Energy Duel
A neon, simultaneous turn-based strategy game built for Gamedev.js Jam 2026. Two robots. One grid. Queue your moves, then watch them execute at the same time.
Energy Duel is a competitive 1v1 robot strategy game played on a neon grid, built as a jam entry for Gamedev.js Jam 2026 under the theme “Machines”.
The core mechanic is simultaneous execution. Both players queue up to eight moves in secret, then the grid resolves them all at once. There is no reaction time advantage, no turn order to exploit – just the read you made on your opponent before either of you committed. It is closer to a puzzle than a reflex game, but the tension of watching two move queues collide at the same moment gives it a competitive edge that feels distinct.
The energy node system adds a scoring layer on top of the positioning game. Nodes appear and disappear across rounds, so the right move is rarely just the safe one. Collecting efficiently while staying out of collision range requires thinking a few steps ahead, which is exactly the kind of problem the simultaneous format rewards.
Technically the game is built on Phaser 4 with TypeScript, bundled with Vite. All sound effects are procedurally generated in code using the Web Audio API – no audio files for SFX, just synthesis. Background music is a single looping track generated with Suno. The AI opponent uses a heuristic lookahead that evaluates board state after each candidate move, which makes it competitive without being predictable.
The project participates in three jam challenges: the Phaser challenge (built on Phaser 4), the GitHub Open Source challenge (MIT licensed, full source on GitHub), and the Wavedash challenge (deployed and playable on Wavedash).