A downloadable game for Windows, macOS, and Linux

Buy Now$9.99 USD or more

In the distant future, humanity has discovered a method to replicate matter through the use of a Dimensional Gate. Industry is revolutionized overnight and a short period of chaos gives way to all warring factions uniting under a common banner.

A few years pass and the peace brought about by Gate Technology crumbles once a new threat appears; a race of energy parasites that have crossed through the Dimensional Gate by mimicking the very materials humanity had believed they were replicating. Mankind is quickly overtaken as their technology is turned against them and the energy emitted by the parasites begins to take control of those exposed.

In an act of desperation, the experimental RSK9 is constructed, a ship made of Pre-Gate materials and technology with the ability to absorb parasite energy and use it to power its incredible arsenal. Piloting the RSK9 is Alys, an ace pilot previously missing in action that has returned seemingly immune to parasite control. Her skill and resistance to the parasite energies influence make her the only pilot capable of preventing the extinction of mankind.

GAME PLAY:

-Increase your B-Meter & firepower quickly by flying as close to enemy fire as possible and absorbing their energy. The closer you fly, the more energy you net!

-Fire your weapon while flying close to enemy fire and absorbing to perform powerful "Risk Shots". Enemies destroyed by these powered up shots will turn into energy to power your shield. The best defense is a risky offense!

-Fly like an ace pilot and utilize Barrel Rolls to quickly cover vertical space & modify your attack!

-Unleash the Barrier Breaker once the B-Meter is full to inflict huge damage on everything in sight!

-Playing for points is fun again as higher scores are awarded for explosive bursts of destruction and taking risks! Destroy multiple enemies at once and utilize "Risk Shots" to string together combos and increase your score multiplier!

-Experience different facets and paths to the story based on your performance and actions taken during missions!

StatusReleased
PlatformsWindows, macOS, Linux
Release date May 14, 2019
Rating
Rated 4.6 out of 5 stars
(54 total ratings)
AuthorRISK SYSTEM
GenreAction, Shooter
Made withGameMaker
Tags2D, Arcade, Controller, hi-bit, Pixel Art, Retro, Sci-fi, Shoot 'Em Up
Average sessionA few minutes
LanguagesEnglish
InputsKeyboard, Gamepad (any)
AccessibilityColor-blind friendly, Configurable controls
LinksSteam, Homepage, Community, Steam

Purchase

Buy Now$9.99 USD or more

In order to download this game you must purchase it at or above the minimum price of $9.99 USD. You will get access to the following files:

Risk System Windows 1.1.3 145 MB
Version 6
Risk System Linux 1.1.3 145 MB
Version 2
Risk System Mac 1.1.3 129 MB
Version 6
Risk System Linux 1.1.0 Native Experimental 144 MB
Version 3
Risk System Linux 1.0.4 124 MB
Version 3
Deluxe Edition Content 147 MB
if you pay $12.99 USD or more

Development log

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Comments

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(+1)

Is there any way to purchase additional content after purchasing the base game by only paying difference in pricing?

PS: Great game, works well on Linux based distro's

Thanks

The game is fixed, you can take it now.

Thank you for the 1.1.3 version ^^.

(+2)

Really enjoying this game, which has me hooked with the original game mechanics. But hopefully you can upload the build that fixes the hard crash at the beginning of level 4. I'm getting the exact same thing as others here.

(+2)

My game is crashing at the beginning of the level 4.

Can you upload the 1.1.2 patch (available on Steam), on itchio.

It seems to solve the problem.

Otherwise, I can't wait to play the rest of the game, it got an incredible gameplay, good job.

Risk System is really good, but also super hard. (I've spent around a day trying to get through Mission 3, and still can't reach the boss). 

If you're actually good enough at shmups to see enough of the story...

I enjoyed the game so much, that I included it in a new Hidden Gems Youtube Series:

Thanks for making a fun game <3

I'm having a slight issue where every time I open the game the resolution is wrong, the game appears way to the side and some of it is falling off my screen, and monitor falls asleep after a bit. I found a fix where if  I switch tabs then switch back it works there are just black bars on the top and bottom. My monitor is 16:10 so I see why it doesn't work.


Other than this, the game is CRAZY fun. it's hard as hell but keeps you playing because of how fun the gameplay is. the movement-focused gameplay is wonderfully fun and easy to pick up. I've only played for about two hours but I already fully understand the controls (hard to master though, which is great). I can see myself playing this for dozens of hours.

Oh right and can we talk about the graphics? This game looks beautiful and doesn't clutter your screen with unimportant things. It's very clear on what you need to dodge and fight. And your always sure whats happening on your screen if your paying attention. 

amazing job, my dudes.

(+5)

This is frankly one of the best shmups I played in a long time. It has an original gameplay mechanic that you need to use to its fullest to get and decent score. Your ship attacks automatically, so you can focus on the movement and attack boosting. The closer you fly to to enemies and their bullets, the more energy you soak up, making more damage and charging your super attack. The individual levels all have very different features, the bosses are great, it looks drop dead gorgeous and you have diverging story paths depending on your performance. This is the real deal and the very definition of a hidden gem. 5/5

More Racial Justice bundle impressions and ranking:
https://itch.io/c/915453/quick-impressions-bundle-for-racial-justice

(+1)

I'm on ubuntu and when I run the game (I'm going through the itch.io app) it runs flat out. Like an old game set to clock speed on a pentium. I can't find a fix with my week google-fu but realy want to try this.


Thanks for any help.

(4 edits)

Same problem here, on Arch Linux.

When something like this happens, it's usually because the game is fixed to run at whatever my system's monitor refresh rate is, and I have to manually reduce it from 144Hz to 60Hz. In this case that didn't fix the problem and the game still ran at something like Spaceballs' ludicrous speed. :P

EDIT: to point out that this happens with the stable Linux build. The experimental one doesn't start as it segfaults at launch.

EDIT#2: the Windows build works fine with Wine Staging out of the box, so at least there's that.

(+1)

Awesome game! Amazing pixel art and game feel, nice learning curve with interesting and well rounded risk&reward mechanics! I'm just having an issue after the checkpoint on stage 5, game pauses by itself and doesn't allow to resume, had to exit and redo the stage 2 times already. I couldn't get my DualShock4 to work with the game either, but it already feels great to play it on the keyboard! 

(+2)

Simply put, this is the slickest shmup I've ever played. The design and feel are both so tight. Deserves to become a classic. Just phenomenal! 

Wooooooo

I got this assuming there would be a steam key. I sent an email but I realise this might be a more appropriate place to ask. Should or can there be a steam key? Thanks.

Just played this Amazing game Demo now, seriously cant wait to purchase &  play the full version of this wonderful shoot em up, some nice original touches as well & keep up the great work guys, both thumbs up from me :) SHOOT EM UPS 4 LIFE!!!

thanks so much! In final porting and bug squashing mode now!

I played your game at ACen this year and i loved it! I can't wait to get my hands on it! the sprite work is fantastic and it's got a really great feel. 

Thanks a bunch! Glad you were able play! About to post the ACen build (minus mission 3) in a few minutes.

Your game was advertising for its heavy Risk = Reward -based system and I got what I wanted. Will wait for the full release.

Some feedback now:

Gameplay

Great value system. Grazing offers direct gameplay reward, not just score. Losing 1 health chunk per hit but requiring 9 health points (from destruction loot) to recover a chunk makes taking damage critical. It also matches the pacing of a game where you destroy 90% of the time and get hit 10% of the time.

I'm still not sure what to do if my Barrier Breaker gauge is full but I'm not in direct danger. Usually I would keep it for later, but maybe there's a bonus score if you destroy even simple units with the Barrier Breaker.

I hadn't noticed that Barrel rolls increased fire rate (as mentioned in a comment), but I guessed it increased grazing reward because it fits Risk = Reward. I'll play again with more rolling but I fear I'll end up spamming them up and down for some extra fire on a precise target.

UI

Simple controls, the keyboard default has a nice symmetrical feel.

As mentioned in other comments, some common gamepads don't work so I won't say more on this.

Keyboard works fine and is enough for a game that doesn't require aiming at given angles. However, the keyboard configuration screen is hard to use: it is a bit old-school and forces you to pick all the keys for each action in order instead of letting you choose them freely. But more importantly, it doesn't let you leave the screen until you're done (Escape input is captured, but ignored as it is an invalid input, so it does nothing). You should always be able to leave a config operation in the middle and cancel it.

FX

Epileptic effects in both the menu and in-game are still a problem. The warning at the beginning is the minimum but the problem remains (for legal reasons even games with not so hardcore FX end up with the warning, so when I see one in a game I tend to ignore it thinking it won't be that terrible).

I would say that unless you have a very good reason based on art direction and world immersion, you should avoid epileptic effects at all cost, and even when using them add an option to deactivate them. For non-epileptic but disorientating effects, a toggle option would be enough (unless it's VR).

Here are 2 examples:

- In a movie, a dysfunctional neon in an abandoned shop that switches on and off gives a sense of uncertainty and incomfort. The character may be attacked from the dark or find a corpse. Removing the neon would diminish the experience a lot. The scene is still short, and the neon switches from times to times, not at high frequency. OK. Watchtest with different people if you're unsure.

- In The Last Story (Wii), the camera rolls when inside a sailing boat (immersion), but it can be deactivated in the settings (to avoid motions sickness, or just for gamers who like things straight).

In your case, most effects are not critical for the experience.

- The faces in the radio dialogues don't need to glitch unless you want to mean there are interferences.

- Menus may glitch a little for aesthetical effects, but the current on/off at high frequency effect doesn't make the menu more beautiful or immersive. It you want to evoke CRT, old OSes or mil

- Muzzle flash is a bit tricky because it's a diegetic effect. Personally I wasn't disturbed by in-game effects so much, probably because I'm expecting them in a shooter, I'm focused on my ship and FX help me identify potential threats quickly. So flashy effects have a gameplay and aesthetical purpose. But you can still playtest with a variety of people to see what's fit and what's not. You can also compare to other shooters to see how they manage to show muzzle flashes without being epileptic (like showing a sticky flash, blending, etc.).

Also, remember that adding those effects cost you a little each time. Removing them in the end will be cheap, but you would have lost the initial time spent on them, so design them wisely from the start, or start with basic effects leave the details to the polishing phase. You wouldn't want to make great gameplay inaccessible to some people because you put the wrong FX.

Thank you so much for the in depth reply/critique. That was incredible. I'll try and respond close to the order of what you posted.

Yes, Barrel Rolls do increase the rate at which you absorb energy and just over double the ships rate of fire. Another application is that if you graze a shot at any point during the barrel roll you retain charged status for the remainder of the roll so you can deliver charged shots anywhere via stunts.

On the configuration menu, what went on there is partially due to using an ancient engine and the way memory had to be serialized meant state changes had to be handled very very cautiously (which is why quitting out the key config via escape is locked if you haven't finished the sequence). The game is undergoing a port which will allow us to not HAVE to do that, (we'll also be able to tell which buttons the player is pressing on a given controller as that was actually impossible in the old engine and was also the reason we didn't have access to all buttons on every pad.)

On the epilepsy front, it does all serve an aesthetic purpose in regards to menus and transmissions but I'll tone it down on the transmissions as you aren't the first person to mention it (definitely influenced by the vision of the future from the 80's, things not being very reliable, prototype ship etc.) Menus are likely to see a makeover during the port as well. The effects in game are meant to communicate information at a high speed so instantaneous binaries that are there are very deliberate. There used to be more effects that worked that way before we updated the look of the game for a more hi-bit aesthetic specifically so we could take advantage of other means of communicating information that wouldn't require flashing. 

Thanks again for playing and the input.

Thanks for the reply! I have not checked the game status for a while so I'll be glad to try the new version.

I see how glitches are part of your art direction now. As you said, there should be other ways to convey the feeling of an instant and disrupted communication, such as after image and visual noise, as well as playing with the audio.

Good luck for the release!

Hey there, lots more has changed since even the last demo upload we made.  We're waiting on our new engine port to be complete before posting it but many more changes have been implemented including a way more user friendly custom control set up.

Had to play with keyboard because my 360 and DS4 wouldn't work (360 worked at first but then the fire button kept bringing up the menu again). Really fun once you get the mechanics, I couldn't work it out until I saw the rolling demo in the background of the title screen was an, "Oh right!" moment and the barrel rolls etc. made total sense. Only thing I found a bit annoying was the wait between failing a boss battle and starting again and having to hear the dialogue/boss alert. I know it's a very small (and maybe intentional to give a breather) but I imagine as it gets harder this could be really frustrating especially since there's the trial and error element to boss fights. Of course it's entirely possible that I was just too rubbish at it to see what I was meant to do when the bosses launched their big attacks!

Thanks for the playing! There are 2 potential culprits on the xbox360 controller issue but since it was working and then suddenly started quitting to menu my guess is you might have Steam or Steam Big Picture open/running  (which for some reason likes to obliterate/override  control schemes in certain games, ours currently included). Turning those off fixes the problem. If it isn't related to Steam I would suggest downloading the most recent 360 drivers, modern windows doesn't bundle 360 controller drivers in regular updates as they want everybody using xbone controllers so at times it is necessary to go and manually download them. 
If neither of these things fixes the problem, please do let me know so I can note the problem on the page until some kind of fix is found.
The boss checkpoint placement is indeed meant to give a little breather but in some cases that time can also be used to mount a preemptive attack on the boss before the fight begins. 

Thanks for the reply! I think you're right about the issue being drivers or Big Picture mode, I'm a bit scared to change anything in Steam since I finally got the DS4 working for Final Fantasy 15 with the correct button prompts. I remembered I had a wired Xbox One controller for the Steam Link in another room so plugged that in and after configuring the controls it worked fine. So much better playing with a controller, maybe I'll even beat the second boss! I love the feeling of having to move into danger to restore your health, it gives it such a unique feel compared to other shooters. I find myself trying to barrel roll back in the opposite direction too soon which is currently the main thing getting me killed.

So I saw this game at VGM Con last weekend but it was unplayable due to controller complications. I'm glad I looked this game up afterwards b/c this demo is nuts! Really love the visuals of the game and the effects are top notch! Gameplay is pretty addicting and I'm curious to see where this game goes once it's finished. The only thing I'm not really nuts about is the music. Definitely serviceable for what it is but for how aggressive the explosions and effects are, I guess I was expecting something more intense. But hey, that's probably just me wanting shmups to all sound like Tecno Soft shmups haha. 

Anyways Great work guys! Can't wait to see more.

Thanks so much for playing! Glad you remembered you saw it at the con. On the music, the game is getting a totally new soundtrack as it's the one part people weren't having a major response to. The initial soundtrack would've worked better if this was a tv series or movie instead of a game so now music that better captures the spirit of gameplay is being made.


An updated demo with new music will be posted prior to the full game.

That’s great to hear. Your game has a lot of polish to it already so it would be great to see every part of it is firing in all cylinders. Also, I understand the initial plan is to kick this off on Windows but it would be killer if you ever brought this on the Switch!  That system seems perfect for arcade games let alone shmups.


P.S. okay I just got to know, does firing while doing a barrel roll increase the fire rate?  From look and sound it seems like it but I can’t tell for sure.

indeed rolling does increase your firing rate as well as the amount of energy you gain while near enemy fire. There are a lot of mechanics that mix into the roll that actually make it a super powerful offensive maneuver.

On the subject of a switch port, it does seem likely with just a few details to iron out provided there is a decent enough showing on pc.

Deleted 3 years ago

Thank you so much!
Just saw you on ArtEaters twitter. Will need to check out!

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Thanks so much. That's awesome to hear!

Excellent! :D

Thank You! Been hard at work on finishing the full game and posting a vastly updated demo.

I Can't wait! ;)

Just a heads up, my Xbox360 and Logitech controllers don't seem work with the game. Window 7. (Setting the Logitech controller to DInput mode does work tho)

(+1)

Thanks for letting us know. 

We will need to note that and see if it can be corrected. There have been a few head scratchers where an Xbone controller will work with the game on one pc and then the same controller on another wouldn't. The current theory is this happens if the player hasn't downloaded the current xbox controller drivers and is using the drivers that came pre-installed on windows7 and 10. This may or may not be the case for you. If you do have the time to download the drivers and give it a shot or if you already know the drivers are up to date & it didn't work, let us know.


And thanks for playing!

Yea, I know they're not up to date beacause I removed the downloaded drivers because of the popup that happened when using the "Xbox" button for reasons some time ago lol(was working on something at the time). So youre probably right and updating would probably fix it.

Thanks for the quick reply. Great game btw.

So gorgeous