Gator Sounds Brawler: A Night In Punta Gordita

THE IDEA

This is the PGKA Cup, held by the Punta Gordita Karaoke Association. Knock the other singers off the stage: each hit raises their damage, and the higher it gets, the farther they fly. Everybody leaps like a kung fu movie. Fill your gold bar, then cash in your LAST CALL.

KEYBOARD

P1: A and D move · W or SPACE jumps · S is down · J hits · K is special · L blocks · I is last call.
P2: arrows move and jump · . hits · / is special · right SHIFT blocks · , is last call.

GAMEPAD

Stick moves · A jumps · X hits · B is special · LB or triggers block · RB is last call · START pauses.

TAP CONTROLS (PHONES)

Turn it sideways. If the phone will not turn (rotation lock, or the browser inside Facebook and Instagram), PLAY SIDEWAYS HERE on the turn screen turns the game for you: hold the phone with its top to your left. That screen can also open the game in Safari or Chrome. Tap a fighter to run at them and hit. Keep tapping to chain a combo; each hit makes the next lunge longer. Tap their legs to sweep, their head to launch. When ! shows over someone, tap them to counter. Tap an item anywhere, even up on a shelf or down on the floor, and your fighter goes and gets it (platforms, drops and double jumps included); you use it on your own. Tap the floor to walk there. Tap high up and you jump for it, double and triple jumps included, so high platforms and high items are one tap. Tap yourself for your signature move. Swipe up to jump, sideways to dodge, down to drop. Hold anywhere to block, hold on a fighter for your side special, hold on yourself for your down special.

BUTTON CONTROLS

Pick BUTTONS on the menu for a stick and buttons instead. On a computer you can also click fighters, the same as taps.

MOVES

Every fighter has a different kit. Special alone is their signature. Up and special gets you back to the stage. Side or down and special are their own. Pause in a fight to see the list.

ITEMS

Bar stuff drops in. Hit next to it to pick it up, or tap it from anywhere and your fighter fetches it. The glowing ones are power-ups and go off the moment you touch them, nothing to aim: the POWER CHORD makes your hits 1.5x for eight seconds, GLOW STICKS make you fast, the CONFETTI CANNON shoves everyone near you away, the WET FLOOR SIGN drops a slick in front of you, the FOG MACHINE hides you from the computer, and a SLOW SONG REQUEST slows every foe. Bottles, darts and stools are thrown (hit again or Special); the mic stand, pool cue, KARAOKE MIC (it stuns) and COWBELL (quick) are swung. Food heals. The TIP JAR fills your LAST CALL bar. In tap mode, tap another item while holding one to swap.

THE PGKA CUP

Eight rounds and a sound check, against singers who get tougher as the night goes: the Choir, the Big Voice, the Duet Round, and the owner of the bar in the Grand Final. Three judges score every round. One of them is a dog. Every bar changes shape partway through, and some platforms move.

SCORES

Each game type has its own list: the PGKA Cup, One Fight, Free-For-All and Timed. Win a fight and SAVE MY SCORE puts you on it. Two-player games do not score. Tap the tabs on the title screen, ALL SCORES or the map to switch lists.

RULES

Lives: how many times you can be knocked out. Three is the usual. One scores more in the Cup, five is easier and scores less. Time: pick 2, 3 or 5 minutes for ONE FIGHT, 2 PLAYERS or FREE-FOR-ALL. A knockout is +1, a fall is -1, the best score at the buzzer wins, and a tie goes to sudden death with everybody at 300%. The PGKA Cup always uses lives.

EASY, MEDIUM, HARD

EASY is pure fun. Tap anything and your fighter goes and does it. Keep tapping and the hits get bigger, taps on other things line up in order, your fighter grows with every knockout, and a long combo sets off KARAOKE FEVER. Losing costs nothing. MEDIUM helps less. HARD barely helps at all, and is there only if you ask for it.

SCORES AND THE MAP

Every arcade score stays on the board for good. Save initials or a name up to 20 characters; rude names get refused. ALL SCORES lets you drag the bar to any page, jump by 10 or 100, or find a name. THE MAP shows where people play: the more games in a town, the bigger its circle. The list on the map is the top 10 for the area you are looking at. Tap a town's seal for just that town.

KEYS

ESC pauses. M mutes. N changes the jukebox track (Shift+N goes back), or tap the little jukebox on the screen. Block while ! shows to counter.

A Gator Sounds game about a karaoke night in Punta Gordita, made by the crew that hosts the real ones. Every name is made up. The bars are parodies of real Charlotte County spots. Back to gatorsounds.com.

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Scores. An arcade score carries the name you type, up to 20 characters, and the town it was set in, so the map can show each area's top 10. The town is the one you picked on the map, or the rough one from your internet connection. Everyone can read the board and the map, so use initials or a nickname if you would rather not use your own name.

The map. When you start a game, we add one to a running count for your city. The city comes from the rough location Cloudflare reads from your internet connection, or from the town you pick on the map, which this phone remembers. If you press USE MY LOCATION, your browser asks you first, your phone works out the nearest town, and only that town's name is sent, never your exact spot. The running count is not tied to you, your device, or your name. Anyone can see the city totals on the map. Town names come from GeoNames (geonames.org), under a Creative Commons Attribution license. Coasts, roads and big city names come from Natural Earth and the US Census, both public domain.