Gotta Protectors/Gameplay

Difficulty

Before starting the game, you can adjust the difficulty in the Options menu. The setting can be changed later. Gold, items, and upgrades are shared between all difficulties. Stage completion is only shared between easy and normal difficulty. Hard difficulty is unlocked when you complete the story on normal difficulty.

Stages

The objective of each stage is to clear all enemies and generators while preventing Princess Lola from losing all her HP. Enemies will spawn from generators and move towards the castle where Princess Lola is located. There is a time limit of 999 seconds on each map and if it expires, invincible enemies will appear.

Gold is the main currency and is used for building/upgrading barricades, turrets, and leveling up. It is dropped from enemies and found in chests. If you die, you will lose some gold, but respawn quickly. Gold is capped at 9999 in each stage.

Princess Lola	You can stand near Princess Lola to restore HP. You can also push her to move her to a safer location or carry her if you use the Lift skill. If you invest in the banner and level it up enough, Princess Lola will learn skills. She will use them when enemies are nearby if she has enough MP.
Castle	The castle is where you can level up with gold by holding . It has HP that cannot be restored. If it is destroyed, then you cannot level up, but you retain your current level.
Generator	Generators spawn enemies and some of them can move on the map. They will disappear on their own after spawning enough enemies unless they are set to spawn infinitely many.
Barricade	Barricades can be placed to slow down enemies. You can pass through them, but most enemies cannot. Enemies will attack them and after enough damage, they will flicker and be destroyed after some time. You can repair them by attacking them. They can be upgraded with gold.
Turret	Turrets can be placed to help defend. They take damage from enemies and will eventually be destroyed, but you can repair them by attacking them. They can be upgraded with gold.
Chest	Chests may contain gold, items, or keys. They can be opened by attacking them.
Gate	Gates require the same color key in order to open them. Keys are usually found in chests or dropped from generators. Walking into the gate with the key will open all of them of the same color on the map.
Warp Door	Warp doors will warp to other doors of the same color as long as they are both open. Attacking a closed door will open it.
Village	Villages give gold and some have helpers that defend and can be hired to follow along.
Field	Some maps have fields where Princess Lola can grow crops if she is nearby. When fully grown, you will receive gold and the field starts over ready to grow again.

Roulette

Roulette

When a stage is completed, an additional item can be earned in a roulette. A cursor will move clockwise around a set of items. Press to stop the cursor. If it lands on a pink poo, then no item is rewarded. If you want a specific item, time your press when the cursor is one after the item you want. At hard difficulty, the cursor spins faster.

Menu

Before starting a stage, you have the following options. Not all options are initially available.

Fight!

Select character and customize before selecting stage

Shoppe

Buy and upgrade weapons

Dojo

Buy and upgrade skills

Cellar

Make and sell rings

Invest

Upgrade castle, banner, shoppe, and dojo

Quit

Return to title menu

Skills

There are two types of skills: action skills and auto skills. Action skills are active abilities that use MP and can be assigned to either / , , or / . MP will gradually restore over time. Auto skills are passive effects that apply when equipped. A skill's maximum level can be leveled up at the Dojo with the required items. While in a stage, skill levels start at level 1 and increase as the character levels up. Weapons and rings can add modifiers to a skill's level. Skill levels will drop if you are too far away from Princess Lola, but will go back up when in range again.

Invest

Gold can be spent to upgrade the castle, banner, shoppe, and dojo. There is also an option to "Spread the Love" which will affect the items in the roulette.

Upgrading the castle costs the (current level) × 1000. At level 5, it will shoot arrows at nearby enemies. It gains additional attacks at certain levels.

LV	Attack
5	Arrow
30	Fire
45	Missile

Upgrading the banner costs the (current level + 1) × 500. At certain levels, Princess Lola learns new magic.

LV	Magic
5	Fire
10	Wind
20	Bolt
30	Meteor

Both the shoppe and dojo start at level 3 and can be upgraded to a maximum of 9. Weapons cannot be upgraded beyond the level of the shoppe and skills cannot be upgraded above the level of the dojo.

LV	Gold
4	4000
5	7500
6	12000
7	17500
8	24000
9	31500

Items

Items are primary obtained from defeating enemies, but they can also be found in chests and the roulette. Food items are used to upgrade skills and the other items are used to upgrade weapons.

Map Editor

Custom maps can be created and shared as QR codes. The map editor is accessed from the chapter select screen. Select one of the User options on the right side and select one of the stages. The initial menu gives the following options.

Edit Field

Layout the terrain

Edit Parts

Place up to 100 parts on the map

Settings

Adjust map settings such as name and difficulty

Some parts such as generators have a menu for additional settings. The menu can be brought back by moving the cursor over the part and pressing . The map is automatically saved when you exit.