Soul Gauntlet

Cinevva's analyzer read this game's design doc and its source, then wrote the brief below. "Make your own" hands it to the game creator as your opening message, so you start from a real spec rather than a one-line idea.

Create a responsive 2D browser game titled “Soul Gauntlet,” presented in a dark neon fantasy interface. Use a centered, vertically arranged layout on a near-black navy background with a subtle radial glow. At the top show the title “SOUL GAUNTLET” and a gold stage indicator. Beneath it place a three-part HUD: the player’s “YOU” HP (starting at 20 / 20) with a red-to-orange bar, a center turn/status label plus “Chain x0,” and the foe’s HP with a purple-to-pink bar. The main play area is a bordered, rounded rectangular canvas with a deep blue-black gradient background, a faint translucent arena rectangle, and a glowing thin outline. Above the arena, display the current foe name in a stage-specific accent color and either “CHOOSE YOUR ACTION” or “SURVIVE THE PATTERN.”

Start with a modal overlay covering the play area: translucent dark backdrop with blur, centered dark navy gradient card, thin blue-violet border and rounded corners. It says “Enter the Gauntlet,” explains “Survive five escalating fights. Choose an action, then dodge the enemy’s pattern. Arrow keys, WASD, or the touch pad move your soul.”, and has a gold “Start Fight” button. Starting begins Stage 1 of 5, resets score and combo, restores the player to 20/20 HP, and places the small player soul near the bottom center of the arena.

The game loop alternates between a turn-based action choice and a real-time dodge phase. At the bottom of the interface, provide four dark outlined buttons labeled FIGHT, ACT, GUARD, and HEAL, plus a small hint/status line. During the player phase, only one action can be selected at a time. FIGHT deals a random 4–8 damage plus the current stage number, increments the chain combo, shows a “Direct hit for [damage]!” message, and creates colored hit sparks. ACT deals exactly 2 + stage damage, increments the combo, briefly makes the player invulnerable, and says “You read the pattern. The foe cracks for [damage].” GUARD does not damage the foe, grants about 1.1 seconds of invulnerability, reduces the combo by one without going below zero, and says “Guard up — the next hit is softened.” HEAL restores 5 + stage HP up to the maximum and resets the combo to zero. After a short delay, unless the foe is defeated, begin the enemy attack phase.

Render the player as a small glowing red/pink diamond, turning white while invulnerable. The player can move continuously only during the attack phase, using arrow keys or WASD, constrained inside the arena; normalize diagonal movement. Also include a touch control pad over or below the canvas with four arrow buttons (up, left, down, right) that support press-and-hold movement. The attack phase has a countdown bar below the arena: a dark track with a red fill that shrinks to empty. The player must survive until the bar empties. Contact with an enemy projectile costs 2 HP, briefly grants hit invulnerability, and emits red sparks. End the run if HP reaches zero, showing a modal titled “Soul Shattered,” the message “The patterns got you this time.”, the final score, and a “Retry Gauntlet” button.

Enemy attacks should spawn glowing circular projectiles in three repeating pattern types, with increasing speed/density by stage. Pattern 1 is a rain: many orange projectiles fall vertically from the top edge, leaving a central gap that becomes smaller at higher stages. Pattern 2 is a ring: 5 + stage pink/purple projectiles radiate outward from near the upper center, with the ring rotating over time. Pattern 3 is a sweep: cyan projectiles enter from opposite left and right edges at offset vertical positions and travel horizontally across the arena. Projectiles should have soft neon glow and disappear outside the play area or after their lifetime. The attack duration starts around 2.75 seconds and decreases by stage to no less than about 1.65 seconds. Enemy attack speed and spawn difficulty increase by roughly 18% per stage.

Use these five escalating opponents in order, with these exact names and accent colors: Stage 1 “The Bell Warden” in cyan (#6ee7ff), Stage 2 “Moth Knight” in pink (#ff7ac8), Stage 3 “The Mirror Pair” in violet (#b58cff), Stage 4 “Starved Colossus” in orange (#ff9f66), and Stage 5 “THE LAST DOOR” in gold (#ffd166). Each foe’s starting HP is round(20 * (1 + 0.22 * (stage - 1)) + stage * 4), so fights become stronger. Defeating a foe awards stage * 100 plus five times the player’s remaining HP to the score, briefly shows a victory message, then advances automatically to the next stage while preserving the player’s current HP and adding 3 HP capped at max. On the fifth victory, show a modal titled “Gauntlet Cleared,” saying “Five fights, five victories.” with the final score and a “Run It Again” button.

Keep the visual style minimal and geometric: system sans-serif typography, dark navy panels, blue-violet borders, gold primary buttons, muted lavender helper text, glowing red/pink player, and colorful neon projectiles. Add small square particle sparks on hits and victories. Make the canvas resize responsively with device pixel ratio support; preserve the compact mobile-friendly layout and touch controls. The central interaction should clearly communicate the rhythm: choose one combat action, dodge an escalating bullet pattern in the arena, then choose again until all five foes are defeated.