Spuds Quest

Spud's Quest is a retro action-adventure game inspired by some classic games, such as the Dizzy series, the Zelda series and the metroidvania subgenre. Spud is asked for help by Prince Charming, who has been turned into a frog by an evil wizard and inside the castle they discover that the same has happened to the king and the queen. Seeking help from the good wizard Merlin, Spud and Prince Charming are told that they need to find four elemental essences to break the curse. On their quest, Spud and the prince will pass through several different areas, from the cold mountains to the jungle, along with four ancient temples devoted to the elements of earth, water, ice and fire.

The game is played as a platformer with adventure inventory puzzles. Similar to Dizzy games, the number of items to carry is restricted - Spud can carry no more than four items. Prince Charming keeps accompanying Spud and while the game is mostly played as Spud, it's possible to switch between the characters and some sequences require cooperation - for example, only the prince (as a frog) can fit in some narrow passages. The game also includes some minor RPG elements, such as protagonist progress - in some places it's possible to find health upgrades, which increase Spud's maximum number of health points. Lost health points can be regained by buying medicines from a few characters and money can be gained by killing baddies (some of them drop coins; all enemies respawn every time their screen is reentered). There are also other power-ups - in some places Spud will find scrolls which enable him to learn new abilities. Some are fully passive, such as breathing underwater (since finding it, Spud can simply enter water safely), some require using a specific key combination (for example, the Might ability allows Spud to push and pull blocks and also to carry smaller ones; it is used by pressing the action key - default: enter - while standing next to a block, and then an arrow key).

The game was first released in 2006, as a much shorter free game with a different plot. In that game, the king seeks three magic items and a hero who finds them will be rewarded with a place in the king's service. However, quite soon after the release the game's author, Chris Davis, decided to expand it into a larger commercial game. In 2012 the game was funded on Kickstarter.