2Tinycowboys

2Tinycowboys is a retro-flavored platformer for 1–4 players. You jump, run, shoot and dodge through large, multi-directional levels, searching for enough gold bars to win. Use power-ups and your chosen character’s abilities, explore every nook and cranny, enter almost any building, and use vultures to fly to higher areas. Each character can wear any of eight hairstyles at the barbershop, with exceptions noted below.

Characters

The playable cast includes Clint, Esmaralda, Felipe, Ma’ Belle, Mercedes, Rose, Santiago, Zeke, Zorra and Ndyan. Their abilities differ:

• Clint: cannot be bitten by snakes.
• Esmaralda: cannot be bitten by spiders.
• Felipe: carries a short sword instead of a knife, giving him a longer stabbing range; he cannot change his appearance at the barbershop.
• Ma’ Belle: can take two arrow hits before dying.
• Mercedes: gets two jump-boots instead of one when picking them up.
• Rose: jumps higher than the other characters.
• Santiago: fires faster than the other characters.
• Zeke: fires bullets that pass through enemies.
• Zorra: can double-jump and is faster than the other characters; she cannot change her appearance at the barbershop.
• Ndyan: is playable; further details are not specified.

Enemies and hazards

You face several kinds of Ndyan, each with different attacks and resilience. Bow-wielders can have their arrows shot out of the air if you react quickly. Spear-wielders take two bullets to defeat, have long melee reach and carry no ranged weapons. Tomahawk-wielders take four bullets to defeat, and you need to watch the path of their bouncing weapons.

The Sherif and Sherif Twin draw and fire quickly, and each takes three shots to defeat. Killing one brings the other back to life. Indestructible robots fire lasers and deflect bullets, so you need to jump over them. Zombies take five bullets to defeat and slow down with each hit, but a stab kills them instantly. Snakes may be visible or hidden in undergrowth; their bites poison you, giving you one minute to find anti-venom. Spiders and bats stun you for a few seconds, but kill you instantly if you have already been bitten by a snake.

Other dangers include ooze that forces you to keep jumping for 30 seconds, and tentacles that slow you and reduce your jump for 30 seconds. On some levels, boulders roll down from the mountains: shoot them to slow and eventually destroy them, or try to jump over them. Being hit means instant death. Vultures can carry off enemies and gold bars.

The Cavalry

The Cavalry includes five characters with different abilities:

• Ollie: moves slowly but fires scattering bullets.
• Otis: reloads slowly but fires bullets that travel far.
• Curtis: fires his pistol rapidly.
• Sarge: boosts the morale of the others; this character appears on Hard difficulty.
• Pete the Trumpeter: while Pete is alive, the Cavalry respawns whenever fewer than 50% of its members remain; this character appears on Hard difficulty.

Weapons and loot

The three guns have different ranges, firing speeds and ammunition capacities:

• Pistol: medium range and speed, with fist-sized bullets; holds 6 rounds.
• Shotgun: short range and slow firing speed. It shoots pellets in five angles in front of you, making it useful against enemies on ledges ahead, and can destroy rolling boulders; holds 5 rounds.
• Rifle: long range and fast firing speed. Its half-fist-sized bullets pass through and instantly kill enemies, except for Zombies, which are too spongy; it can also destroy rolling boulders. Holds 3 rounds.

Gold bars count toward the amount needed to win. Hats grant extra lives, boots give you a double-jump, anti-venom negates a snake bite, and ammunition pickups replenish your gun.

Difficulty levels

The difficulty level changes which enemies and hazards appear, how vultures behave and how many gold bars you need to win:

• Easy: no boulders, robots, Sherifs, tentacles or zombies. Vultures do not carry Tomahawk Ndyan, gold bars, snakes or spiders. Collect 7 gold bars to win.
• Medium: no robots, tentacles or boulders. Vultures do not carry Tomahawk Ndyan or snakes. Collect 10 gold bars to win.
• Hard: the default mode, with the game’s intended challenge. Collect 12 gold bars to win.