Fling arcing spells at angry villagers, raise their bodies as skeleton allies, and spend souls on new rituals.
Norman the Necromancer is a pixel-art action game, viewed from the side, that stars a quiet, bookish wizard. All Norman wants is peace, but the local villagers have other ideas. They keep marching toward him from the right, armed with pitchforks and bows and wearing armor. You fight back with green magic, and the villagers you knock down can get back up as skeletons on your team.
It was built for a game jam with a 13-kilobyte size limit for every entry, yet it still packs ten levels, a shop and a boss fight.
Getting started
Norman sits at the left end of a graveyard wall. Aim with the mouse and click to cast. Your magic follows a curved path and drops as it goes, so you need to aim higher for targets far away. You can hold three casts at once, marked by little orbs below your health. A new one charges each second.
Enemies who reach Norman hurt him by as much health as they have left. He starts with five red health orbs. Lose them all and the run is over. Press P any time you need a pause.
Raising the dead
Most fallen enemies leave a body. Once the Resurrect meter along the bottom reads Space, press it and every corpse on the field rises as a skeleton. Your skeletons walk right and brawl with the first enemy in their path. After that, the power needs ten seconds to recharge, so timing matters.
Souls and the shop
Every kill drops souls, which you spend between levels. In the shop you can heal, buy an extra health orb, add another cast, or pick up rituals that change your spells. Use the Up and Down arrows to browse and Enter to buy or continue. There are twenty rituals in all, with effects such as spells that bounce, home in or split, plus bleeding, freezing, lightning and oversized skeletons.
The percentage beside your soul total is a streak bonus. Each cast that lands on a target raises your soul income by 10 percent, up to double. A cast that misses with every spell drops it back to zero.
Winning moves
Aim for clusters of enemies so your streak keeps climbing. Wait until several bodies are on the ground before you press Space, which gives you a squad instead of a single skeleton.
Some foes need extra care. Shell knights cannot be hurt while hidden in their shells, and royal guards lift shields that reflect your spells back at Norman as golden orbs. Hold your fire until they open up. Take out monks as early as you can, because each one heals every living enemy on screen. Further along you meet a piper who charms rats and a wizard who opens portals, and the final level brings a king with a crown.
Shop prices rise each level, and you see two common rituals plus one rare. Early on, a basic Recharge or Renew can do more for you than a pricey ritual.
Controls
| Action | Keyboard | Mouse |
|---|---|---|
| Aim the spell | — | Move the pointer |
| Cast a spell (also starts the game) | — | Click |
| Raise every corpse as a skeleton | Space (when the cooldown is ready) | — |
| Pause or resume | P | — |
| Choose an item in the shop | Up / Down arrows | — |
| Buy the item, or pick Continue to start the next level | Enter | — |
Norman the Necromancer FAQ
Can I play Norman the Necromancer on a phone or Chromebook?
A phone or tablet will not work well, because aiming follows the mouse pointer and the shop and raise ability use the keyboard. A Chromebook or any computer with a keyboard and a mouse or touchpad is a good fit.
Does the game save my progress?
No. Each run is one attempt from start to finish. When Norman loses his last health orb, the page reloads and you start again at level 1 without any rituals.
How long is a full run?
A complete run has ten levels, with a shop between each one, and ends with a boss battle in several stages against a king, and then an ending scene. How long it takes depends on how well you survive, since a single loss sends you back to the beginning.
Is it single player?
Yes. You play as Norman alone. Your only helpers are the skeletons you raise from defeated villagers, who march toward the enemies and fight them for you.
