Monsters Are Terrible Pet Owners!

Keep all the pets away from monsters!

...because their noses are too sensitive to be near the rotting flesh of a zombie!
...because a giant spider has eight legs but no hands to pet them!
...because a skeleton's bones are way too tempting for a dog!

Monsters Are Terrible Pet Owners! pulls from the classic game Zombies Ate My Neighbors to create a 1-8 player co-op roguelite. Grab your leash and guide every pet to safety while keeping them out of the monster's hands!

Explore the levels in order to find the red helipad and bring every pet you can find there to evacuate them! Levels are completed when every pet in a level is either rescued or caught. Players earn XP for every pet saved (with a bonus for rescuing their favorite animal!) and can pick upgrades and abilities when enough XP is earned.

When a pet gets caught by a monster, they're adopted by it and won't be able to be saved.

A player touching a monster will cost them a life and have them restart at the spawn point. As long as one player survives, every player will start the next level with at least one life. When every player is caught the game is over.

When a player or pet gets caught, every pet on the leash behind them will be released. As long as the pets aren't caught individually, you can go back to get them!

Made by one person in 48 hours during the Global Game Jam 2024 for Playstation 2 Buzz Controllers.

Controls

The game is originally made for use with Playstation 2 Buzz controllers, but the controls are modified to support xInput gamepads as well.

Play using four directions and one action button.
Use directional buttons to select an option in the lobby and between levels.

Use Action to:

• leash pets when standing close to them.
• open doors when standing close to one.
• use an ability when you have picked one and there are no pets or doors close by.

Press Alt+Enter to toggle full-screen.
Press Escape to quit the game.

Gamepad

Every player  uses half of a gamepad. Every odd player uses the left half, every even player uses the right half.

• Shoulder button: Action.
• D-pad/ABXY: Direction.

Buzz controller

Every player takes one Buzzer. The red button is used for joining in the lobby and Actions in-game. The walking directions can be chosen after joining. There are three control schemes to pick from.

Settings

In the game, press Ctrl+Shift+C to open the console.

• Type buzzMode to toggle between using xInput gamepads and a button layout created for two Buzz Controllers, if you happen to have those lying around.
• Type respawn to toggle infinite respawns for players.
• There's more debug commands in there probably.