A game by Art in Heart for PC, Mac, Linux, and Switch originally released in 2016, with the Blüeberry Edition released in 2018.
Gonner, (a.k.a. GoNNER), is a roguelike actioner starring Ikk, a fellow on a journey to cheer up his friend Sally, who happens to be a whale. Ikk isn’t much more than a blob of, well, ick, but he is able to equip skulls, weapons, and backpacks, which collectively transform him into a veritable death machine. As with other genre entries, levels are procedurally generated, and getting killed returns the player to the start of the game. However as the player makes progress, he discovers new skulls, weapons, and backpacks which carry over into future sessions, allowing him to customize his loadout between runs.
At the start of the game, Ikk can run, jump, double jump, and wall jump, as well as jump up walls to climb any vertical surface. Ikk’s starting equipment includes a small skull that grants him five units of health, a basic pea-shooter, and a backpack that allows him to reload his weapon without the need to collect ammo dropped by enemies. When Ikk takes damage, he loses all three of these items and remains temporarily defenseless until he can retrieve them. Without a skull, Ikk has no health meter, and taking damage in this state is an instant game over. So, regardless of your equipment, it’s possible to lose the game quickly if you find yourself overwhelmed by a swarm of foes.
