! That said, this is just my personal style that's grown over time; I haven't used tutorial resources for art before so I don't have any to recommend 😅
Okay, I will try to learn the principles of animation and practice more. I'm looking forward to the release of your game :)
So glad that this game was recommended to me from email!! love the graphics and the characters move smoothly. Only problem being that it's not very beginner friendly 〒▽〒 died a lot trying to get the wand (was on the hardness level one higher than voyeur.)
full gamne still gonna happen?
Yep! Still a while out, but it's my full-time focus every day :) It's a BIG game, is the thing!
looking forward to it :-)
the level design is so insane, its super enjoyable to actually have to analyze the screen to find pathways to the place you wanna go
do we have the final version out and where can i find it?
Nope! It's unlikely the demo will be updated past where it is right now, other than some quality-of-life thing, and the full game is still a ways out. (The demo is like, a teeny tiny fraction of the content that's gonna be in this thing!)
UPDATES??? YIPPEE!!! i remember i downloaded this game when it was a zip folder and i had to extract it but now its a WHOLE .EXE wild!!! hope every1s doing good!!:)
WHEN IT RELSEASE ;-;
Still gonna be a while, sorry!
LMAO I LOVE THIS
this game...is a masterpiece
Indeed
I like it, though, the only problem is that my computer can run it xD, it has good fps, the only part my pc died a bit is when you get the wand and starts a little fight, not 0 fps you know, but it was unconfortable, apart that, i like very much the personality the game have and the design of characters as the intro, epic btw, and the ost too, is very good, the only thing a bit strange was the design of the wand, is like a bit strange, like a different style of art, but when you have it in your hands, you do not notice that.
This is such a fun game I have tried using itch app and the type of game I was finding I love the character designs in all of them and had fun when familiar characters came out with unexpected challenges.
Nice and fun game I have tried some time ago via Itch app on Mac. Definitely worth to try.
Due to limited time I have only played it for a short 30 minutes or something, so I just seen a small fraction of game and need to explore it more some day.
Jakefriend also shares his knowledge and insights in various places for anyone interested in gamedev.
Very fun game, can't wait to see where it will go next! Please check out my video:
Thanks for making a video, glad you enjoyed it! Just noticed that you were actually playing an old buggy build from Sept 2020, when the most recent build is April 2021 with much more content and polish in general - so some of the awkwardness you ran into is long-since dealt with! That said if you're interested in checking it out again, I'd just wait a few months more until the updated demo comes out :) Cheers!
we gonna get a full gameany decade soon :-D
This game is just amazing, from the gameplay to the graphics to the soundtrack and the sound effects... EVERYTHING is amazing c:
I need help, when the game starts, the screen where the map (player, enemies, tiles, etc.) should be just gets black after the cutscene, the UI still moves, is only the part where the mage would show up that turns black. PLEASE HELP ME I WANT TO PLAY THE DEMOOOOO
This game is probably the 2nd time I’ve spent most of my time off, the progress is as non-linear as it says and the assist mode just helps when your just trying to explore. i can see this game being very famous soon, it’s just sad my bad device has to go out of it’s way to lag on such a simple yet addictive game. Hope there’s more optimization in the future. I know this is a demo but it already seems like a fully fledged game.
Seriously can't wait for this game to release and I can't wait for more updates and streams!
I am having trouble with the W & S keys, when I press them it only moves me a inch. If this is a problem please fix.
This is a problem with your local device, unfortunately, not the game.
thanks
Whats the newest version? top or bottom?
The files are all the same version for different operating systems. There are icons showing which, and you can hover over for the full filename.
one of the best demo i have ever played, i will countine following!
i haven't been able to use itch in a while, and i see an update on scrabdackle. im exited :)
BEST GAME EVER!!!
I seriously hope the full version releases soon!
it is not coming our till summer 2022 but it will be worth the wait im sure
Kind of sad that I have to become 38 to play the full game :(
it will be worth it tho
I have an issue when launching the game : i get stuck on the "godot game engine" screen with the music running, and it just doesnt change. When moving my mouse around i can hear menu-type sound effects and i can click things i do not see, but the screen never changes. Im on Windows, x64.
sadly its coming out summer 2022 but it will be worth the wait in my opinion
Is scrying the visitor centre possible ?
Is it glitched ?
Or is it RNG/position based ?
Nvm i got it. It had to be done from the inside while standing in the right side of the building.
Hey, great game!!
I hope you don't mind that I streamed the game and made a YouTube video on it! Was very fun and had a blast. I got 8 out of 9 stars and even got both Octahedron's [Had to buy one for bragging rights ;) ]. It took me over an hour just to defeat the Waking Fossil [Such a good any% run ;) ]. Was surprised by the difficulty of the fossil compared to Little Lord but oh man was it fun.
Love everything about the game! Can't wait for a non-demo version, I'm a fan! (also congrats on destroying that Kickstarter).
Katana!! Your energy is so good in this, I was so into how into it you were :D Thanks for sharing!
no problem i love the game best wizard game i played
same tbh
hi Jake I like playing the game but i don't really get the boons. i get one of them makes grinbles spawn but i don't get really notice the other trade-offs, what are the other trade-offs?
3 years late, but:
Tenacious Hunter- Grinbles spawn up to 4 in a given room, but you get +50% damage
Fractuous Arcanum- when you overcharge your magic condenser (use too much magic), some amount of your bits explode out of you and disappears after a few moment; but you get +25% magic bit drops from enemies and obstacles (it shouldn't affect other magic bit sources if I recall correctly)
Captive Magician- Blue moves like they're constantly on ice, but your magic recharges 50% faster. Or 25%, I don't remember this one
Hi I love your game, however I suggest you add a full screen map, so players can more easily see what they have and haven't explored.
When i in full-screen mode the monitor just cuts to black. can i somehow repair it?
Hi arsenkka, that happens when your computer can't handle the GLES3.0 open source drivers the project uses. If you message me at jakefriend.dev@gmail.com or on the Discord server (link above), I can get you a copy of a GLES2.0 export that will work.
(The full game will have a proper configuration file that manages this, but for the time being, it's just a separately exported executable.)
Thank you for your help, but i don't need it anymore. Still, big thanks for the support!
ooooo pretty game ~
theres a bug with the secret vender when you buy the triangle thing but leave the screen it will disappear and also sorry if this is intended but kind of messed up if it was
I was a huge fan of this game ever since early development. Can't believe we've made it this far! :D
How do I get the linux version?
download the linux.x86_64 version, then go to your terminal, if its in a directory type "cd (folder name)", and then type "./Scrabdackle 0.1.08c Kickstarter Secret Update - Linux.x86_64" if you didnt rename it.
thx
What do you mean by "folder name"?
The name of the folder you have the game in
A fun game. Loved the design and the art style. It has a cool old-school vibe.
Hey I would just like to report a (most likely known) visual bug:
The shadow under the cursor has a twin! (a.k.a. there is just another little circle shadow a few tiles away for some reason)
I think I completed the demo, and I can't wait for more!