Stabotage

Stabotage: From Sword to Plowshare takes place in the caravan of a traveling hero, who seeks to gain reputation and fame across the land. His plan? Engage in harrowing battles, build a legendary name, and carve his story into history. However, not everyone—or everything—is on board with this vision. The hero’s sword (the player) has grown weary of battle and bloodshed, longing for a more peaceful and productive life… like farming.

During the day, the sword does its best to sabotage the hero’s efforts, subtly limiting his kill streak without arousing suspicion. This phase plays out as an RPG-inspired turn-based battle where the player must manipulate combat in ways that increase the hero’s chances of failure—without getting caught. This awareness adds an extra layer of risk, tracking how close the hero is to realizing his weapon is working against him.

At night, the sword embarks on its own grand adventure. In a fast-paced, Metroidvania-lite platforming phase, the player races to the edge of the map to acquire new abilities, unlocking even more creative sabotage options for the following day. But there’s a catch—fail to make it back before dawn, and the hero may realize something is amiss, leading to the sword’s reforging and an untimely end.

This game was created for Pirate Software’s 16th Game Jam, blending strategy, stealth, and platforming into a unique tale of rebellion, risk, and reluctant heroism.

Controls

The Day phase is a mouse-controlled, turn-based battle situation. The night phase operates as a standard platformer.

• W/A/S/D to move
• Spacebar to jump
• E to interact with objects
• I to open the ability inventory, which uses the arrow keys to navigate.
• ESC or P to open the pause menu

Game Design & Attribution

Our game design document, complete with a list of asset attribution is available here.

Stabotage was created by:

• Leah Fox - Art Direction
• Sam Fox - Lead Developer
• Chase Lindquist - Head Writer / Developer
• Jacob Tender - Developer / Character Design

Known issues:

• The transition from the intro cut scene to the tutorial seems to stick in some browsers, but it's not consistent. If it happens to you, let us know!  🗡️