Zoe Begone!

Zoe Begone! is a hand-drawn arcade shooter that combines run-and-gun action with classic shmup combat in looping arenas. Zoe wants peace and quiet, but first she must confront the Animator and the creations disrupting her surroundings. You shoot, dash and pound through levels, destroy the Animator’s tools and enemies, and try to finish each level quickly while chasing a high score.

Fight through the reels

You advance by defeating enemies as quickly as possible. Fallen foes drop Apples, which you can spend on weapons and upgrades between reels, while popping dots refills your energy so you can keep dashing. Attacking enemies in quick succession builds a chain multiplier; dash and pound through enemy chains to raise your score.

Each level has its own art style and enemy designs, with hand-animated enemies throughout. The game also features a Boogie soundtrack and 55 Steam achievements.

Game modes

The single-player game has three modes and three difficulty settings:

• Standard levels: defeat the Animator’s enemies to advance, collect Apples and upgrade between reels.
• Race against the clock: beat the Animator within the time limit. Dash and pound through enemy chains to spawn extra time tokens, and complete mini-boss challenges for more seconds. There is no time for the shop, so pop item bubbles to power up.
• Boss rush: fight through an extended challenge that mixes the bosses’ attacks into one battle, and try to defeat the Animator once and for all.

Apples and upgrades

Power-up shops appear between reels. You can spend Apples to improve your run in several ways:

• Base gun: permanently strengthen your shots for the run.
• Special weapons: improve your chances, provided you keep their ammunition topped up.
• Speed: move faster to reach enemies sooner.
• Shield: gain extra hit points.
• Apple suck range: collect Apples from farther away.

Scores and controls

Online and local leaderboards track scores for each mode and difficulty. Aggressive dash and pound attacks, quick enemy chains and fast level clears can raise your score; reclaiming territory and taking out the boss quickly also earns end-of-level bonus points. The game uses twin-stick-style controls and supports both gamepads and keyboards.