Escape From Castle Matsumoto

Medieval Japan. An evil daimyo lord has stolen the treasures of Imperial family and hidden them in his castle in an attempt to seize power. As a young Shinobi apprentice, you have decided to sneak into the castle, recover the treasures and return them to their rightful owners to bring prominence to your clan. However, a member of a competing clan has also discovered daimyo's scheme and is on the same mission as you. Do whatever it takes to be the first to recover stolen items and bring honour to your clan.

Your mission is to:

• find and collect 5 ITEMS hidden in the Castle, and
• escape through a SECRET EXIT

You can play the game using a Keyboard or a Controller.
Keyboard has two layouts for playing against another player over split-screen using a single keyboard.
During single-player or network games you can use ANY OF THE CONTROLS (Keyboard A or B, any Gamepad).

Each player's view consists of:

• DEFAULT ACTION the player can perform
• Six-slot Inventory:
  • Map
  • Five TRICKS
• Five ITEM slots which can contain:
  • A highlighted Item icon when you are CARRYING the Item
  • A greyed Item icon indicating you held and STASHED the Item (*)
  • X indicating the Item is in the SAME ROOM as you (*)
  • Arrows showing DIRECTION towards the Room with the Item (*)
• TIME LEFT (burning incense)

Escape From Castle Matsumoto is played using four DIRECTIONS and a single ACTION button.

Action button performs the DEFAULT ACTION shown on screen which depends on what object is in front of you: if you are standing by a Door or Furniture it will show a possible interaction with them. If you are holding an Item or a tool, an appropriate action will show.

If no DEFAULT ACTION is shown on screen, Action button enters INVENTORY (this can be disabled in Options by toggling off Single Button Mode).

In order to win the Game, you will need to carry all FIVE ITEMS at the same time and find the SECRET EXIT.

Moving Around

• Use DIRECTIONS to move your player around.
• To pass through a DOOR, approach it and press Action to OPEN it. You can also CLOSE doors that have been opened.
• To climb up/down stairs, simply walk over them.

Items

• You can only carry ONE ITEM     AT A TIME, unless you have the BAG  
• Items are HIDDEN in Furniture around the Castle. Approach Furniture and press Action to SEARCH it. If there was an Item hidden inside, you will pick it up.
• If you are holding an Item, you can hide it in Furniture to retrieve it later: approach Furniture and press Action to STASH it. Note that Furniture can hide more than one Item.
• The MAP shows in which Rooms Items are located using an X symbol.
• Depending on game configuration, ARROWS in your Inventory can point to locations of Items.
• Items can also be lying on the ground, if a Player drops them.

Tricks

• To help your chances you can use Shinobi TRICKS from your Inventory to protect Items you've found as well as hinder your opponent's progress. See Tricks section below for details.

Countermeasures

• To counter your opponent's Tricks, you can pick up helpful COUNTERMEASURES from around the Castle. See Tricks section below for details.

Confrontation

• Inevitably you will run into your opponent as you perform your mission, in which case a MARTIAL FIGHT is inevitable. See Battle section below for details.

Exit

• Once you have all FIVE ITEMS, look for a SECRET EXIT somewhere in the Castle. It will look like a broken wall panel.
• Depending on game configuration, Exit might be visible from the START or only from the moment a player acquires all Five Items.
• Once you are in front of the EXIT holding all Five Items, OPEN it like a regular Door and pass through.

Time

• The burning INCENSE represents TIME you have left to escape. Falling victim to Tricks or losing fights will make the incense burn faster.

The MAP shows the layout of the Castle, location of the Player and all Items that are not being carried. Depending on game configuration, it can also show the location of the other Player.

To access the Map, choose it from your INVENTORY (press ACTION button when in an open spot or use QUICK MAP button). Castles have multiple FLOORS; use Up/Down to switch between them. Left side of the Map shows a vertical cross-section of the Castle.

The Map NEVER shows the location of the EXIT.

• X - there's an Item somewhere in this Room
• Flashing Square - Player
• Ladder - Stairs in the room (icon's alignment indicates if Stairs are Up or Down)
• Highlighted Room - visited Room

There are four CASTLES and one DOJO available in the game. Layouts of the Castles remain unchanged but locations of Items, Furniture, Doors as well as overall decoration is RANDOMISED each round.

Your Shinobi has an arsenal of TRICKS they can use to slow down their opponent.
Some Tricks can be set up on FURNITURE, some on DOORS, and some can be placed on the FLOOR.
Most Tricks have a COUNTERMEASURE you can use to avoid them.
To setup a Trick, enter INVENTORY using the ACTION or QUICK INVENTORY buttons and select it.
You CANNOT setup a Trick or pick up a Countermeasure while you're CARRYING an Item; drop the Item on the floor first.

If you run into your opponent in the Castle, you will enter a MARTIAL FIGHT. You will automatically drop any Items you're carrying.

• MOVE in front of your opponent, facing them.
• Press and HOLD ACTION button to prepare for a martial move.
• While holding Action, PRESS A DIRECTION to perform a move:
  • Towards opponent - Low Kick
  • Away from opponent - High Block
  • Up - High Kick
  • Down - Low Block
• THREE successful hits will force a Shinobi at full health to RETREAT. If you have won a fight but suffered a few hits, avoid another one.

It is up to you to find the winning strategy! But here are some tips:

• Until you have the BAG, STASH any Items you find in places you remember and PROTECT with Tricks.
• Keep an eye on your opponent's actions and remember your opponent is watching.
• Only rely on fights if you have no other option as they are difficult to win consistently.
• If your opponent has a big advantage, focus on Tricking them rather than on remaining Items.
• If you can find the Exit or the last Item first... make sure to "prepare" them for your opponent.

The winner is presented with a SCORE and a RANK. The criteria that affect Score are:

• Tricking your opponent: +50 points for each successful Trick
• Use of the Map: -50 points for first use, -5 for each consecutive use
• Finding an Item first: +35 points
• Clearing a Trick setup by your opponent: +25 points
• Falling victim to opponent's Trick: -25 points
• Winning a fight: +20 points
• Losing a fight: -20 points

Ranks are awarded every 50 points, the TOP RANK requires 200 points.

When setting up a game, you can control a some of its rules.
Rules are combined into pre-set Difficulties, but you can also customize each individually.

You can configure certain components of the game's gameplay, display and audio using the Options menu.

Escape From Castle Matsumoto is best enjoyed WITH A FRIEND!
You can play with another player on the SAME COMPUTER or over a NETWORK.

Escape From Castle Matsumoto is a passion project of Mausimus (coding) and Joker (art, music).

The game is FREE for everyone to enjoy.

Original release date: 5th December 2024

• Steam page
• itch.io page
• Manual (HTML)
• Manual (PDF)

We have used some external assets:

• Sound Effects by taira-komori.jpn.org
• Title Font by Eisen Tsunanori
• TV Shader by r57shell

Thank you for playing our game! Check out our other games and projects at:

• https://mausimus.net
• https://home.deds.nl/~femo