Owlboy

Owlboy is an indie game by D-Pad Studio. It is a platformer with a mixture of action and puzzles, starring the Owlboy, named Otus, and his various Gunner partners. Development started in 2007 and finished in November 2016, almost ten years later.

The story kicks off when Otus's village of Vellie is attacked by pirates, who steal an ancient Artifact of Doom. Otus and his friend Geddy enter into hot pursuit of the pirates, and end up entrenched in a mystery that reveals much about their World in the Sky and the Owls, an ancient race of mystical precursors.

Tropes used in Owlboy include:

• Adam Smith Hates Your Guts: You don't actually BUY items from Buccanary, she merely gives you a new trinket when you've collected enough coins to impress her. However, to obtain the best item, you have to collect all of them.
• Advancing Boss of Doom: The Temple Guardian is a giant frog that Otus must run from. It turns to stone when Otus runs beneath a waterfall.
• Alas, Poor Yorick: Refenced, as Alphonse apparently has a Skull he uses for acting.
• An Aesop: Mistakes are never the end. You can make mistakes, as long as you seek to fix them and make the world a better place than when you entered it.
• Big Creepy-Crawlies: The bugs on the floating continent. Swarms of flesh-eating beasties that can get as big as your head. Fortunately, they can't stand any source of light. But stay in the dark for any period of time, and they'll start attacking.
• Boss Arena Idiocy: The Sky Pirates would've had Otus if not for those rocks hanging from the ceiling.
• Cape Wings: Otus's Owl Cloak seems to be this.
• Cranium Ride: You will be riding on the head of the Lava Worm boss after you defeated it.
• Defeat Means Friendship: After Alphonse is defeated, he's happy to cooperate with Otus. His partner isn't so keen on the idea though.
• Difficulty Spike: The Floating Continent is much harder than the areas proceeding it.
• Does Not Like Guns: Otus can't use weapons, so he'll need to carry people who can.
• Dual Boss: Both Sky Pirates fight you together, but only one attacks at a time.
• Emergency Energy Tank: The Canteen is a refillable kind.
• Flunky Boss: The giant Gawk, who arrives with a swarm of smaller Gawks. The Monkey King also attacks this way, sending up to seven enemies at you at once.
• Handicapped Badass: Anne. While her broken leg renders her unable to walk and Otus unable to use his other companions or pick up items, her cane attack hits a large area and can deflect projectiles and wallop enemies Geddy and Alphonse's guns can't touch.
• Heroic Mime: Otus, who can only respond to questions with chirping.
• MacGuffin Guardian: The Guardian of the Owl Temple, apparently.
• Nice Hat: Otus can wear his Gunners' hats to effect how his Gunners shoot.
• Our Gnomes Are Weirder: Well, they're blind, cavedwelling, and enjoy a healthy diet of adventurers.
• Pass Through the Rings: The game's... currency?
• Power-Up Food: The various colored 'Ish' items, which grant a (usually temporary) bonus to Otus's abilities:
  • Green Ish: Recovers health.
  • Yellow Ish: Increases speed.
  • Blue Ish: Increases defense.
  • Red Ish: Increases attack.
  • Orange Ish: Increases rate of fire.
• Rock Beats Laser: In the segment of the game where you have to carry Anne, your only method of attack is via the walking stick she's carrying. Said stick is capable of downing enemies that Geddy's pistol and Alphonse's shotgun can't even put a dent in.
• Save Point: A sophisticated gentlemen fish. Makes no sense but... it's awesome. Replaced with autosaving in the release version.
• Sky Pirate: The game's antagonists.
• Swallowed Whole: The fate of those who gets caught by the gnomes.
• Taken for Granite: You can turn Molts (wolf like enemies that breathe fire) in to stone by pouring water on them.
• Temple of Doom: The Owl Temple isn't the safest place in the world, but much of the danger seems to come from a monster infestation.
• To Be Continued: At the end of the Demo.
• Underground Monkey: All types of gawks have a lumpy round body and bat wings. The difference between each types are shown in different colours with minor change occasionally.
• Video Game Flight: Otus can fly almost anywhere, except when under a waterfall and in the Space Zone, where the air is too thin.
• World in the Sky: So far the entire world of Owlboy seems to be a bunch of floating islands.