Short score-attack shmup in the "caravan" style.

Jenny has two minutes to save her hive from invading insects. Power up her sting shot with honey crystals and shoot invaders coming from all directions!

Made for Gunner Parade Jam 2022. Ported to Android for Android Port Jam 2023.

Note for Firefox users: If you have problems with the web version, read and post feedback here

Controls

Action	Xinput Controller	Keyboard
Move	D-pad or Left Stick	Arrows
Fire	A button	Z
Change weapon	B button	X
Change speed	X button	C
Pause	Start button	Esc on desktop, P in browser
Reset	Back+Start buttons	F2
Quit	N/A	Alt+F4

For the Android controls, see "How to Play" at the title screen.

Enemies

Power up

Boosts your weapon and protects you against an additional hit.

Credits

Concept, game design, programming, player character art/design: Iori Branford

Music: Funk Buster by Tytanium654

Sound: https://soundeffect-lab.info

Background, enemy, effect, and UI art: https://opengameart.org/content/honey-guardian

Erranteee
ARoachIFoundOnMyPillow
dannorder
G-Brothers
YuriNikolai
PWL
Spring Spring
RedShrike
Poss
Kenney
Sinestesia

Cover art: hooksnfangs

More information

Status	In development
Platforms	HTML5, Windows, macOS, Linux, Android
Rating	Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars (19 total ratings)
Author	IoriBranford
Genre	Shooter
Made with	LÖVE, Audacity, Aseprite, Tiled
Tags	2D, Arcade, Fantasy, Female Protagonist, Pixel Art, Score Attack, Shoot 'Em Up, Short, Singleplayer, Top down shooter
Average session	A few minutes
Inputs	Keyboard, Xbox controller, Touchscreen
Links	Source code, Homepage

Download

Download NowName your own price

Click download now to get access to the following files:

honey-guardian-win-64.zip 8.5 MB

Version 20240524

Honey Soldier MD (W) (REV00).bin 640 kB

Version rev00

Honey_Soldier.apk 12 MB

Version 20240524

honey-guardian.love 4 MB

Version 20240524

Also available on

Development log

Developing the Genesis/Megadrive port
Aug 10, 2024
Genesis / Megadrive port
Jul 24, 2024
Performance update
May 25, 2024
Play Store production update
Mar 09, 2023
High Score update
Mar 01, 2023
Android port and Update 2
Feb 21, 2023
Browser support
Sep 15, 2022
Post-jam Update 1
Jun 29, 2022

Comments

Kreus atremod31 days ago(+1)

Esta perfecto un juego corto y entretenido para seguir jugando cuando digas, quiero desestresarme, me encanto

benstylus71 days ago(+1)

Loaded the Mega Drive rom up on the RetroFreak and had a blast. Hope you make a full length version sometime!

discowriter119 days ago(+1)

I like it, but it's a little hard to play. The challenge is there, but I'm used to shooters where there's actually a way to avoid enemy fire and I'm not sure doing that's possible with this game. Also, I seem to reach max upgrades pretty quickly. And, at the final boss, the second time I played, I ran out of time, which was unexpected. I thought I was being smart by taking my time avoiding enemies and was unaware there was a time limit. It's a fast, challenging game, but it seems the speed (whichever speed I'm at) actually works against me, either way. If I'm slow, I can't move fast enough, and if I'm fast, I'm likely to accidentally move into gunfire, so my unit is less controllable.

Also, not that it's really important, I'm not sure if the cry she gives out is entirely appropriate. It has character, but the little scream seems maybe a bit overdone, like she's a damsel calling out in distress, needing to be rescued or expressing pain that seems more like she's already critically wounded or dead.

Xx_Henry_xX104 days ago

You definitely should get used to pure movement-based dodging instead of rolling/dashing/whatever other games gave you

discowriter104 days ago

I can play the game just fine, but in a more typical shooter, the enemies and their fire move slowly. This one's all at once, and I completed it somewhat easily anyway. When I'm using cursor keys to move (as I prefer), maybe it shouldn't sort of start and stop in a way that makes it difficult to move exactly where I want to go, to avoid gunfire.

Xx_Henry_xX104 days ago

Try changing speeds (C key) and see if that helps

If the lack of inertia (which is the norm for all good shmups) is what actually throws you off then maybe try the android version

SneakySam419139 days ago(+1)

A fun little game! Great work.

Gendgi1 year ago(+1)

Great gameplay, love the graphics! 5 starts :D

create20191 year ago(+2)

Awesome game. Any chance of a high score feature being added?

IoriBranford1 year ago

I had the idea but never got round to it, hopefully soon. Thanks!

IoriBranford1 year ago(+2)

It’s in: https://ioribranford.itch.io/honey-guardian/devlog/496207/high-score-update

ATurc05QC2 years ago(+1)

Could be better with WASD controls, but yeah, neat game.

IoriBranford2 years ago (5 edits)

The downloadable versions actually create a config file, but I haven’t done proper UI yet.

%APPDATA%\Honey Guardian\config.lua on Windows
~/.local/share/LOVE/Honey Guardian/config.lua on Linux
/Users/<user>/Library/Application Support/LOVE/Honey Guardian on Mac

Find the key_ lines and change like so

  key_changespeed = "l",
  key_changeweapon = "k",
  key_down = "s",
  key_fire = "j",
  key_left = "a",
  key_pause = "pause",
  key_pausemenu = "escape",
  key_restart = "none",
  key_right = "d",
  key_up = "w",

Full list of keyboard keys

Toffee2 years ago(+1)

Awesome game!! Also Love2D gang omg based

IoriBranford2 years ago(+1)

Love2D is love ♥

Storyphony Oyun2 years ago(+1)

https://indieoyun.org/honey-guardian/

I promoted the game on my site.

IoriBranford2 years ago

Thank you very much ✌

Storyphony Oyun2 years ago(+1)

You’re welcome!