Welcome to the game modes page!

CranKnight is a highly replayable game with multiple game modes, unlockable after you've cleared the game once. This page explores each game mode in more detail.

Check out a preview of some gameplay below, and press the buttons to change what's playing on the Playdate.

Standard Mode

This is the base game mode when you boot up the game for the first time. Simply press the A button on the 'Start' menu and you'll drop right into the game!

In this mode, you level up after clearing all enemies in a wave, which allows you to choose new weapons, upgrade them, or sometimes get special new upgrades. See the Armoury for more info!

Random Mode

This mode is available once you've beaten the game once. You'll see left and right arrows on the main menu screen indicating the new mode selection. Press left or right on the D-Pad to select the new mode!

In Random Mode, all upgrades and path selections are made randomly. This mode can be really fun to explore new weapon combinations you wouldn't normally think of!

Challenge Mode (Catalog version only)

This mode is exclusive to the Playdate Catalog version of the game. Like Random Mode, Challenge Mode is also unlocked after you've beaten the game once.

Challenge mode is for players that seek a true challenge! In this mode, you select one of three base challenges, each with its associated leaderboard. As you defeat enemies, you receive score points that are tallied up and sent to the scoreboard whether you win or lose.

You can select extra challenges after each level up for an extra boost to your score!

Welcome to the bestiary!

In CranKnight, you'll go toe-to-toe against many different monsters in a variety of different locations. These frightful enemies come in many shapes and sizes, and can do more than just run toward you!

Some enemies prefer to fire at a distance, slowly closing in on you. Other monsters can apply dastardly conditions on you, such as slowing you down, darkening your vision, or rooting you in place. Some monsters also do more damage to you when you have certain conditions applied to you!

As you clear waves of enemies, you will have to choose a path to a new location. Each location adds specific monsters to the pool of enemies that are spawned. This makes multiple runs feel fresh as you choose different combinations of paths!

Be careful not to be overrun, these monsters can really gang up on you!

To help prepare you for the fight ahead, click on a monster button below to learn more about them and which locations you can find them in!

Choose a monster to learn more!

Welcome to the armoury!

This page describes the upgrades you can get in CranKnight. After every wave is completed you will be visited by the trusty shopkeeper, a mysterious cat friend with a magic bag full of treasures!

See below for some of the cool upgrades the shopkeeper has in store for you!

Amulets!

At level 5 the shopkeeper will provide you with a magical amulet to choose from. These powerful artifacts have special abilities that can be unleashed when you have charged up enough power, either by swinging your weapons with the crank or by landing critical hits on enemies.

When you acquire an amulet, a new meter is added under your health bar indicating amulet's charge. The meter will flash when it is full, allowing you to unleash the power of the amulet by pressing the A and B buttons simultaneously.

Select an amulet below to learn more about it!

Armour Upgrades!

At level 8 you can choose an upgrade to your armour, giving you new passive improvements!

Select an armour set below to learn more about it!

About

Spin to win on the Playdate handheld console! CranKnight (Crank-Knight) is a short but challenging, chaotic rogue-ish/survivor-ish hack-n-slash game where you fight waves of enemies while using the power of the Playdate crank to swing your weapons to fight and block.

Features

• Select from 5 unique weapon types, with multiple branching upgrade options for each!
• Hold up to 4 different weapons at once to come up with countless combinations to fight your way to victory!
• Upgrade your armour to 4 different styles, each with unique passive benefits!
• Select an amulet that is charged as you swing your weapons. Unleash its full power for devastating effects!
• Choose your own path through multiple rooms with unique enemies!
• Complete achievements (cheevos) to show what you've accomplished and unlock secret weapon upgrades!
• Unlock random mode to let luck decide which upgrades to take and which rooms to go through!
• (Catalog version only) Unlock challenge mode and climb the global scoreboards!

Press Coverage

Playdate Unofficial wrote a great review for CranKnight.

Official Trailer

Gifs, Images, Logo, Characters, etc.

Please download all promotional content from this DropBox link.

Credits

Creator, programmer, artist, etc.

Caden Marofke (DinoSire).

Music

Cantate Domino by Anonymous Choir is licensed under a Public Domain License.

The Endless by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License.

J. S. Bach: Toccata and Fugue in D Minor by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License.

Fonts

dpaint_8, peridot_7, ruby_12 fonts Copyright (c) 2022 Scott Lawrence. Used under MIT license.

Special Thanks

Special thanks to all the people I bugged to play early builds and who provided essential feedback, especially: Karina Lebedeva, Eric Himbeault, Morgan Epp, Jon Gaudet, Cody Edwards, Christian Lo, Sam Anderson.