Starwhal

Starwhal is the commercial version of the prototype Starwhal: Game Jam Version / Just the Tip originally created in 48 hours for the January 2013 Global Game Jam. The basic premise is that up to four players locally each control a narwhal in an arena fighting with a tusk. Through short boosts the narwhals can move forward and they can also be steered left and right, but controls are quirky and ragdoll-like. The environment has a neon design with bright colours and it uses electronic eighties music. The narwhals are steered around and need to hit each other as jousts. In the Classic mode for instance the last remaining player wins. Each narwhal starts with five lives and one is lost when the tusk pierces the narwhal's heart. The game slows down when a tusk is about to pierce a heart.

The multiplayer game modes for the multiplayer Versus portion are Classic (last one alive wins), Scare Attack (tag others to get a high score), Zones (capture control points by touching the center) and Heart Throb (capture the heart and then run away to keep it as long as possible). These can also be played against AI opponents or a mix of human and AI players. Each mode has various settings that can be altered before starting the game, such as the amount of time, multiple rounds, free-for-all or team games, the amount of lives etc. There are 25 arenas based on variations of main planets. Additionally the narwhals can be customized through colour, head type and body type. After completing a session there is a replay option to view the past game.

There are two single-player modes accessed through the Challenges at the main menu. In the Obstacles mode all obstacles need to be avoided to reach a goal and in Targets all targets need to be tagged in a quick time. There are 16 challenge levels for each of the modes.