Less Than Royal Games presents:

========TETRAMAYHEM========

   DROP BLOCKS AND FOUR

      SMOKING BARRELS

                         [BETA]

NOTE:  TETRAMAYHEM HAS BEEN DESIGNED FOR A FINAL

       RELEASE ON THE XBOX LIVE INDIE GAMES

       CHANNEL.  AS SUCH, THE GAME IS ***ONLY***

       PLAYABLE WITH GAMEPADS SUCH AS THE WIRED

       XBOX 360 CONTROLLER FOR PC.

       AS SUCH, WE ALSO CANNOT GUARANTEE THAT

       THE GAME WILL DISPLAY PERFECTLY ON COMPUTERS

       WITH CERTAIN ASPECT RATIOS.

====  BETA NOTES ====

Tetramayhem is still in beta form, and we would love

to hear back from you as we finish development!  Please

give us feedback on the game by emailing lessthanroyal@gmail.com,

or by contacting us through Twitter, Facebook, Disqus, or

Youtube, all of which are linked from www.lessthanroyal.com

==== INSTALLATION NOTES  ====

The TetramayhemInstaller executable should install the game to the

Start menu.  However, it requires the .NET Framework to run.  If

your computer does not already have the .NET Framework installed,

please run the included Setup.exe to download and install the

.NET Framework.

====  PREMISE  ====

A four-player, cooperative, physics-based action 

puzzle arena survival platformer.

Fight back against the mutant Swarm with four 

players, seven satisfying weapons, and a whole 

tower of multicolored tetramino building Blocks.

====  BACKGROUND  ====

The world as we know it is no more. The yellow 

sky hangs heavy over our cities like an infection,

colored only by the thick brown smog that oozes

sickly through the empty streets — an environment 

incapable of sustaining human life, poisoned by our

own polluting ways. Worse, something grew in our 

landfills and toxic waste dumps, a vengeful race of 

brutal garbage mutants that rose up and decimated 

the unprepared human population. Known only as 

The Swarm, they now roam the countryside seeking out 

the last few pockets of human resistance. Now, the 

players must take up the task of cleaning up the 

atmosphere, destroying The Swarm, and restoring life 

to the world.

====  CONTROLS  ====

LEFT STICK:  Move avatar

RIGHT STICK:  Aim weapons

D-PAD LEFT / RIGHT:  [DROPPER ONLY]  Move Block Dropper

D-PAD UP / DOWN:  [DROPPER ONLY] Rotate Blocks in Block Dropper

LEFT BUMPER:  Jump (Hold to jump higher) / Double jump [In air] 

RIGHT BUMPER:  Melee (Can Shatter paired Blocks)

LEFT TRIGGER:  [DROPPER ONLY] Drop Blocks from Block Dropper / 

                  Hold to launch Blocks

RIGHT TRIGGER: Fire gun

A BUTTON:  Jump (Hold to jump higher) / Double jump [In air] 

X BUTTON:  Hold to pick up Power-Ups

Y BUTTON:  Take control of the Block Dropper 

                  (Allows use of DROPPER ONLY controls)

START:   Join game / Pause game

F ON KEYBOARD:  Set the game to run in fullscreen mode

ESC ON KEYBOARD:  Quit the game

====  BLOCKS  ====

You won't get far in Tetramayhem without a strong defense, and that's

where the Block Dropper comes into play.  Capable of spawning an

infinite supply of Blocks of varying colors onto the battlefield, with

Block Dropper is your greatest assest in your fight to rejuvenate the

planet.

[ NOTE:  Only one player at a time can control the Block Dropper! ]

Blocks can be rotated before the are dropped onto the battlefield,

and come in multiple shapes and colors. They can also be launched at

high velocity, crushing enemies and shattering Block Combos as they

fall.  But what is a Block Combo?  Well...

A Block Combo is created when multiple Blocks of the same color touch

and begin to glow.  More Blocks equal a bigger Combo, which is more

beneficial to your team.  Block Combos can be Shattered with your

Melee attack or with a Block launched from the Dropper.  The effects

of Shattering a Combo differ based on the color of the Combo.

The various Block colors are as follows:

BEIGE:  The basic building Block.  Beige Blocks cannot form Combos,

                 but are invaluable for building the base of the walls

                 and towers that will protect your team from the oncoming

                 Swarm.

RED:  Weapons Blocks.  Shattering a Red Combo will produce Weapons

                 Power-Ups, giving the players access to a variety

                 of more powerful guns until their ammo runs out.

BLUE:  Health Blocks.  Shattering a Blue Combo will produce Health

                 Power-Ups, which restore half of a player's total

                 health to them.

YELLOW:  Bomb Blocks.  Shattering a Yellow Combo will create Bombs

                 on the battlefield, which detonate when shot and 

                 deal damage to all around them (including players

                 and Blocks).  

                 NOTE: Meleeing Bombs does NOT detonate them!

GREEN:  Eco Blocks.  Eco Blocks clean the atmosphere and convert

                 trash to flowers when Shattered.  Players score

                 large amounts of points for each Eco Block

                 Shattered, with a bonus for each piece of trash

                 cleaned up.

GREY:  Glue Blocks.  Glue Blocks do not form Combos, but launching

                 a Glue Block into another Block by holding the

                 Left Trigger (or similarly launching any Block into a Glue

                 Block) will cause the two Blocks to glue together,

                 improving the structural stability of your Block

                 tower.

====  ENEMIES  ====

SQUIBBLETS:  A mass of teeth and hateful hunger, mutated from a

                 discarded basketball.  They can't damage your tower

                 directly, but will still prove a deadly nuisance

                 to players who underestimate the bouncy danger they pose.

SQUAWKERS:  An aerial nuisance.  Squawkers swoop down on players with

                 great force, raking them with their sharp claws

                 and shoving them off of the Block tower.  They can't

                 see too well through the old gas masks they wear, though...

SPLODOS:  The runt of the Swarm.  Splodos were pressed into the less

                 than desirable job of carrying volatile toxic waste

                 for the Swarm.  They will explode on contact with Blocks

                 or players, but watch out... Their kamikaze assault

                 will coat the battlefield with acidic Goo, burning

                 any player who touches it!

SMASHERS:  Run.  Failing that, blast these brutes with everything you've

                 got before they tear your Block tower apart.

====  WEAPONS  ====

PISTOL:  Your default gun.  Has infinite ammo and medium fire rate,

                  but only deals limited damage to enemies.

TOMMY GUN:  Contains lots of ammo and has a rapid fire rate, but

                  is relatively inaccurate and deals limited damage.

MAGNUM:  Contains a low amount of ammo, but deals massive damage to

                  enemies and can penetrate multiple targets,

                  including Blocks.

SHOTGUN:  Has a medium ammo amount and fire rate.  Every shot launches

                  a fine spread of pellets towards your foes.  Deadly

                  up close, and still a force to be reckoned with at

                  a distance.

GRENADE LAUNCHER:  Has very low ammo, but each explosive round is

                  capable of taking out multiple targets.  Great for

                  Kill Combos!

IR LASER:  Little is known about this experimental weapon, built by

                  the military before the fall of the human race.

                  If the stories are to be believe, it is very powerful,

                  very shortlived, and very, very metal.

====  MODES  ====

ARCADE:  Play through a 7-level campaign that changes every time you

                  play!

HARDCORE:  Unlocked when you beat Arcade mode.  Hardcore mode increases

                  damage all enemies deal, while also removing the

                  targeting lasers from the players' weaponry.

SURVIVAL:  Go for the high score by surviving as long as possible with

                  just one life.

====  TIPS  ====

-Hold the Right Trigger down to continuously fire your gun.

-Blocks launched by holding the Left Trigger can crush multiple

  enemies and shatter linked Block Combos.

-Bombs don't explode when you hit them with a Melee attack.  Use this

  to position bombs tactically on the battlefield!

-Plan your Block placements so that you have a strong fortification

  from the Swarm, while still having easy access to Block Combos.

-Killing multiple enemies in a row builds your Kill Combo, multiplying

  the number of points that each kill gives you.

-Beat a level quickly to get the largest end of level score multiplier,

  but make sure you stick around long enough to get some points from

  enemy kills, combos, and cleaning the environment with green Eco Blocks.

  If you get no points on a level, the highest multiplier won't

  help you get a high score.

-Players spawn in the Block Dropper -- press the Left Trigger to

  drop them into the world faster.

-Players who spend too long outside of the camera's view are dealt

  damage and moved into the Block Dropper to respawn.

-Enemies spawn in waves.  Use the downtime between waves to rearm and

  reinforce your Block tower.

-Squawkers have bad eyesight.  Hide behind your Blocks and they won't

  attack!

-You only get one life per level.  Use it well!

====  CREDITS  ====

Less Than Royal Games is:

Jon Gill (Initial Design, Gameplay Programming, Graphics Programming, Animation, Art)

Rob Giusti (Design, Gameplay Programming, Backend Programming)

Mike Rubino (Design, Frontend Programming, Sound Programming, Music, Sound)

Dylan Gil-Gomez (Design, UI Programming, Art)

Physics powered by Farseer Physics

http://www.lessthanroyal.com

lessthanroyal@gmail.com