Spell Duel

Side-view, mouse-aimed, 1-on-1. Every projectile is a skillshot. Every spell leaves the arena a little more dangerous than it found it. The hypothesis: prediction + positioning + terrain shaping is enough loop for a tight PvP duel — no items, no XP, no power creep. Pick a class, build a kit, and the only edge is execution.

The pitch

• Mage vs mage — or bring a Fighter. Default is a symmetric mage mirror where the only edge is execution. Now you can also swap a player to the melee Fighter class: trade ranged standoff for durability and a gap-closer, and find out whether melee can even catch a kiting mage.
• Build your own kit. Five roles — poke / control / attack / defense / heavy — each backed by a pool of interchangeable spells. Mix your own loadout or start from a one-tap spellbook (Pyromancer, Cryomancer, Stormcaller, Trickster, Balanced). Plus a hardcoded i-frame Dash that isn't a slot — it's just always there.
• Cooldowns and mana. Damage spells gate on cooldown; everything draws from a mana pool that regenerates. Cast smart or get caught empty.
• Environmental persistence is the differentiator. Spells don't just hit — they linger. Ice patches strip your jump and skate you across the floor. Fire patches DOT. Lightning patches zap on contact. And terrain is symmetric — your own patch will hurt you too.
• Elemental interactions are the identity. Fire onto ice melts it to water. Ice onto fire snuffs it. Lightning onto ice makes a shock zone. Lightning onto fire makes an explosion. Fire onto water makes steam. Soaked targets take bonus lightning. Every cast is a question: do I shoot the player, or do I shoot the floor?

Two classes

• Mage — the original kit: five ranged roles, terrain-shaping spells, kite and zone.
• Fighter — a melee brawler on the same five slots: Slash (fast poke arc), Bash (shove + upward pop to knock foes off platforms), Lunge Strike (blink-in gap-closer with i-frames), Guard (defensive absorb), and Ground Slam (hold-to-charge wide AoE). Tankier, faster, and swings a customizable neon blade instead of casting from an orb. Pick MAGE or FIGHTER per player in the LOADOUT tab.

Modes

• VS Bot — a smart-ish dummy (mobile, dodges, hazard-aware) for solo practice.
• Local 2P — P1 on keyboard + mouse, P2 on a gamepad. Assign a device per player.
• LAN — host / join over the network, host-authoritative.
• Defeat the Tower — a solo roguelite climb: fight up through floors of foes, grab power-ups, chase a high score.
• Solo Lab — a practice sandbox to feel out the kit and the interaction matrix.

Current state — playable

• ✅ Arena, mouse reticle, build-your-own 5-slot kit, dash with i-frames
• ✅ Two classes — ranged Mage and melee Fighter, selectable per player
• ✅ Environmental patches with reactions (fire / ice / lightning / water / shock / steam / earth)
• ✅ Hybrid resource model — per-spell cooldowns + a mana pool
• ✅ Hit juice — screen shake, hit-stop, knockback, mage squash & dash lean
• ✅ Smart-ish bot dummy for solo testing
• ✅ Local 2P via gamepad — P1 on KB+M, P2 on controller
• ✅ Arcade "joystick mode" — one-stick 8-way aim for an arcade stick / cabinet
• ✅ LAN multiplayer — host / join, host-authoritative
• ✅ Defeat the Tower — solo roguelite climb with power-ups + score
• ✅ Tutorial, in-game interactions reference, achievements, wizard customizer
• ✅ Pause menu, full keybind customization (KB+M and gamepad)