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1[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/0beach_6215.png]]
2
3->''"The golden chest is the legendary, ultimate treasure said to exist since the birth of the world. They say all of piracy began when, centuries ago, explorers sailed out in search of it. The truth is, nobody really knows what's inside, but whatever it is, it's got to hold unfathomable wealth and power! ...If we can get our hands on the key and chest, we'll be the greatest pirates of all time!"''
4
5''Dubloon'' is a freeware RPG developed in 2010 by Creator/WishesUnlimited founder Greg Lobanov over the course of about a year.
6
7The game is set in an OceanPunk world where [[TheGovernment the Navy]] has almost complete control of the seas, leaving pirates scattered and vulnerable. The story follows a crew of four pirates who seek out the world's ultimate treasure - a [[MacGuffin golden treasure chest]] - taking on the Navy in the process.
8
9The game uses a unique mouse-based interface and incorporates elements of many different games, such as combat based on ActionCommands and field moves.
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11The game can be downloaded [[http://www.yoyogames.com/games/83854 here]] or [[http://gamejolt.com/freeware/games/rpg/dubloon/254/ here.]]
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13----
14!!This game provides examples of:
15* ActionCommands: Using battle items starts a short, timed minigame where scoring points directly correlates to the damage said item deals (e.g. for a Cannon item, drag and drop cannonballs which roll past the screen inside; more shots equals more damage). In addition, every boss has at least one attack which can be completely blocked with use of the mouse: either click and hold the respective projectile(s) or possibly using your mouse as a shield to block attacks.
16%% * ActionGirl: Anne.
17* ActuallyFourMooks: On the overworld, every single encounter is represented by a sprite of an enemy from that area which roams around. But when you enter in combat with said enemy, their encounters may feature additional enemies to accompany that which you saw in the overworld.
18* AfterCombatRecovery: At the end of any battle, any characters who had died are restored to 1 HP once the battle is over.
19* AllInARow: Exploited in one of the puzzles located in the Pirates' Graveyard, where the solution involves [[spoiler:stepping onto four adjacent tiles with the party in the correct order]].
20* AmazingTechnicolorBattlefield: The battle against the FinalBoss takes place in a black void with a golden yelllow swirling vortex effect on its side of the field (at least with what Gamemaker 1.1 native effects can conjure). This is the only such instance in-game; other battle environments are rendered with in-game tilesets.
21%% * AmbiguouslyGay: Sparkles, especially considering that one treasure.
22* AndNowForSomeoneCompletelyDifferent: When Russell and Anne leave Outcast Island bound for Jolly Roger Island, the game temporarily switches point of view to Riley and his pet monkey Ricky until when the four meet up shortly before departing Jolly Roger Island.
23%% * AnotherSideAnotherStory: Beating a certain boss battle unlocks the ability to play through the game as the Quartet.
24%% * AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: Domin is the leader of Navy, and he is the toughest.
25* BagOfSharing: HandWaved; Riley and Ricky are sent a package containing the first two crew members' entire inventory. [[HyperspaceArsenal How they can fit all of that junk into a small package]], however, is left to imagination.
26* BarrierChangeBoss: The Mermaid in Treasure Tower has an attack which recolors her scales either red, blue, or yellow, to indicate a weakness to either fire, ice, or electricity, respectively.
27%% * BehindTheBlack: The shiny earring of the woman in Outcast Island is located behind one of the houses. Since the game is in ThreeQuartersView, you can't see it even though your crew could.
28* BigBoosHaunt: The Pirates' Graveyard, a purple-tone, foggy dark area decorated with tombstones where the primary type of enemies include ghosts, zombies, and limbs of zombies.
29* BlackMage: Ricky. His learn set specializes on pure offensive magic (which does not necessarily specialize on one particular element like the others, and also includes some non-elemental water-themed spells), and a good portion of his skills have additional status effects.
30* BoozeBasedBuff: Pirates' magic is powered by alcohol. [[TheDrunkenSailor The more drunk one is]], the more powerful they become.
31* ButThouMust:
32** When Anne offers to help you escape prison and when Riley and Ricky are offered to join the crew, the player must accept in order to be able to proceed.
33** You can deny Anne's offer to join her crew, but she's your only ticket off of Outcast Island.
34** Likewise, when Kaz's crew asks for assistance, you can say no and leave them standing there, but you can't progress with the plot until you say yes.
35* CarnivorousHealingFactor: A ManEatingPlant can eat its allies alive to regain its HitPoints.
36* ChainOfDeals: On Stern Island, there are four pirates with whom the party must negotiate in the right order (find an item on the island to hand to one pirate, which gives you an item that another pirate is looking for, and so on) to find out the location of [[spoiler:one of two Sea Serpents guarding the Keys to Atlan Tower]].
37* CombatantCooldownSystem: Each combatant has a meter that allows them to perform an action when filled up. The game ''doesn't'' pause them when one of player characters gets their meter full, which means that it's possible for slower members to act beforehand, or to wait for some bosses to quit their CounterAttack mode.
38* CombatExclusiveHealing: Russell's and Riley's healing spells do not work out of combat. Once you end the battle, you need to resort to items for healing.
39* CoolVersusAwesome: Over the course of your journey, you'll fight the following: pirates with hooks for heads, pirates with peglegs for heads, pirate zombies, vikings, ghosts, skeletons, sentient severed hands, multi-colored knights (including a golden one), sea serpents, mermaids, mutant fishes [[EnergyWeapon THAT SHOOT LASERS]], a giant mole, flying hippos, walking trees and bushes... and more!
40%% * TheDragon: Bradley.
41%% * EnterSolutionHere: Several puzzles revolve around finding a correct answer.
42* FailedASpotCheck: One Navy NPC on Bowish Island remarks on "[your] pirate ship sailing by the island". Of course, he hadn't noticed any boat coming from this ship (or for that matter, any boat ''at all'').
43* FatalFamilyPhoto: In the Navy Base at Jolly Roger Island, one of the rooms (presumably Riley's dad's office) contains a family picture hanging on the wall. [[spoiler:Riley's dad gets executed in that same room.]] That same picture is in the background during Riley's battle with Bradley.
44* FetchQuest: Davey Jones hands the crew a quest to fetch three gems hidden across the Pirate Graveyard (whose locations are not marked on the overworld; he offers hints as to where they are buried) to prove to him that the crew is serious about piracy. Succeeding makes Davey allow access to [[spoiler:the Treasure Tower where the Golden Key resides]].
45* FireIceLightning: An elemental theme shared between Russell, Anne, and Riley. The offensive magic on their respective movesets follows this pattern.
46* FriendOrIdolDecision: At the end of the game, immediately after defeating the final boss, [[spoiler:the player must choose to either make out with the rest of the crew or the Golden Chest which the entire plot revolves around. HundredPercentCompletion allows you to save both.]]
47* GhostPirate: In Greg Lobanov's later game ''VideoGame/{{Wandersong}}'', the monkey from Dubloon makes a cameo. It's said in it that the monkey may actually secretly hold the spirit of a "legendary and powerful pirate."
48* GoWaitOutside: [[TheCaptain Timber]] has to build another ship while on Pyrite Island. It takes as long as you re-enter part of the island where he is.
49%% * GlobalCurrency: Except for one NPC, everyone in the world uses eponymous Dubloons as a currency.
50* TheGuardsMustBeCrazy: One NPC on Bowish Island gives [[TeamPet Ricky]] a hint about the key to the house, ''just'' because he wouldn't expect the monkey to do this.
51* HealingCheckpoint: Most save logs are located close to either {{trauma inn}}s or red chests that replenish your crew's health and alcohol points. Ones that aren't are usually located somewhere within a dungeon.
52%% * HeelFaceTurn: [[spoiler: Kaz and crew]].
53%% * HelloInsertNameHere: All four members of your crew. They have official names too.
54%% * HeroAntagonist: The Navy. Our protagonists ARE pirates, after all!
55* HeroicMime: Russel, the silent protagonist.
56** PlayedWith. The intro and the endings are clearly narrated by him, and he does speak once in the game, even if it's for just one word: [[spoiler: "Aye"]]
57* HopelessBossFight: The first battle with Bradley on the Navy ship. It's required to lose this fight in order to progress the story, and it is the only case in the game where losing a fight does not cause a standard game over. It's actually possible to beat that first battle with a LOT of grinding, but if this happens, Bradley just calls you a cheater and carries on as if he'd won anyway.
58* HundredPercentCompletion: Collect all buried loot and open all the chests to unlock an alternate ending: [[spoiler:the crew manages to save both the Golden Chest and themselves after fighting the Chest.]]
59%% * AnIcePerson: Russel and Captain FC both specialize in ice magic.
60%% * InformedEquipment: Even with weapons equipped, the characters will still punch their foes.
61%% * ItemAmplifier: Goggles boost the effectiveness of battle items used by whoever equips them.
62* ItsPersonal: The only reason Riley and Ricky join the crew is because [[spoiler: Riley's dad was executed by the Navy, and shortly after the fact. After Riley meets the other crewmembers, Anne actually requests that Riley join in order to pay a debt of gratitude forward from Riley's father, who had served alongside Anne before the events of the game. Eventually, Riley gets the opportunity to deal the final blow to kill [[TheDragon Bradley]], and he proclaims before Bradley that said final hit is to [[AndThisIsFor avenge his dad]].]]
63%% * JackOfAllTrades: Russel, especially when you allocate his stats equally.
64%% * KnightTemplar: The Navy.
65%% * LetsPlay: One by [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIyPMf3dQ24 Rockythechao]] and one by [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLaphtXA0nE Overboyagain]].
66%% * TheLostWoods: In Jolly Roger Island and Bowish Island.
67* LoadBearingBoss: [[spoiler:Defeating the final boss causes Secret Island to start collapsing. The crew must make it back to the ship within a time limit. This ends the game.]]
68%% * LuckStat: The "SWAG" stat. It's actually visible.
69* MacGuffin: The Golden Chest. The game revolves around bands of pirates attempting to fight the Navy (when they're not fighting each other in pursuit of the chest) in order to get their hands on it. However, even though the chest is said to contain unimaginable riches, its actual value is ambiguous as [[spoiler:the game ends shortly after the protagonists open the chest]].
70%% * MakingASplash: Ricky is the only character with water-based attacks.
71%% * ManaPotion: A stiff, hard drink replenishes pirate magic.
72* TheMedic: Riley. His learnset contains every healing spell in the game (including those that [[JackOfAllStats Russell]] does not have), and is most notably the only crew member that can learn the [=HealMax=] spell which heals all party members by a substantial amount.
73%% * MightyGlacier: Anne.
74%% * MoneySpider: Winning battles earns you Dubloons.
75%% * MusicalAssassin: The Quartet of the Seas. Each member has a skill which involves a musical instrument.
76* NewEraSpeech: Delivered by Domin before the crew fights him, but unlike most examples, there is no audience he is presented to. The way he speaks in this segment, however, matches several other examples.
77-->'''Domin''': Now, make way for a new world order under the Navy... one without the pestiferous existence of piracy!
78%% * OneWordTitle: Named after the game's currency.
79%% * OneWorldOrder: The Navy effectively functions as the world government.
80* PictorialSpeechBubble: When Russel saves Ricky without saving Riley first, Ricky will ask where Riley is with a speech bubble depicting his head, to which Russel replies with speech bubble showing a shaking head.
81%% * PintsizedPowerhouse[=/=]MagikarpPower: Ricky becomes the most powerful character at the later levels.
82%% * PirateBooty
83%% * PirateGirl: Anne.
84* PlayingWithFire: Anne has fire-based spells that go well with her personality [[FieryRedhead and hair]].
85* PlotCoupon: Two serpent fangs serve as the key for the pirates to unlock the door to Altan Tower, which the pirates try to access since it holds information as to where the Golden Key to open the Golden Chest is located.
86* PublicDomainArtifact: [[spoiler:The [[MacGuffin Golden Chest]] is effectively Pandora's Box. Immediately after opening it, Davy Jones quips that the chest was designed by the gods of the sea to contain the [[SealedEvilInACan Greed]] within humanity's hearts. It's played with, though: immediately after mentioning this, Davy states that if you can "conquer the greed within" (re: fight and defeat the chest), the chest is truly the greatest treasure known to man - depending on how you interpret his quip that [[MindScrew greed is what humanity truly greeds for the most]].]]
87%% * QuirkyMinibossSquad: Kaz and his crew, who are also {{Evil Counterpart}}s.
88%% * RainbowSpeak: All mentions of the Chest and the Key to it are in yellow.
89%% * RealityWarper: Domin's powers seem to work like this.
90* RecurringBoss: Bradley stars in a total of five separate boss fights, counting the first fight on the Navy ship in which Russell loses.
91* RedShirtArmy: For most of the game, all you'll see of the Navy are the pathetic Navy Jr's, Navy ships in the UnexpectedShmupLevel, and Bradley.
92* RetCanon: "Actually, I've just decided that in Wandersong that's canon. Yes."
93* RidiculousExchangeRates: One NPC on [[FunetikAksent Pyrite Island]] demands you to buy his treasure chest's content for 1 million Farquads. Later it turns out that 1 million Farquads is worth ''1 Dubloon''.
94* SealedEvilInACan: [[spoiler:The Golden Chest is revealed to be a vessel built to contain humanity's darkest Greed. The pirate crew must subdue it to end the game.]]
95* ShockAndAwe: Riley and Vypa, whose offensive skill learnsets incorporate most of the game's electrical spells.
96* ShoutOut: On Bowish Island you can find a hat, [[RoyalRapier a sword]], and [[BadassCape a cape]] that belong to [[VideoGame/AssassinBlue Blue]] (shown equipped in the screenshot above). Also, on the [[HelloInsertNameHere name-entry screen]], there is a "don't care" button which gives a character one of several pre-defined names. These include shout-outs to ''VideoGame/MonkeyIsland'', ''Manga/OnePiece'' and ''VideoGame/{{EarthBound|1994}}'' alongside much more mundane names.
97%% * SlippySlideyIceWorld: Captain FC's Frozen Ship. Ice is not slippy however.
98* SquishyWizard: Ricky. He has the lowest base defense stat if Russell is not intentionally built with low defense, the highest base Alcohol stat, and a move pool which focuses extensively on offensive magic.
99* StealthPun: Standish, the Viking-themed pirate and one of the members of the Quartet, has a sprite which prominently depicts him wielding an axe. His signature attack, [[AutobotsRockOut Rock Out]], is described as a "hot-rocking riff" (and overlays loud electric guitar music to go with it). He's shredding with an axe!
100* TheEvilsOfFreeWill: Discussed. During the conversation before fighting Domin, Domin explains that his end goal is that the Navy act as the sole world order, because, in his words, without the Navy, the entire world would descend into chaos.
101* ThePiratesWhoDontDoAnything: Pirates are too afraid of the Navy to actually go out pirating.
102* TakeAThirdOption: [[spoiler:Your reward for collecting 100% of all buried treasure and chests is that the option to save both the Golden Chest and your pirate crew becomes available.]]
103* TeamPet: Ricky, Riley's pet monkey.
104%% * TimedMission: There is an escape sequence in the game.
105* TraumaInn: Every major town has an inn which, for a fee (if you happen to not have Anne in the party), the crew can stay in to restore the crew's health and [[{{Mana}} Alcohol Points]].
106* TreasureMap: A map serves as the [[PointAndClickMap area select screen]], and you can add new areas to travel to by finding maps scattered throughout the world.
107* TrivialTitle: Titled after the currency used in the game that has no bearing to its plot.
108* UnexpectedShmupLevel: When you travel between islands you get to play a short shooting minigame with your ship, giving you a chance to rack up some extra dubloons.
109* UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans: The Navy's end goal. [[spoiler:As Domin states, the end goal of the Navy is to act as the sole world order since collectively, they believe that without them, the whole world would descend into chaos. However, most pirates (including the crew) oppose this, since most pirates just want to go out hunting for treasure without the Navy on their backs trying to police everything.]]
110%% * VillainProtagonist: Again, they ARE pirates.
111%% * WolfpackBoss: The fight against Kaz's crew.
112* YouAllMeetInACell: Technically, you don't begin the game there, but it's right after the first area, and it's how you meet your second party member.
113* YouRebelScum: The Navy bears this attitude, but Bradley is the most vocal exemplar.
114-->'''Bradley''': All pirates are scum, and it's the Navy's job to eliminate them!

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