I again had some spare time on my train rides and between study sessions so I managed to advance the plot a bit.

First I revisited some old dungeons to upgrade a few shops and gather some fupongs for Whip. Once I filled the entire ranch, their weight caused something to break and a portal to the Ancient Ruins dungeon opened up. Now, this one was a bit longer than usual. Around level four, I’ve found Annela’s hair ornament and a few levels later i had to defeat a boss. This one was extremely easy, so he was done on my first try. I saved my game and continued deeper.

Here’s Sword with some fupongs, this time.

Two levels later, I’ve found Annela unconscious. She woke up, but couldn’t remember anything. Even though she didn’t trust me to much, I managed to talk her into going back to the village with me. We went back and visited the chief, who gave her a spare room until he manages to rebuild her house. The chief said I should go rest, so I did, but before I went to bed, Annela visited and it seemed like she started remembering things. However, she said something about being in a car when a bright light appeared. The problem is, no one in the village has any idea what a “car” is. The plot thickens!

Annela left and Sword went to bed. In the morning, Giggles ran in, woke him up and said Annela was gone. The entire village was looking for her, so I probably should to. This is where I saved my game and stopped playing.

I managed to squeeze in some time today and I also played a bit during the train ride home yesterday, so here goes…

I talked to the chief and he gave me his super nose again. Using that, I managed to find the pot lid and it opened up another dungeon for me, this time a nature oriented one. I also talked to Weldon and he gave me some strange spices that he found in the dungeon. I fed those spices to the fupong at the chieftain’s house and this opened a portal to another dungeon. Since I had two dungeons to chose from this time, I decided to go with the one nearby – fupong’s Ruins dungeon.

Not a screenshot this time, Sword and Anella.

It turned out it was pretty hard, so I died a bunch of times. On the plus side, I got a nice sum of money, so I could finally afford the drain sword. This one allows me to sometimes restore my life when attacking enemies so it made things much easier. I got to the end of the dungeon and found Whip there. He said he ate some moss nearby so he is sick now. I got him back to the village, where he managed to infect some other people with the same sickness. Now I have to solve this new problem, as well as clear the other dungeon where Giggles’ mom should be.

I went to speak to the doctor and he just happened to conveniently discover a cure-all medicine. He used it on the Whip and he got better. Problem is, he doesn’t have any more of it so now Helmut and Macey are still sick. I have to go get some ingredients so he can make more of the medicine. The flowers he needs are in the Forest dungeon so I went there to find them. Of course it was at the bottom level and, before I could pick them, I got attacked. The boss gave me a hard time at first, but once I figured out his attack patterns, it was easy. I got the blue flowers and went back to the village. Soon, everyone was fine and the chief decided to rebuild Whip’s ranch. The fupongs will be there now, since there’s more room at the ranch.

With all the dying, I also managed to acquire enough organic fertilizer to upgrade the ranch, so this was the first thing I did. For 300 gold, the fupong can now also find pong pods around town. I had no idea what those are so I tried it once and I got some weird container thing. I believe I can put fupong’s I find in the dungeon in there so I can bring back more of them. Of course, in the pod, they cant be used, so I guess this is used for farming them or something.

After all of this, I went back to the Mine dungeon and saved Giggles’ mom, Keesh. Compared to all the other stuff, this was easy and I did it on first try.When I came back, the chief held a meeting in the village meeting room. The villagers asked Sword how come he wasn’t taken and he explained how Anella asked the light not to take him. It turns out, this was the reason the Away took the entire village. If she hadn’t asked that, Sword would be the only one taken. Half the village (the dumb ones) are now blaming Sword for what happened and expect him to save everyone. Since that’s what he has been doing all this time, I guess nothing is changing.

After the meeting, the chief told me that Whip has been looking for me, so I went to see him. He said that I should round up some fupongs, but I have no idea what that means. Should I gather up fupongs from old dungeons in order to unlock a new one? In any case, this is where I saved my game and stopped playing.

I completed another dungeon, this time one with a forest theme. In this one, I managed to find and rescue Dr. Ricket. He opened up a medicine shop where I can finally buy some resurrection items, which means I might finish a dungeon or two even if I die in it. I had to put his clinic on a low growth spot, so he will need 4 of his upgrade items for each upgrade.

An in-game screenshot this time, though it wasn’t of my own making.

After this, I talked to some people in the town, and Giggles mentioned she really misses her mother. She has a pot that belongs to her, but she can’t find the lid, so I guess that is what’s going to be the portal to my next dungeon.

Sorry for not posting yesterday, but it somehow slipped my mind.

No screenshots on the DS, so here’s some more art I found online.

Anyway, I finally did manage to complete that one dungeon and save Whedon. He’s the local Blacksmith, so I now have to get upgrades for him to. I also did a few runs to get some experience, money and upgrade items, but not to much. I guess now I have to find another discarded item somewhere and use it to open another portal. I think I will also give up on raising fupongs as they have a tendency to just disappear. I think I need to read the manual as I don’t get what exactly causes that.  I will try to play some more today, but you can expect my post quality and frequency to drop for the next 2 and a half weeks, since my exams are starting and my free time will be very limited.

I was playing it on a train today, and I couldn’t take notes while playing so I’m afraid this one wont be as detailed as the last few. I will do better next time.

I returned to some of the dungeons to level up, get new fupongs and make some money. After a while of doing this, I started to explore the town again and soon found some food supplies by the river. Upon examining them, another portal opened, this time to a watery dungeon. A few levels in, I managed to find Giggles and returned with her to the city, but only a moment to late.

The characters of Away: Shuffle Dungeon

The chief was there, waiting, and told us that Macey and Helmut grew impatient and decided to go and find Giggles by themselves. I went back to the watery dungeon and ran into them immediately. They over-geared, so their armor and weapons were to heavy to move around. They got attacked by a giant snake monster, so I had to kill it myself. We went back to town again and Giggles scolded them a bit. She then explained all about feng shui and how the position of a shop affects the merchandise, prices and growth. Then I got the chance to re-position the armor and weapon shop properly.

I did some more exploring and found a bottle of garlic(?). This opened a portal to a new dungeon, this time a fiery one, where, after some more exploring and fighting, I’ve found another villager, called Walter, if I remember correctly. I brought him back, but he turned out to be another monster in disguise, so I had to defeat it. The chief then gave me a “super nose” so I could see smells and find the real portal to where Walter is. It was in the southeast of the shop area and I entered the dungeon, but got killed, even after several attempts. This is where I saved my game and stopped playing. I will attempt the dungeon again tomorrow.

Hi, my name is Sword and i live in a small village where I was found shipwrecked. I have no idea where my real home is, but the villagers treat me nice and this place feels like home to. I also have a great friend and her name is Anella. Anyway, one day we were talking outside when suddenly some strange lightnings came from the sky and tried to take me. Anella said she will do anything as long as they let me go, so they took her and the rest of the village instead.

Away: Shuffle Dungeon is a fun and slightly weird game.

I searched the village to see if there’s anyone left, but even the buildings were gone, except for my house. Outside my house, I found the chief’s harp and tried to play it, which then opened a portal. The portal lead to Rock Cliff Dungeon where, after fighting some enemies, I encountered a strange creature. I called the creature “fupong” because of the way it sounds when the it walks. When a fupong is following me, I can cast a spell, but if I do, I cant do it anymore on that level. There were several fupongs around the dungeon, though, so I could gather a bunch of them.

A few levels later, I encountered a giant spider thing and it killed me, several times. A few attempts later, though, it was the spider that went down. The spider was holding the chief captive so I saved him and returned to the village with him and a new armor.

The chief said he thinks it was the “Away” that took the entire village. I went to rest and when I woke up, the chief already managed to rebuild his house again. He said he just needed some carpentry nails to expand the place. He invited me in and it turns out he had a fupong in there, this time a green one. He suggested I should try and feed him to see what happens. He instantly grew into a bigger fupong, this time not some round little thing but a bunny-like creature. Chief decided he will keep a few around, but not to many as they grow fast.

I explored the village some more and found a sword which opened up another portal. This one took me to the Flame dungeon. A few levels in, I’ve found Macey, the weapons shop owner. I went back to town and the chief rebuilt Macey’s weapon shop. I also upgraded it with the Orihalcum I’ve found in the dungeon. After this, I’ve found a shield outside, which again opened a portal, this time to the Ice Dungeon. Pretty soon, I’ve also found Helmut, the armor shop owner. Again, I took him with me and left the dungeon. The chief built him his shop and now both Helmut and Macey are asking me to find and save Giggles, the owner of the inn.

I then did a few runs through the Rocky Cliff Dungeon again to get enough nails for the upgrades for chief’s shop and combined some of the red fupongs. I now have three level 2 red fupongs, which will be useful in the future. After the upgrade, I saved my game and decided to take a break.