Table of Contents
When the game begins, you will be in the treasury with a single weapon in front of you. The object of the game is to kick that weapon through the different rooms of the fortress until you find the cannon room. Load the weapon into the magic cannon by making the weapon touch the cannon, then throw the firing switch, and you will have won the game.
Each time you play the game, the rooms of the fortress will be shuffled, making finding the correct path your first obstacle.
What weapons can be spawned are often different during different Epic Weeks. For example, in 2017, when Epic Week was alien-invasion/space adventure themed, a lot of the weapons were sci-fi inspired. In other years, the weapons have been more classic
Once you win the Doubutt Game with a particular weapon, that weapon will "enter orbit," and begin looking for someone participating in Epic Week who hasn't had a weapon delivery too recently. You can never receive your own Doubutt weapon, it will always be given to someone else. However, you can receive weapons that someone else has "Doubutted" into orbit.
Some years, additional items can also be found around the castle, picked up, and delivered via the magic cannon, such as seed pods in 2016 (needed to replant Forum Forest) or space scrap in 2017 and 2020 (needed as construction/repair materials.)
Although the Doubutt game has been completely rewritten on a new code base, and had many puzzle rooms added or retired, or had some minor changes made from year to year to fit the theme... the core gameplay elements are still essentially the same as in this video.
Q - Drops a carried item
ESC - Lets you toggle sound/music on/off.
Paint brush - One is found in the treasury. You can not pick it up, but you can kick it from room to room. If you bump into it, it will paint a temporary "go fast" stripe on Doubutt that causes Doubutt to move at double speed for a few seconds. Useful if you are wanting to quickly explore ahead, but dangerous if you are kicking the weapon as the additional energy with which you kick the weapon can cause it to go soaring into obstacles.
Foodstuff - Includes slices of cake, carrots, and apples. Restores 1-2 bar(s) of health, consumed by walking over the item.
Fountain - Restores 1 bar of health each time you drink from it. Standing near the fountain will gradually restore health. Great to use if you’re super low on health!
Vases/Pots - Pots can be destroyed by bumping them into other items (Doubutt included) — best when smashed into a wall! Pots have a chance to contain foodstuff (or sometimes other items like seeds or scrap, in a year where these are in the game.) Smash ‘em up!
Normal Beetles - Hit for 1 health. These guys will run at you if you get too close, but they can be killed provided you have an object to do so with. Items, like pots or balls, can be used to hit a beetle to kill it. You may have to hit them multiple times, but if you launch an item fast enough it can be done in one hit. You can also trick these beetles into falling into holes by leading them near a hole, then quickly running around the opposite side. They usually won't stop in time and will fall through.
Ice Beetles - Hit for 2 health. These beetles run away from you if you get too close, so they won't actively try to hurt you. However, they leave behind trails of ice that make it difficult and dangerous to cross through. You can try to corner them into falling off a ledge where possible.
Gelatinous cubes - Hit for 3 health. Most move in predetermined paths, others wander randomly, but none chase Doubutt. Just make sure you're not in its trajectory and you'll be fine! Cannot be killed. Gelatinous Cubes WILL pick up items on the ground: food, seeds, AND your weapon, so be careful as they can end your game!
Ghosts: Hit for 2 health. These are only an issue when you get too close to them. If you keep your distance, they don't bother you; however, when you get close they move quick--dashing is your friend in this instance. Double tap an arrow in any direction to move like the wind and get away. They have a nasty habit of sticking around doors, too, so be careful and re-enter a room with caution if you had to backtrack. These cannot be killed, but you CAN use the weapon to push them back if you're strategic about it! Ghosts ONLY chase you if they're facing you. If you approach them from behind, you can get right up on them without them coming after you, but be careful!
Green Dragonsnakes: These seem to be primarily in large grassy areas, and they run away from Doubutt when you get close. Still, proceed with caution! Can be killed similar to beetles.
Red Dragonsnakes: Like Ghosts, the red dragonsnakes will hunt you down and try to eat your face off if you get too close. Again, dashing is your friend here! In years where there are seeds, they will eat seeds if you don't get to them first. Can be killed similar to beetles.
Kim and her father (who uses the handle onion on the RPR) started working on the game engine in 2008 (before RPR was made!) as a hobby project. At the time, they thought it would be a very different game.
In 2015, Kim decided to use the game engine they'd created as a component in Epic Week, and together Kim and onion revamped the game with Doubutt as the star, and the goal was to deliver weapons to the people of the RPR.
Doubutt was originally written in Java, but in 2017/2018 it was migrated to scala. Scala which allows compiling into javascript so that it can be run directly in the browser. In 2018, the Doubutt game went from something that had to be downloaded and run on the desktop into a browser-only experience. It was somewhat mobile responsive in 2018, but more work has been put into phone support in subsequent years.
When you enter this room, Doubutt will split into two halves. You control one, and the other follows behind slowly. A stone wall will slide into place from the left to the right, locking you in until you solve the room's puzzle.
Overview
You play as Doubutt. Doubutt is a horse that has two rear ends, who lives in the mythical floating palace of Forohfor. Forohfor Fortress has a treasury full of special weapons, and each time the RPR is in jeopardy and needs weapons to defend itself, Doubutt does its best to send weapons from the treasury directly into the hands of the people who will use them via the use of a magical cannon.When the game begins, you will be in the treasury with a single weapon in front of you. The object of the game is to kick that weapon through the different rooms of the fortress until you find the cannon room. Load the weapon into the magic cannon by making the weapon touch the cannon, then throw the firing switch, and you will have won the game.
Each time you play the game, the rooms of the fortress will be shuffled, making finding the correct path your first obstacle.
What weapons can be spawned are often different during different Epic Weeks. For example, in 2017, when Epic Week was alien-invasion/space adventure themed, a lot of the weapons were sci-fi inspired. In other years, the weapons have been more classic
Once you win the Doubutt Game with a particular weapon, that weapon will "enter orbit," and begin looking for someone participating in Epic Week who hasn't had a weapon delivery too recently. You can never receive your own Doubutt weapon, it will always be given to someone else. However, you can receive weapons that someone else has "Doubutted" into orbit.
Some years, additional items can also be found around the castle, picked up, and delivered via the magic cannon, such as seed pods in 2016 (needed to replant Forum Forest) or space scrap in 2017 and 2020 (needed as construction/repair materials.)
2016 Tutorial Video
Although the Doubutt game has been completely rewritten on a new code base, and had many puzzle rooms added or retired, or had some minor changes made from year to year to fit the theme... the core gameplay elements are still essentially the same as in this video.
Controls
Arrow keys - Move Doubutt. Double tapping an arrow key in any direction will cause Doubutt to dash (move quicker), and this can be drawn out by pressing and holding that directional arrow down.Q - Drops a carried item
ESC - Lets you toggle sound/music on/off.
Items
Magnet - Found at the top of the first room, the magnet makes the weapon attracted to you... get it? Too much? Okay. If you get super close to the weapon while holding the magnet, the weapon essentially trails your movement slowly, and is great for moments of panic when you almost knock it off a ledge!Paint brush - One is found in the treasury. You can not pick it up, but you can kick it from room to room. If you bump into it, it will paint a temporary "go fast" stripe on Doubutt that causes Doubutt to move at double speed for a few seconds. Useful if you are wanting to quickly explore ahead, but dangerous if you are kicking the weapon as the additional energy with which you kick the weapon can cause it to go soaring into obstacles.
Foodstuff - Includes slices of cake, carrots, and apples. Restores 1-2 bar(s) of health, consumed by walking over the item.
Fountain - Restores 1 bar of health each time you drink from it. Standing near the fountain will gradually restore health. Great to use if you’re super low on health!
Vases/Pots - Pots can be destroyed by bumping them into other items (Doubutt included) — best when smashed into a wall! Pots have a chance to contain foodstuff (or sometimes other items like seeds or scrap, in a year where these are in the game.) Smash ‘em up!
Baddies
Normal Beetles - Hit for 1 health. These guys will run at you if you get too close, but they can be killed provided you have an object to do so with. Items, like pots or balls, can be used to hit a beetle to kill it. You may have to hit them multiple times, but if you launch an item fast enough it can be done in one hit. You can also trick these beetles into falling into holes by leading them near a hole, then quickly running around the opposite side. They usually won't stop in time and will fall through.
Ice Beetles - Hit for 2 health. These beetles run away from you if you get too close, so they won't actively try to hurt you. However, they leave behind trails of ice that make it difficult and dangerous to cross through. You can try to corner them into falling off a ledge where possible.
Gelatinous cubes - Hit for 3 health. Most move in predetermined paths, others wander randomly, but none chase Doubutt. Just make sure you're not in its trajectory and you'll be fine! Cannot be killed. Gelatinous Cubes WILL pick up items on the ground: food, seeds, AND your weapon, so be careful as they can end your game!
Ghosts: Hit for 2 health. These are only an issue when you get too close to them. If you keep your distance, they don't bother you; however, when you get close they move quick--dashing is your friend in this instance. Double tap an arrow in any direction to move like the wind and get away. They have a nasty habit of sticking around doors, too, so be careful and re-enter a room with caution if you had to backtrack. These cannot be killed, but you CAN use the weapon to push them back if you're strategic about it! Ghosts ONLY chase you if they're facing you. If you approach them from behind, you can get right up on them without them coming after you, but be careful!
Green Dragonsnakes: These seem to be primarily in large grassy areas, and they run away from Doubutt when you get close. Still, proceed with caution! Can be killed similar to beetles.
Red Dragonsnakes: Like Ghosts, the red dragonsnakes will hunt you down and try to eat your face off if you get too close. Again, dashing is your friend here! In years where there are seeds, they will eat seeds if you don't get to them first. Can be killed similar to beetles.
Play strategies
- Many people prefer to leave the weapon in the treasury and explore without it, only going back for it once they know the path to the cannon room.
- Ice beetles leave a temporary frost on the ground which makes things very slippery. This can make it difficult to push the weapon through without it slipping into a hole. However, ice beetles are afraid of Doubutt, and you can scare them into falling into the holes themselves. Once you have scared away all the beetles, wait a few seconds for the room to defrost, and then you can kick the weapon through without the icy slippage.
- Regular beetles aren't afraid of you and may even be aggressive, but you can kill them by throwing items (like bouncy balls) into them with enough velocity.
History
Kim's father wrote an article explaining the history of the Doubutt game as of 2018. The full article can be found here: https://www.rprepository.com/community/news/the-history-of-the-doubutt-gameKim and her father (who uses the handle onion on the RPR) started working on the game engine in 2008 (before RPR was made!) as a hobby project. At the time, they thought it would be a very different game.
In 2015, Kim decided to use the game engine they'd created as a component in Epic Week, and together Kim and onion revamped the game with Doubutt as the star, and the goal was to deliver weapons to the people of the RPR.
Doubutt was originally written in Java, but in 2017/2018 it was migrated to scala. Scala which allows compiling into javascript so that it can be run directly in the browser. In 2018, the Doubutt game went from something that had to be downloaded and run on the desktop into a browser-only experience. It was somewhat mobile responsive in 2018, but more work has been put into phone support in subsequent years.
Room solutions
Doubutt Splits In Half
When you enter this room, Doubutt will split into two halves. You control one, and the other follows behind slowly. A stone wall will slide into place from the left to the right, locking you in until you solve the room's puzzle.
Room solution
Go to one side of the room. Wait for your slower half to catch up with you. Then, dash to the opposite side of the room, and dart upward so that your slower half gets caught on one of the walls jutting out of the bar in the middle. You will then be on the top of the bar, and your slower butt will be on the bottom. Guide both butts to flip the levers. Once both are flipped together, the wall blocking your path will be removed.
Go to one side of the room. Wait for your slower half to catch up with you. Then, dash to the opposite side of the room, and dart upward so that your slower half gets caught on one of the walls jutting out of the bar in the middle. You will then be on the top of the bar, and your slower butt will be on the bottom. Guide both butts to flip the levers. Once both are flipped together, the wall blocking your path will be removed.
Gallery
Lore Wiki » Epic Weeks » Common Epic Week Features » Doubutt Game