Avoid and Destroy

Avoid & Destroy is a game for Windows that I developed independently in 2010. I had some novice programming experience, and I wanted to learn how to make and program video games. I used Game Maker 8 as the engine and IDE, and it’s written in a proprietary scripting language called Game Maker Language (GML), which is similar to JavaScript.

I never quite finished this project. As you can see from the screenshots, the interface is information that was vital to development, but wasn’t polished into a final product. However, there are built-in tutorial, high score, and game saving features.

The player’s goal is to avoid being hit by blocks while also destroying them with a weapon that bursts in a radius around them. Power-ups can be collected to augment game play, such as shielding the player from running into blocks, allowing them to teleport, or slowing down the objects they need to avoid. The game is arcade-style; you can keep playing as long as you’re able to stay alive.  Although there are no additional levels or modes, the game does gradually progress in difficulty, and it is possible to achieve a somewhat complete experience through endurance play.