Mimicry Mayhem: Octofriend's Odyssey

Supersonic Crab submission for AI and Games Jam 2023

The Game

Use abilities dropped by hostile jungle enemies to become stronger, but watch out! The power you gain will limit your movement opportunities. Play strategically to eliminate all the enemies on the board. Push, pull, and attack enemies before they do the same to you!

The Story

Due to unforeseen circumstances, a Mimic Octopus got stranded in an odd jungle where lava rivers flow and deceiving animals are out for ink. To flee this precarious situation our eight-legged hero has no choice but to go forward, adapting to their new environment by mimicking its inhabitants and never falling into the burning pits.

“Mimicry Mayhem: Octofriend's Odyssey” is a goofy turn-based strategy game about a mimic octopus battling jungle animals in a lava-burning jungle. The game is about finding the right balance between attack freedom and movement freedom.

As the theme of the jam was Copycat, we tried to have all characters in the game be copycats themselves. Thus, the player character is a mimic octopus, while all enemies are chameleons, stick-bugs, alligators and so on. 

The trick is that all abilities also come with a handicap. Each ability reduces the move range of the one that mimics it. So, the more abilities a character mimics, the more difficult it becomes for them to move. 

As a strategy game, “Mimicry Mayhem: Octofriend's Odyssey” is all about strategic positioning as throwing enemies into the lava area is guaranteed KO.  The enemy AI is aware of this possibility and will also try to hit the player so as to push them into the death zone.

How to play

Left click - Attack (Will vary based on the ability you have selected)

Right click - Move by clicking on the green compass

• Finish the level by getting rid of all enemies in the stage. 
• To do so, throw them into the lava or reduce their hp to 0. 
• Every turn, choose between moving or attacking. 
• When you KO an enemy, they will drop their own ability. 
• If you move on top of the dropped ability you are granted the same power - but also the same movement handicap. 
• You can heal by picking up an ability that you're already holding.
• Try to find the right balance between firepower and freedom of movement!
• You can have up to 8 copied abilities at the same time, in addition to the base one. 
• Get rid of an ability and its handicap by skipping a turn.

Tools used

Game Engine: Unreal Engine 5.3.0
Art Editor: Affinity Designer 2

Assets

• Various images/references from Pexels and Pixaby
• Various audio from Soniss GDC Game Audio Bundles and the BBC Sound Effects Library
• Various materials, foliage, and props, from Quixel
• Everything else is made by the team!

Developers

Gameplay Programmer: Chris Major
UI Programmer: Eric Mazza
Game Designer: Louis Yanne
Visual Art/Design: QueenRina
Sound Design/Visual Art: Catt Lepp