Hungry For Acorns

*Warning: Game may contain visual images that could trigger seizures or other symptoms for people with photosensitivity epilepsy or other conditions. Consult a physician if you experience any symptoms.*

*UPDATE(7/26/2023) Game executable file name has changed. Other things such as window title also changed to be more professional and convenient.* 

Controls

(Gameplay)

Left Key- Run Left / Point Left(For climbing)

Right Key- Run Right / Point Right(For climbing) 

Up Key- Climb Up(When near a tree)

Down Key- Climb Down(When near a tree)

Z Key- Jump

X Key- Eat(if your holding an acorn and hunger is more than 0) / Bury(if your holding an acorn and hunger is  at 0) /  Dig(if your not holding an acorn and on a marked spot)

Escape- Go back to the title screen.

(Menu)

Arrow Keys- To highlight an option to select , keep pressing the appropriate key in the direction of the option you want until you reach it. 

Enter- Select the option 

Escape- Go back to the title screen(Not really necessary outside of gameplay)

Modes

Play- To begin your game

Statistics- Where your best high score and the number of days you survived to reach it is recorded.

Erase- Erase the record from statistics. A prompt will appear telling you if your sure about erasing it before doing so.  Be careful about choosing this option!

Credits- Self-explanatory 

Quit- Exit out of game. 

Gameplay

(Goal)

You are a squirrel living in a forest. You are currently hungry and must search for food, which are acorns. After becoming full, which is when hunger is 0, you will have to head back to your nest to sleep. Once you reach your nest, you pass the level, in which in this case, a day. You will move on to the next day. 

(Enemies and Time Limit) 

There are enemies that live in the forest.  If you touch them, you will lose a "chance" and have to repeat the day again. You have three chances to start, with a maximum of six. If you lose all of them, the game will be over. You can also lose a chance if you spent a minute in the level. You will be penalized the same way.

The group of enemies that appear in the forest will change every two days  from day 1-24. The enemies that will show up in the level are in the top right corner of the transition screen. Two of the same animals appearing there mean two of the same animal will appear in the level. This rule doesn't apply to hawks. 

(How To Avoid Enemies) 

You can't fight against the other animals so you must avoid them. You can do this by climbing the trees and jumping from them or from its branches. You are able to jump from tree to tree. Do not try jumping over an enemy like other games. The jump is not high enough for that. 

(Acorns And Related Actions)

Touching an acorn will have you collect it. You are only allowed one acorn to carry. When you get an acorn, it has 100 points. When your hunger is still higher than 0, you must eat it. When the squirrel is in the eating animation after pressing the X key,  the acorn will lose points. Once it hits 0, it will be eaten and your hunger goes down by 1. If you move, the animation will stop and the points won't go down. You must press X key again to continue eating it. Since your vulnerable during this, you should get to a safe place before eating through climbing and jumping.

Once your hunger goes down to 0, you are able to bury any acorns you collect. Up to five acorns you can bury. You must do this on the ground.  Stand on the place you want to bury the acorn and press the X key. You must complete the digging animation for it to be buried. Moving will stop it and the animation must be done again if you want to bury it. Afterwards, a blue marker will appear on it.

After burying the acorn, you are able to dig it up the next day as long as you aren't holding an acorn  and you are still hungry. The blue marker will be a red marker, indicating you can dig it up. Like with the bury action, you must complete the animation. After digging the acorn up, the red marker disappears and you get the acorn. The formerly buried spots will return if the player loses a chance and restarts the level. 

(Bonuses After Seven Days)

After every seven days have passed, you will gain one chance if you don't have six chances already. Afterwards you will be taken to a dream bonus level. There,  a cloud person will appear, move from one side of the level to the other multiple times, and drop different large acorns. There are four types in total,  acorn 25, acorn 50, acorn 75, and acorn 100.  You will gain points when you collect them. The number of points is indicated by the name of the acorn as well as the number written on them. If an acorn drops to the ground, it disappears.  Unlike regular acorns, you don't do anything with them and you don't carry any around. They are just for getting points. After time runs out, you move on to the next day.

(Game Is Over) 

Once your game is over from losing all of your chances, your high score will be recorded along with the number of days you survived as long as either you don't have a high score yet or your previous high score is less than your current one, in which case, it will overwrite it. You can see your recorded data in the statistics mode.

Characters

Squirrel- Player

Weasel- Enemy that walks around the forest, climbs up trees, and jumps. There can be three at a time. 

Snake- Enemy that's idle until the player gets close, in which case, will chase them until the player is caught or they climb the tree and get far enough. There can be two at a time.

Dog- Enemy that will remain idle for a couple of seconds. Afterwards, the dog chases in the horizontal direction of the player. The enemy is unable to climb trees. After a few seconds have passed, the dog will become idle again, repeating the process. This dog is owned by a criminal hunter whose nearby hunting for something else.  

Hawk- Enemy that will fly above the forest. If the player is in its range, the hawk will strike in a downward and then upward direction to return back to the levels ceiling.  The hawk won't attack if the player stays on the ground. Multiple hawks can appear in a level but only up to two will appear at a time.

Cloud Person- A being that appears in the dream bonus levels that will drop acorns of varying value for the player to catch.