The Skeletons Are Fighting is a traditional 2.5D fighting game about skeletons dueling from across the ages. Fight as a stoic ship captain from the 1800s or as a fitness obsessed workaholic from the 20th century or as one of the other, very deceased, skeletons from the 6 character roster. If you want to mix it up a little bit or none of the default movesets fit your style, choose a different Specialty to completely switch up how the characters play. Accounting for each Specialty, that’s 18 different movesets and archetypes at your disposal!

Characters

Yor - A swashbuckling ship captain from old. He uses his long sword to control the midrange, and has a well-rounded arsenal of specials for any situation.

Fredrick - A sauvé monster hunter from an unknown era. He uses a seemingly infinite amount of knives (both for throwing and stabbing) to keep opponents at bay.

Wreath - A mysterious and shy nature lover who’s forever timeless. They use their long spear-tipped scythe to space out the opponent and tricky movement options to keep them guessing.

Gigante - An imposing, not so gentle giant from the cold era. She uses her long limbs and armored moves to close the gap, and impose threatening offense with powerful throws.

Wes - A wild and eclectic fitness fanatic from the modern era. He excels in all ranges with quick punches and kicks, and a variety of specials to both control space and maintain offense.

Albert - A bad to the bone boxer. They use their quick speed and cheap tricks to rush down and mix up their opponents.

Specialties

A Specialty is the “default” moveset. Not much to say as it’s how your character will play if you just mash through the menus.

B Specialty is the “alternate” moveset. This Specialty will bring a whole new playstyle and archetype to the character. Nothing is off limits. Move properties will change, they might have more or less specials, it’s basically a whole new character!

C Specialty is the “advanced” moveset. This Specialty will come with new mechanics, new animations, and generally add more complexity to the character.

Gameplay

The gameplay is a nice mix of slower neutral with eccentric mechanics and moves that take inspiration from anime/hyper fighters. So while the game is a grounded, footsies-based fighter, there are plenty of exciting options to mix the pace of the match at your disposal.

The game is a 5 button fighter: Light, Medium, Heavy, Universal, Dash (L, M, H, U, D)

Light, Medium, Heavy are your standard set of normals in ascending strength. They can be canceled/chained together in ascending order (L > M > H). Most normals can also be canceled into Specials and Supers.

Universal is for system mechanics and moves, and covers a large set of options. Throws, Dodges, Parries, Guard Cancels, and Supers are all performed with the U button.

Dash is for movement related actions such as Forward Dash, Back Dash, Run, and Super Jump. Most characters can perform a Run from Forward Dashes by holding forward during said dash. All characters can perform a Super Jump by inputting a jump during a Forward Dash.

Modes

Campaign Mode - A singleplayer mode where you fight through Death's trials in order to free the skeletons from Death's control.

Arcade Modes - Select from one of several Arcade style modes. Classic is your standard arcade experience. Fight through the rest of the cast, and face a final boss to reach the end credits. Survival is a never ending series of fights against progressively harder enemies. Time is a race to defeat as many opponents as possible in 5 minutes. Combo Trials provide a series of premade combos to complete for every character and their specialties.

Versus Mode - The standard local 1v1 versus. Fight another person or against a CPU.

Online Mode - Face opponents online with Rollback Netcode. Choose between Quick Match or Player Lobbies.

Training Mode - Practice in a self-paced environment. Feature complete with hitbox viewing, frame data (w/ framemeter), frame advantage, input viewer, record/play, reversal settings, etc.

Mechanics

Universal Overhead - A quick leap attack that must be blocked standing.

High Dodge - An evasive action that avoids high hitting attacks.

Low Dodge - An evasive action that avoids low hitting attacks.

Air Dodge - An evasive air action that avoids incoming attacks.

Parry - Performed when dodging right before an attack connects. Allows you to act immediately and go for a counterattack.

Guard Cancel - Costs 25% meter. An attack that can be performed out of blockstun. Useful for interrupting the opponents offense.

EX Specials - Costs 25% meter. An enhanced special. Some can be canceled into from regular specials. Often offer speed, damage, combo extensions, or unique movement options.

Supers - Costs 50%. A powerful attack that deals high damage and has quick start up. Often used as a combo ender or combo extender.