RULES SUCK!

Following instructions? That's for the WEAK.

Defiance. Yeah. That's where the real magic is. Following instructions will only slow you down. You want real results? Ignore 'em. Forge your own path.

Defiant Mage plays out entirely on a chess board, and your goal is to capture as many enemy pieces as possible before you're defeated. The catch? All your moves are represented by cards, and you can't play those cards unless you have defiance. You gain defiance for each instruction that is unfulfilled and unfollowed at the end of the round. A lot of fun emerges from trying to balance avoiding rules, playing the right cards, and staying alive. How far can you make it?

This game was made for Comfy Jam Summer (2026), over the course of 2 weeks. Unfortunately, my schedule had a lot of overlaps, and I didn't have time to add all of the polish and content I wanted. The jam had the theme of Summer, and the limitation of "The Instructions Are A Lie." The limitation inspired most of the gameplay, particularly ignoring rules to play cards. The theme inspired 3 different playable characters, each with their own cards and gimmicks. Only 2 characters were finished, but I'll return to complete the 3rd soon. A lot of visual effects and sound effects, as well as music were unfortunately cut out as well because I just didn't have as much time as I wanted. Also, this is the first game I've made with Godot, so it was very much a learning experience. Though I must admit, game engines with editors are much easier to work with compared to pure frameworks like Phaser, the engine I used for all my previous games. Switching from JavaScript to Godot was also a pretty fun process, and I can't wait to continue with the engine!

Known Issues (Will be fixed after the jam rating period ends)

1) Combining 2 magic bait cards creates a hat? Don't worry though, the hat has the same effect as a normal magic bait (???)