A short platformer that we put together over the course of the last few weekends of GBA Jam 2024, against all odds. (There's a neat twist to it, but the screenshot GIFs featured here don't show it so as not to spoil the surprise!)

Soundtrack: https://fictive.bandcamp.com/album/getting-around-it-with-pheasant-birdy-ost

Extra controls

After the tutorial, you may press Start (Enter) to pause. While paused, you may use the D-pad (arrow keys) and L/R (A/S keys) to observe your surroundings.

The rest of the controls are explained in-game. (The web version even displays the keyboard controls! However, it also supports controller input; besides the keys mentioned above, the X key is mapped to the A button.)

Compatibility notes

Plays on GBA hardware and most emulators (mGBA, NanoBoyAdvance, even VisualBoyAdvance). Two emulators are currently known to have issues:

  • GBARunner2 โ€“ won't run, white screen on boot
  • gpSP โ€“ runs, but with distracting visual artifacts

Playing on a backlit or frontlit GBA screen is recommended, though it looks fine in incandescent lighting on an AGB-001 as well!

Credits

  • lifning - concept, renderer, engine, design, scripting,scenery, audio codec, pixel font, coordination, stage design (tutorial, cave, finale)
  • vivlim - visual stage design tool, stage design (mountain), project hosting, playtesting
  • itsonlythee - sprites, scenery, promotional graphics

  • artemis - composition, sound direction, chat hosting

  • Skirmisher - stage design (grassland), rubber duck debugging, web embed integration, food

  • iliana - Hell Labs logo design, food, inspiration

Web player is based on gba.ninja by Simon Paris (with modifications by Rik), which runs VisualBoyAdvance-M via Emscripten.

StatusReleased
PlatformsHTML5
Rating
Rated 5.0 out of 5 stars
(2 total ratings)
AuthorsHell Labs, Skirmisher, lifning, opalescenteel, viviridian
GenrePlatformer
Made withRust
TagsGame Boy Advance, Puzzle-Platformer
Average sessionA few minutes
AccessibilityInteractive tutorial
LinksSoundtrack
MentionsFix for Everdrive Quickboot

Download

Download
pheasant-2024-08-18-f.zip 3.3 MB
Download
pheasant_jam.gba 4.5 MB

Development log

Comments

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I was disinterested at first until I read in the comments that it uses "3D space"
I am glad I completed the game, it was kind of fun.

It's amazing how you managed to pull of the FEZ main mechanic on GBA.

Congrats on the team!

this game is awesome! the gimmick was really mindblowing and the game plays quite well, good game!

rly cute!!! fun to clamber around in here :)

thank you :D glad you had fun with it

this is awesome!! The use of 3d space is honestly kinda mindbending... i love a good puzzle game where where navigating the space around you is the puzzle. The music is a real bop and i love the "pheasant" pun even if i didn't get it until the explanation in the credits ๐Ÿ˜… Also, the free rotation at the end is so impressive and I'm glad you let us players try it out!!

(1 edit)

thank you!! the free camera in pause mode was there all along, btw, but the end is the only time we ever explicitly mention the start button ;)  (though it *is* definitely a carry over from our dev builds, where we have it not restricted to keep the player's vertical position on-screen, heheh)

whoa, now you've given me a reason to replay it! I'm so curious to try out the free rotation everywhere ๐Ÿ˜

a cute platform game! the music is quite nice. I fell off a bit early (?) so I wasn't sure where to go but I think the obvious answer is "up." I did manage to find the ending credits so I think that counts. very interesting technical concept though I was basically just mashing instead of "visualizing" the 3d area so it felt more like cheating than exploring... well... still cool!

(1 edit)

glad you liked it! don't worry, mashing through it is a totally valid strategy if it works ๐Ÿ˜… spin to win~