Spoiled Princess

So the idea for this game came to me in a dream. Yes, I dream about video games...

Anyway, the idea is that you're a knight escorting the princess's caravan, when it's suddenly attacked by a dragon. You escape with the princess, and you two are the only survivors. Now you have to escort her back to the castle... but the problem is that she's so damn spoiled.

So it plays a bit like an action Roguelike, but your character can't die. You lose if the princess dies. You have to escort her around while fighting off various baddies like wolves, spiders, bandits, monsters, etc. If she dies, it's game over. New princess.

In my dream, you had to feed her between levels, and give her gifts to make her happy. This is where the spoiled part comes in. She doesn't like certain (most) foods, but will starve if she doesn't eat. If you force her to eat it, she'll be unhappy, but at least she'll be fed. You might find a nice trinket or something along the way, and you can give it to her to make her happy... maybe. I also dreamt about other females coming in and out of the adventure, which would make the princess jealous. Not sure how that would work...

So during the game, the princess would follow you at a distance determined by her happiness. If she's really grumpy at you, she's not going to want to stay close, which is going to make her more difficult to defend. Some monsters (like spiders) are particularly scary to princesses, and might make her run away in fright.

Your shield can block just about anything. I'm thinking a dragon's breath, and you have to stand between the princess and the dragon, blocking the flames with your shield. Maybe block a charging boar? If you get hit, you're momentarily stunned, which (again) makes the princess harder to protect, so blocking isn't just used for her. Holding your shield up makes you walk slower.

I was thinking your main attack would be your sword (of course) which attacks in a small arc in front of you. If you block an enemy's attack, they're stunned for a moment and are open to attack. Was also thinking of a charge attack where you run in place for a second, and then move really fast in a straight line with your sword out. This can be used to damage enemies, or to just catch up with the brat...

And there can be various mechanics that can make her happiness go up and down. Maybe you can sling her over your shoulder and run, but you'll be unable to attack effectively, you'll move a lot slower, and she won't be too happy about it. Maybe she'll point out the occasional and obviously dangerous path (skull and crossbones sign perhaps?), and you can make her happy by stupidly taking her advice. She also might like a certain type of food that just happens to be hard to obtain...