Boli

Boli was an unwanted and neglected child whose parents saw him as yet another mouth to feed.

When a rare disease befell their village and a hero was needed to venture into the wildernes to find a cure, his parents were quick to offer him as a volunteer.

Armed with only a rusty sword and a supposedly-enchanted potato sack provided by his older brother, Boli must brave the monster-filled wilderness to retrieve a potion from the distant apothecary.

The fate of the whole village is in his hands. Can you guide him through the gauntlet and save the poor village from its terrible fate?

Boli is a retro-style JRPG with hand-drawn ASCII art. The game is inspired by 1980s classics like the original Dragon Warrior (Dragon Quest), text-based MUDs of the early 1990s, and games such as Rogue and Moria. Explore the world as a solo adventurer, fighting or avoiding monsters and building up your skills and equipment to survive the treacherous monster-filled forests.

It features a soundtrack and sound effects created entirely using a vintage 1980s Yamaha TX81Z FM synthesizer.

The game includes a dark mode for those who don't love bright white. It is neither a roguelike nor a roguelite, but rather a short traditional RPG.

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Version History:

v1 - 2026-06-08. First demo.

v2 - 2026-06-10. Adds two small maps with new monsters, implements low-level spells, improves save and load game, and adds some new sounds.

v3 - 2026-06-12. Adds an intro conversation and polishes some things.

v4 - 2026-07-20. Adds inns, a restorative fountain, a new shop, keyboard shortcuts, some audio updates, and various other improvements.

v5 - 2026-07-28. Adds an inn and an armor shop to the Orc area, monster stats adjusted, player spell list changed and sneak spell implemented for avoiding aggressive monsters, adds evade % for players, plus some UI improvements.