Hey there, this is Zach again. In my last post I introduced you to Creepy Castle's combat system and discussed some of the duel types. This time I want to tell you about some of the other duels you'll encounter as you get further into the game.

Parry: Like the Pursuit duel I mentioned last time, Parry takes place on a three-by-three grid. This time, though, the grid display represents the location of incoming enemy attacks. These attacks take the form of icons with rapid countdown timers, and you must target each icon with your reticle before the timer hits zero to deflect the attack. As you deflect the attacks, a meter fills up on the left side; once it's full, you win. Fail to block three hits, though, and you'll lose this duel. You'll also have to be on alert for grey feint icons; if you target a feint icon, it'll also count as a miss. Part of the inspiration for this minigame came from the rhythm game Elite Beat Agents, and although it wasn't really an inspiration, the parrying in Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance is sort of similar.

Target the exclamation-point icons before time runs out to block the incoming attacks!

Shove: I'd consider this duel to be the most like a typical video game quick-time event. It's basically a sumo wrestling match in which you're trying to push your opponent back and knock them out of bounds. A string of input commands appears at the bottom of the screen; if you enter these correctly you'll knock your foe back, but if you mess up you'll get pushed back instead. There's also a time limit on this one, and if neither of you get shoved out before it expires, the contest ends in a draw.

Channel your inner sumo strength to knock back the enemy.

Teleport: This one is kind of like the cup game in which you put a coin under a cup and then quickly slide the cups around, with the goal being for someone to guess where the coin is hidden. Only instead of cups and coins, it's an enemy moving rapidly between several locations, and you have to identify the spot the enemy ended up at when he stopped moving. The number of teleportation spots varies by the enemy, as does the speed at which enemies teleport.

Can you spot which enemy is the real deal?

Siege: Siege is another duel that uses a grid for movement, but this one draws its inspiration from classic 2D shooters. Projectiles come at you from the right, and you must move up and down on the grid to dodge the incoming shots. Different enemies have different firing patterns and types of attacks, so this duel can feel quite distinct from one encounter to the next. For instance, there's one enemy who can fire big, burning, meteor-like projectiles, as well as a volley of three fireballs, plus smaller, faster projectiles; I'm especially fond of that one. In fact, right now this is probably my personal favorite type of duel.

Siege takes inspiration from old-school shooters.

Maze: Think Pac-Man and you'll have a pretty good idea of what the duel is about. A small maze is randomly generated, and you'll have to move through it and pick up some collectibles while avoiding the enemy. Coding the random maze creation has been one of the trickier aspects of programming the duels, but it wasn't too bad.

Unfortunately, there are no Power Pellets to help you here.

Slider: Basically, there's an indicator moving across a slider, and you have to press the button when the indicator crosses over strips, kind of like in a rhythm game. When you successfully hit the command button while over a strip, your bar is incremented. Catching the strip over red regions will increase the bar a bit, and if you hit the button while the reticle is over a golden "perfect" region, it will increase by a lot. If your bar is close to full by the duel's end, you'll snag a perfect, and if it's next to nil, the duel will end in failure. This is the last type of duel I have planned for Creepy Castle, but you never know what could happen before it's all said and done!

There you have it - a full list of the types of duels you'll encounter in Creepy Castle. I think it's safe to say that they're not your typical RPG battles. Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy playing them once the game is released!