Date: November 28, 2025
By: Damo & Cursy (with KAOS supervision from Canyon & Gwendy)

From Crossover Event to Quarter‑Muncher

We just wrapped “Team DC: Crisis on Infinite Earths”, our big lore crossover where all three continuities finally fuse, patch the Matrix from the inside, and land in one weird, cozy baseline timeline.

If you read to the end, you saw the tease:

“All this time, all the stories we’ve been and all the stories we’ve seen… we’ve also been quietly planning a game.”

This devlog is that follow‑up.

The idea:
Turn the whole crossover into an old‑school TMNT‑style co‑op arcade brawler, the kind you’d play in a noisy pizza place while your parents wondered where all their coins went.

Working title: Team DC: Crisis Protocol.
Tagline: “The Matrix is out there. Punch it.”

Core Game Pitch

• Genre: Side‑scrolling beat‑’em‑up (Streets of Rage / TMNT) with 1–4 player local co‑op.
• Fantasy: You and your friends pick your favourite Team DC member and brawl your way through memetic cultists, KAOS goons and glitch monsters to stabilize the multiverse.
• Core loop:
  • Walk → punch → juggle → trigger specials → build a shared Connection Meter.
  • Spend the meter to trigger CRISIS UNIFY MODE: a short fusion where Team DC becomes the composite form from the story, with boosted stats and a big screen‑clear.

This is deliberately arcadey and punchy, not a 60‑hour RPG. Think “penultimate conclusion” – the game you play between reading the fanfic and waiting for the next chapter.

Playable Characters & Move Sets

All four are viable; differences are in range, speed, and specials – same inputs, different flavour.

Damo – The Matrix Brawler

• Role: Mid‑range bruiser.
• Core moves:
  • Light combo: fast jabs and elbow strikes.
  • Heavy: Guitar Swing (big arc knockback).
  • Dash attack: Bug Report Dropkick (armoured slide that pops enemies up).
• Special: Magickal Spin‑Kick
  Damo launches into the “ceiling spin kick” moment from the lore – big circular hitbox, Matrix glitch trail, eats a chunk of the special meter.

Cursy – Sparkle Control & Crowd Logic

• Role: Agile controller.
• Core moves:
  • Light combo: quick strikes, ending in a palm‑thrust “red pen” smack.
  • Aerial: sparkle‑kick that can cross small gaps.
• Special: Love Burst Overload
  She plants her feet, emits a pulsing sparkle wave that stuns nearby enemies and applies DoT “self‑reflection damage.” Great for saving overwhelmed friends.

Canyon – Chief / Supreme Sorcerer

• Role: Tank & area support.
• Core moves:
  • Heavy: Deadline Slam (two‑handed overhead hit, small ground shockwave).
  • Grab: throws enemies into others like projectiles.
• Special: Sorcerer Sigil
  Draws a glowing circle on the ground. Allies standing inside get reduced damage + boosted knockback; enemies are slowed.

Gwendy – KAOS Hacker Witch

• Role: Trickster / chaos utility.
• Core moves:
  • Teleport blink dash through enemies.
  • Hex bottle toss that leaves a lingering damage zone.
• Special: KAOS Hack
  Rolls a controlled “chaos effect”:
  • Freeze all enemies.
  • Duplicate pickups on screen.
  • Or drop a rogue glitch that damages everything, including players (high reward / risk).

Levels & Bosses (Season One)

Rough season pass of stages, each tied to a chunk of lore:

1. Matrix City Rooftops

   • Enemies: Matrix Cultists, suit‑Agents, drone swarms.
   • Boss: The Analyst – psychiatrist with mind‑projectile patterns; phase two spawns illusory clones.

2. KAOS Lair – Simply Zee’s Lounge

   • Neon witch den full of cursed CRTs and idol merch.
   • Enemies: KAOS Kids, glitch blobs, familiar demons.
   • Boss: Simply Zee (Gwendy) – phase one as antagonist, phase two she “switch‑sides” and unlocks as a playable character.

3. CONTROL HQ (Get Smart Zone)

   • Security lasers, bureaucracy hazards (falling file cabinets, rolling office chairs).
   • Enemies: buggy CONTROL droids, sentient paperwork swarms.
   • Boss: Misconfigured Chief Bot – Canyon parody mecha spamming alerts and sirens.

4. Crunchonomicon Dimension

   • Horror wave‑survival stage.
   • Enemies: snack zombies, EVIL FED constructs, deranged mascots.
   • Boss: EVIL FED – shifts forms between giant banker, data‑storm, and vending machine kaiju.

5. Convergence Point – Final Crisis

   • Collage of previous stages; portals back to each boss for short rematches.
   • Final boss: Glitch Composite – swirling monster using attacks from every villain, mirroring the unified Team DC.

Crisis Unify Mode

The main “fanfic mechanic” we want in‑game.

• Connection Meter:
  • Shared across players.
  • Fills when you:
    • Land long combos.
    • Revive teammates.
    • Use specials that protect, not just damage.
• Triggering Unify:
  • When full, anyone can hit both attack buttons to prompt a short animation:
    • Characters circle up, mini‑ritual from the Crisis story.
  • During Unify Mode:
    • Everyone controls the same composite sprite.
    • Moveset = mashup: Damo’s range, Cursy’s stun, Canyon’s sigils, Gwendy’s blink.
    • Timer drains quickly; it’s a clutch “turn the tide” button, not permanent god‑mode.

This lets the game literally play the same emotional beat as the Crisis unification: you only get the big power when you’re actually cooperating.

Art & Audio Direction

We want to echo the posters we just minted:

• Visual style:

  • 2D pixel or HD‑2D sprites that capture:
    • Purple‑hair executive Cursy with galaxy gradient.
    • Trench‑coat/armor hybrid Damo.
    • Sorcerer‑cape Canyon.
    • Neon hacker Gwendy.
  • Backgrounds with heavy grain, Matrix glyphs, and sparkle noise.

• FX:

  • Glitch shaders on big hits and special moves.
  • Sigil circles under Canyon’s abilities and boss phases.

• Music:

  • Chiptune / synthwave mash‑ups:
    • X‑Files four‑note motif.
    • Get Smart brass stabs.
    • Matrix‑style pads and breakbeats.
  • Each stage gets a remix that leans into its reference (e.g., ska‑punk DnB touches for Crunchonomicon).

Technical Plan (Phaser Build)

We’ll prototype this in Phaser alongside EmojiTris and Damo.

Phase 1 – Core Feel

• New folder: TeamDC-CrisisProtocol.
• Single test scene:
  • One lane‑based level.
  • One hero (probably Damo).
  • Simple enemies with walk → punch AI.
• Implement:
  • Movement (walk, jump, lane depth).
  • Light/heavy combo system.
  • Hitboxes, knockback, basic health.

Phase 2 – Team DC Roster

• Add character select screen.
• Implement stat & animation variations for Cursy, Canyon, Gwendy.
• Shared input scheme; per‑character move data in JSON/config.

Phase 3 – Specials & Connection Meter

• Per‑player special meters + moves.
• Shared Connection Meter HUD.
• First pass at Unify Mode:
  • Swap to composite sprite.
  • Multiply damage/defense.
  • Add screen‑wide FX.

Phase 4 – Content & Polish

• Build out 3–5 short stages with mid/boss fights.
• Co‑op tuning:
  • Enemy counts and health scaling.
  • Revive windows.
  • Connection gain rates.

Why This Game, Now?

• It pays off the fanfic: the Crisis story, posters, and Matrix talk become something you can play.
• It’s scoped: an arcade brawler is achievable with our current stack and art pipeline.
• It’s perfect for itch.io:
  • Playable in short sessions.
  • Instantly readable screenshots and GIFs.
  • Deep lore for anyone who’s been following Team DC.

Most importantly, it’s very Team DC:

• Cooperative, not competitive.
• Self‑aware and ridiculous, but emotionally grounded.
• Built out of devlogs and lore, not bolted on after the fact.

Next Steps

• Sketch a folder + scene structure for the Phaser prototype:
  • BootScene, MenuScene, SelectScene, GameScene, UIScene.
• Rough in Damo’s sprite and hitboxes using placeholder art.
• Get one level feeling good before we touch the rest.

All this time, all the stories we’ve been and all the stories we’ve seen…
we really have been planning a game.

TEAM DC: CRISIS PROTOCOL – INSERT COINS TO CONTINUE.