GadgetSmack

You play as Gio
GadgetSmack is a silly, hand-drawn action game where you play as Gio, an average guy turned super police agent armed with a juiced-up sword that gains power with every consecutive strike. The universe is run by galactic organizations fighting to establish a universal order under their own power, but something about that doesn't sit right with you. With your sword, a growing collection of gadgets and J.T. Slider, your cyborg turtle sidekick, you break that order apart from the inside out and bring chaos back to the universe.The JUICE BAR
Every consecutive hit charges the JUICE BAR, and the more JUICE you hold, the harder your sword lands. With a full bar your strikes come down with ferocity and the whole fight feels explosive, a bit like the drop at the top of a roller coaster or running with scissors. Part of that thrill is knowing you could lose it. Miss once and the bar falls to zero, you're back at square one, and the only thing left to do is build it up again, because once you've had all that power you'll want it back.Gadgets
Gadgets give you more ways to fight and another way to use the JUICE you've built. You pick your gadgets at the start of a level, and they aren't simply handed to you: some are hidden in levels, and others you earn by completing certain challenges. Slow Motion lets you pull things back for a second when the screen is packed with fast-moving parts, so you can make the best move in that moment (and it looks great doing it). The Super Attack releases all your stored JUICE at once, making you invincible while you mow down everything in reach. If you're newer to action games, gadgets give you an edge without demanding perfect combos, and if you never miss, they give you a reason to build the bar all over again.Carrot Bot i3
Your first boss is Carrot Bot i3, a giant carrot-shaped robot with leaves on top, a screen for a face and a lower half that spins on its own, so he can whip himself into a tornado while keeping his eyes on you. He's the third iteration of himself and the first that's fully robotic. His favorite trick is summoning tiny carrot missiles out of thin air, each packed with explosives and wearing its own little face, which turns angry the moment it launches straight at you.Drawn in ink
drew every character in GadgetSmack by hand with a digital ink brush. When I first picked up an iPad and started drawing in Procreate, I really like the way the ink line gets thicker and thinner as my hand guides the stylus across the surface, which gave the characters more definition and expression than the pencil sketches I used to make growing up. Color would have added a lot of time for an amateur artist like me, and I already loved how they looked in black and white, so I leaned into it.Who Gio is
Gio grew up as an ordinary kid in a small town, with a calm spirit and a deep empathy for creatures all over the universe. Super agent training, a confused upbringing, and a little organizational brainwashing have left him lost and unsure why he feels the way he does. At heart he wants to do what's right, and to help everyone, people and creatures alike. He's not the hero yet, but he could become the hero if he's able to tune out the noise and understand what truly matters.

Sometimes slashing through hordes of enemies is easier than facing what's really going on, and GadgetSmack is glad to be that escape for a while. Stay with it to the end, though, and it has something to say.

Wishlist GadgetSmack to hear the moment the demo goes live.