Familiars.io is an .io Game with mechanics inspired by Pokémon created by Clay Loam and released in 2020. In it, you play as a trainer and explore a large open world, catching monsters and battling other people.
This game provides examples of the following tropes:
- Abandoned Laboratory: Ancient Domain, a dungeon containing an ancient plague which manifests in battle as a DamageOverTime effect.
- Abandoned Mine: Deep Domain, found within the mountain underground, qualifies as this.
- Absurdly Spacious Sewer: The Septic Domain, found within the water treatment plant. Despite the name, its field effect is Spotlight rather than Plague.
- After-Combat Recovery: Zig-zagged. Any familiars who yield in a PvP battle are revived afterward. This does not, however, apply to battles against wild familiars.
- Ascended Meme: While Bunion is usually found in the grasslands and fields, there exists one tile in the ruins where it can spawn- next to the infamous "Bunion Log."
- Boss Battle: At the end of every dungeon is a red Automaton that serves as a final test before the player is able to clear the dungeon.
- Counter-Attack: Daemon's Burn-back is one of the strongest moves in the game, dealing a whopping 20 magical Fire damage. It does, however, require Daemon survive an incoming magic attack.
- Character Customization: When you first start out, you get to choose your sprite's body and head. This also has an effect on the portrait other players will see when challenging you to a PvP match.
- Color-Coded Elements: The icons representing the types are all different colors. Fire is red, Leaf is green, Water is blue, Robot is yellow, Hex is purple, Slime is orange, and Plush is pink.
- Com Mons: Tent and Patch are particularly common throughout the overworld. Oddly enough, these two are also Starter Mons.
- Damage Over Time: Poison deals damage of approximately 10% HP each turn. Gary's Plague attack also inflicts a damage-over-time effect, although it stays on the field rather than being a status effect.
- Dungeon Crawling: As of September 2023, four dungeons can be found in the world, each with their own challenges for the player to overcome.
- Elemental Powers: Familiars have one of seven types: Fire, Water, Leaf, Plush, Hex, Slime, and Robot.
- Elemental Rock-Paper-Scissors: As par for the genre, Familiars have their own types with weaknesses and resistances, with relatively easy-to-memorize matchups.
- Emote Command: There is a "Howdy" command you can use to greet other players.
- Fragile Speedster: Daemon is the fastest Familiar, but has very little in the way of defense and HP.
- Gradual Regeneration: Buoy's Manna skill grants this to whichever familiar is currently on the field, albeit only for a few turns.
- Health Potion: Potions and Big Potions, which can be found throughout the map.
- Level Drain: Familiars lose a few levels after being felled in battle.
- Life Drain: The Vampire move drains enemy HP and gives them to your monster.
- Mon: The game features you catching familiars with balls and using them in battle against other ones.
- Player Vs Player: You can turn on PvP which makes your character red and lets you battle other players.
- Never Say "Die": Familiars simply “yield” instead of dying upon hitting 0 HP.
- Pocket Dimension: The Resort, which you can access at any time, is a place where you can drop off and pick up familiars to modify your party composition.
- Pre-existing Encounters: Wild familiars are fought by running into them on the field. What familiars spawn depends on the area.
- Retraux: This modern web game has a simplistic pixel-art graphical style and uses chiptune music reminiscent of the GBC.
- Roaming Enemy: Automatons wander around the game world, and running into them starts a pseudo-PvP battle against them.
- Starter Mon: You can select between Carbon, Prints, Patch, and Tent for your starter familiar, but you can also find them elsewhere early on.
- Superboss: Purple Automatons occasionally spawn in key locations on the overworld. These Automatons sport a full team of fully trained familiars, serving as a challenge similar to that of fighting another player.
- The Lost Woods: Forest Domain, a dungeon found in the northeastern corner of the overworld. Within, every battle begins with fog.
- Trojan Horse: Initiating a battle against an Automaton shows the Automaton breaking open, revealing its team of familiars within.
- Underground Monkey: There is a low chance that a familiar will be Rare when spawned. Rare familiars, unlike their normal counterparts, start at a higher level, have a different battle theme, and are colored, with the color depending on species.
