itch.io

Update, 24 October: since this went up, Penguin Clash got keyboard controls on desktop (press ? in a match: Space fires your power, E focuses the nearest enemy, B walks back to the nest), Easy bots for your first practice match, a result screen that credits beacon damage and healing as well as damage, and a short sound when your power fires.

Clash Hour is today, Saturday 24 October at 15:00 UTC, the hour players meet online, so you get real opponents instead of bots: https://lunarflock.itch.io/penguin-clash

Hi! I'm making Penguin Clash, a small MOBA you play in a browser tab: 1v1, 3v3 or 5v5, three minutes a match. It went public here on 1 October, and I'll use this thread to log what changes and what I learn as real players arrive.

Where it is now

• Tap to walk, tap an enemy to focus it, fire your penguin's power. Destroy the enemy beacon, or have the healthier one when time runs out.
• Every penguin fights by what it's wearing: its outfit is its role (Tank, Support, Mage, Rogue and six more), its hat is its power, and its eyewear, eyes and beak add small passives.
• Real players are matched first. If nobody turns up within 20 seconds (1v1), 30 (3v3) or 45 (5v5), bots take the empty seats so a match always starts.

The hard part: balance

There are 10,000 hand-drawn penguins and any combination of traits can turn up, so balancing by hand was hopeless. I wrote a bot simulator that plays thousands of matches and nudges each tuning knob until the win rates settle. Three things it taught me:

1. Ranged penguins that kited won 85% of their duels, until ranged attackers had to stand still to throw.
2. A stun has to pause the victim's attack timer too. Otherwise a 1.5-second stun only costs them half an attack.
3. One table can't balance 1v1 and 5v5 at once (team buffs do nothing in a duel), so each mode now has its own tuning.

Today every trait value wins between 48% and 53% of 3v3 and 5v5 matches (44% to 53% in 1v1). The rarest traits sit within a point and a half of the most common ones: rare means different, not stronger.

New this week

• Moonrise: in the last minute the moon rises and beacons take double damage, so a losing team can still turn it around.
• Clash Hour: every Saturday at 15:00 UTC, when players meet online and queues fill with people instead of bots.
• Share: after every match, Share draws your team and the score into a card you can post.

Next

I'm watching the first week of real matches: which roles people pick, whether the bots feel fair, and where new players get lost. If you try it, tell me which role you main and anything that feels off, and I'll post what changes here.

Play in your browser, on desktop or phone: lunarflock.itch.io/penguin-clash

The penguins also exist as a hand-drawn collection on Base. You never need one to play.

Penguin Clash is a free 3-minute MOBA you can play right in the browser, on desktop or phone.

• Pick a penguin, join a 1v1, 3v3 or 5v5, and destroy the enemy's Moon Beacon before they destroy yours.
• Every penguin fights by its traits: its outfit is its role (tank, scout, mage, support...), its hat is its power.
• Real players first. Bots fill empty seats after 20 to 45 seconds, so you're never stuck in a queue.
• Tap to walk, tap an enemy to focus it, fire your power. At 2:00 the moon rises and beacons take double damage.

Free, no ads, no purchase needed. The penguin art comes from Lunar Flock, a hand-drawn collection on Base; you never need one to play.

Play: https://lunarflock.itch.io/penguin-clash - I'd love feedback on balance and on how the online queue feels.