Hooves of Hope

About the game

Hooves of Hope mixes a jump-and-run with a role-playing game. The Darkness has stolen the colour from the world, and you are the last unicorn. You start as a plain white one in a small paddock, with an elder unicorn who explains the goal and sends you out to find the seven Dark Corns, the bosses that hold the rainbow shards.

The world is a single map without loading screens: sky platforms above, a long walkable ground band, and caves underneath that you reach by dropping down shafts. Every kill gives experience, and every level-up gives points to spend on strength (physical damage), magic (spells and shots) and luck (better odds of critical hits and loot). Chests and defeated foes drop gear that changes how your unicorn looks, plus potions for health and magic.

Joey Cacciatore made it for js13kGames 2026, where the whole game had to fit in 13 KB and the theme was Unicorns and Rainbows.

Playing it here

Click Play, then press New Game or tap it, type a name and confirm. Walk up to the elder unicorn and press Space to hear the intro. Jump and dash into the walkers, shoot the ones that keep their distance, and use heal when your health gets low. The game saves when you level up and when you respawn after a fall, and from the menu with Esc; the save lives in your browser only, in one slot.

Controls

A few things worth knowing

Spend your points before moving on. After a level-up the menu opens and will not let you leave until every point is placed.

Fight the ones that stand still first. The foes that stop a short distance away are shooters; the hoppers are the ones that run at you.

Caves are worth the drop. The underground halls hold chests and gear, and every shaft has a way back up.

Credits and licence

Hooves of Hope was created by Joey Cacciatore, and everything in it (art, sound and code) is original to the entry. The game is released under the MIT licence; the licence text is linked from this page.