Castle Crashing the Beard

Castle Crashing the Beard is a 2008 action game by BoMToons. It is inspired by a promise Tom Fulp made during the production of The Behemoth game Castle Crashers. It was that he would not shave until the game was complete. Castle Crashing the Beard portrays a character from the game fighting Tom's evil beard.
==Gameplay ==
Castle Crashing the Beard is a short game that plays like a two-part boss fight. The player controls a Castle Crasher, who moves with the left and right arrow keys, jumps with the up key, attacks with A, and can charge up for a special attack by holding down the A button. Special energy is gained by attacking. The environment the game takes place in has several platforms and a few gravestones. These gravestones can be hit or possibly cause the player damage. The player can also level up their character by landing combos on the boss and the gravestones. The player has a total of four lives before they are defeated.
The boss has two parts. The first is Tom Fulp's head with a complete beard, which has three attacks. First, the beard will occasionally expand to attack anything nearby. In between attacks, a player can land a combo. Second, Tom's head can go to the far right or left side of the screen and use his laser eyes. These can be avoided by either jumping onto the platforms or by going even further left or right, outside of Tom's reach. Last, there is an attack that causes loaves of bread to fall from the sky. The initial rain can be avoided by hiding under platforms, and the follow-up can be avoided by quickly rushing out afterwards. The second part of the battle has Tom's head turning into a giant floating skull that flies around and occasionally blasts out eight fireballs in all directions.
==Presentation==
The game has two artists. The first, Luis, made the sprites for the Castle Crashers characters. The second, Coaly, made the sprites for the beard. Both use the same Paladinesque style found in Castle Crashers. The game also features several songs from the Audio Portal, including "Rose at Dawn" by NemesisTheory for the battle theme. Tom Fulp and The Swain provided their voices for the enemy in this game.
==Reception==
Castle Crashing the Beard was well received upon submission, receiving the Daily Feature and Weekly Second awards. Eventually, it was voted the top game of March 2008, beating out SHIFT 2. This guaranteed it a nomination for the Tank Awards. As of January 2012, the game has over 1.7 million views and an average review of 9.5/10. Castle Crashing the Beard is featured in three collections: Action Games, Castle Crashers, and Flash Portal History. Castle Crashing the Beard also attracted attention from outside the Newgrounds community. Destructoid, a popular gaming website, ran an article on their front page about the game, saying that it would be "enough to hold you over until the game (Castle Crashers) finally does come out."
==Continuation==
Castle Crashing the Beard has gotten a remake in the form of Castle Crashing the Beard HD in 2021, just 12 years after the original game. 
Category:Flash games
Category:The Behemoth
Category:Fighting
Category:Action Games
Category:Tank Award nominees
Category:Teen
Category:2008
Category:Games With Medals