No Need for Flowers is an arcade-style scrolling shooter bullet hell game about magic dragon girls!
Play as a dragon priestess on a quest to stop a mysterious necromancer from destroying the world...
Play the demo!
Availible on itch.io and Steam!
Listen to the OST!
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Version History
DEMO v3.0.1
11/29/2025
• Life heart partial sprite now fills up symmetrically, 20% per life piece, for better readability.
• Fixed bug where charge up animations only worked on bosses and not anywhere else.
• Added more people to the credits.
• The replay list now starts from 0 to match how they are stored internally. This is only a visual change, replays still function the same exact way.
DEMO v3.0.0
11/15/2025
This is going to be the final major system rework and patch for the DEMO!!WARNING!
Due to the various major changes made, old replays will be de-synced and should be deleted. There is now an indicator to show which replays are out dated, which will make this simpler.It is strongly advised that you delete your scores. You will be prompted to do this upon updating, but you could also just say no to this prompt... But, like, please don't.Counter spells are easier!
• Poly from 18 to 30 frames.
• Esther from 12 to 25 frames.
• ???? from 15 to 25 frames.
• Updated Help Menu to reflect these new values.Poly is better!!
• Poly's second pair of orbitals are always active, independent of your power level.
• Redistributed Poly's damage values so that the homing shot contributes to a much higher percentage of her total DPS output.
• Doubled the size of Poly's non-homing shot hitbox to fix a major oversight that caused her to do less damage at max power. Had the additional benefit of making Poly easier to do good damage with in general.
• Poly's spell now does ~400% more damage at max power. If you want the specific numbers (damage per frame at 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 power): 1.2 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.2. For reference of how significant this is, here are Esther's stats: 0.6 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.1. The philosophy behind this change is to give players who die a lot or play on Easy (which has way more power pickups) a method to cheat the hard sections of the game if they use Poly. But you're probably thinking, doesn't this make Hard Mode cheatable too? In the full game, no... You'll see why soon (not sorry).Item collection made simpler!
✿ New QoL mechanic: All items on screen are automatically collected if you don't shoot for 1/2 a second.
• Every character's collection line is now the same, at 40% from the top of the play area.
• Pickup collection range was increased on all characters from 64x64 to 80x80.Blue stars made simpler!
• Blue star pickups no longer factor y value into score calculation and will always display their number in blue, unless it is max value, in which it will be rainbow.
• Their calculation is now (BASEVALUE * (480 + TENSION)).New QoL options!
• Added an option to show your numerical power value.
• Added an accessibility option to disable screenshake.
• Replays now save your game version and will display a warning if the version does not match the current build you are playing.Difficulty improvements
• Changed player invincibility frames on hit from 120 frames to 180 frames.
• Player now has 1 additional second of invincibility after using a spell.
• Changed continues on Normal difficulty from 3 to 6 (there is still some bad programming that limits the potential of using multiple in one stage though, sorry).
• After using a continue, the player's life counter will be set to (STARTINGLIVES + CONTINUES_USED), meaning the game will become slightly easier each time. Note: Starting lives are unchanged (5 on Easy and 2 on Normal and Hard).Improvements to boss fights
• The time before the boss nonspell starts has been increased from 1 second to 1.5 seconds.
• Bosses will have a charge up animation 1 second before their nonspell starts, and is accompanied by a warning sound if you are too close.
• Major Hard Mode change: Life pieces no longer individually drop after clearing a boss phase. Instead, end-of-stage bosses will now drop 5 upon defeat. The reason for this change is to account for the increased counter spells timing.
• If you fail a boss's Last Stand Spell, you will no longer receive a Perfect Clear (because it didn't make sense).Tension improvements
• Increased tension gained from seconds left on boss timer: Poly 3 to 5, Esther 6 to 10.
• Tension bonus for boss spell clears is no longer affected by whether you used a spell.Misc. improvements
• Increased the dialogue auto-scroll timer from 5 seconds to 15 (this functionality exists to prevent making an infinitely large replay file, please understand...).
• The dialogue skip prompt is now visible during all dialogue scenes, so long as you have beaten that particular stage.
• That one fake crash has been removed and replaced with a hard reset.
• The secret stage re-trigger event no longer affects the music pitch.
• The secret stage forces you into Easy on the first playthrough.
• Some parts of the Help Menu were made much more explicit, and a section for the "item magnet" mechanic was added along with the separation of pink and blue star sections.
• There is a skip prompt on the intro cutscene if you have seen it at least once now.Graphical improvements
• Made the animation that happens before the dialogue auto-scrolls more obvious (starts 3 entire seconds before, arrow blinks faster, colors are brighter).
• Character select menu attack descriptions are a brighter color.
• The warning exclamation points that appear at the top and bottom of the play area are now larger in most instances.
• Made the grid background that is used in various parts of the game larger, because it was ugly, and not in a charming way.
• Replaced the background effect in Boss Practice with something less oppressive. This will likely be replaced with something better in the future.
• Bestiary has arrow indicators on the horizontal menu now.
• Now when you get hit, the last life in your life meter turns dark, and if you can use a spell, your power bar lights up.Specific boss changes
Snapdragon (boss)
• All of Snapdragon's nonspells shoot closer to her sprite now.
• HP values of nonspell phases slightly increased to account for Poly's increased homing shot damage.
• Nonspell 1 timer reduced from 30 to 20.
• Split Paths timer reduced from 60 to 30.
• Nonspell 2 timer is now 25, unless you are playing Hard, in which case it is 20.
• Misdirection timer reduced from 60 to 45.
• Frenzy Fog timer reduced from 60 to 40.
Lily
• Nonspell 1 timer reduced from 25 to 20.
• Nonspell 1, Lily no longer moves on Easy, and her range of movement has been greatly limited on Normal.
• Leap Frog timer reduced from 40 to 30.
• Leap Frog, Lily no longer moves on Easy, and her range of movement has been greatly limited on Normal.
Lotus
• Nonspell 1 timer reduced from 30 to 20.
• Waterspout timer reduced from 60 to 30.
• Nonspell 2 timer reduced from 30 to 20.
• Flash Flood spell timer reduced from 60 to 45.
• Sinkhole timer reduced from 60 to 50.
Esther (boss)
• Helix Bolt timer reduced from 60 to 32.
• Lightning Ram timer reduced from 60 to 45.
• Lightning Ram, HP increased to account for Poly's homing attack doing more damage.
Poly (boss)
• Sacred Flare timer reduced from 60 to 32.
• Holy Inferno timer reduced from 60 to 45.Specific stage changes
Stage 1
• All enemies have increased HP to account for Poly's homing attack being stronger.
Stage 2
• Fixed the awkward timing at the end of the stage if you defeat the enemies extremely fast.
Stage 3 (as Poly)
• Less power is dropped by enemies in the first half of the stage (around 1.2 less, specifically).
• The sin wave shooter that chases you does a bright charge-up animation before it starts shooting now. It also makes a charge-up sound.
Stage 3 (as Esther)
• Made the 10 pink enemies near the end of the stage appear faster as to not accidentally lure you to the center of the screen where the fire spawner that kills you is.
• If you stand on top of the fire spawner that kills you in the center of the screen during the final wave, it screams at you, exclamation points appear, and a bright charge-up animation plays, letting you know that it will, in fact, kill you.
• Fixed the awkward pause on the final wave if there are no bullets on screen.Bug fixes
• Fixed a bug that made Poly's homing shots not change their sprite correctly when homing on bosses specifically.
• Fixed a bug where after using a counter spell during a boss spell phase, the spell bonus tick down would be inaccurate sometimes.
• Fixed an error where window dragging was disabled on Windows 10 for some reason.
• Fixed an incredibly annoying bug that would suddenly max out the music volume upon entering and exiting the data delete menu.
• Fixed an extremely minor tension desync on replays that would occur when bullets were turned into bulletscore stars, most notably after using a spell with Esther.
• Corrected a graphical error that caused the Stage 2 flood sequence bullets to be partially visible while they were inactive.
• Removed all remaining instances of Practice Mode being referred to as "Mirage Mode" in other menus (the name changed right before the public demo release, missed a few).
• Fixed a bug that would cause your shooting sound effect to keep playing during dialogue scenes under rare circumstances.
• In Hard, Esther's double-helix shooter, which appears right after she says "Give it up, ''priestess''! I've got you cornered!", is supposed to do that, it isn't a bug. This exists solely to bother people, and is clearly working exactly as intended.
DEMO v2.1.4
9/28/2025
A bunch of random small improvements and changes were made:Changes
• The default BGM/SFX volume has been changed to 70% from 80%
• The FPS display is no longer on by default. It can be re-enabled in the "Misc Settings" inside of the Option Menu.
• Changed the wording of the message at the end of the credits slightly.
• Easy mode now grants you 6 continues. (Not relevant in demo, but will be in the full release)Fixes
• Solved a graphical error where the credits would be viewable out of bounds on some resolutions.
• Changed inaccurate help menu text.
• (Linux/Steam Deck) Resolved an error where the window would rapidly teleport around when clicked??
• Most controllers should now be recognized... Should be.
DEMO v2.1.3
9/9/2025
Resolved a crash which occurred when pressing confirm on the "Window Size" option in the Option Menu.
DEMO v2.1.2
9/3/2025
The "Store Page" option on the title menu that opened the Steam store page has been replaced with a "Feedback" option that opens up this link.
DEMO v2.1.1
8/9/2025
Fixed a typo on the character select screen.
DEMO v2.1.0
7/17/2025
This update makes Easy Mode easier (in preparation for the full release). The goal is to have this mode be like a "story mode", and also be forgiving enough to help new players get used to the various mechanics. It might mess up Easy Mode replays? Might not though...Easy Mode Changes
• Increased starting lives to 5 from 3.
• Counter spell timing is now 30 frames for all characters.
• Bosses now drop mega pink stars if you lose a life rather than large pink stars.
• (Adjusted the help menu to reflect these changes).
Score System Overhaul
DEMO v2.0.0
7/12/2025
Summary
• The graze/multiplier system has been completely reworked into a new system called "tension"! It has much more impact on your score, and there are tons of interactions to learn and master.
• Hard mode has been updated to match its much more difficult full-game counterpart!
• The stages were polished to have betting timing!
• Tons of bug fixes and fixing of mechanics that were not working as intended.
• Additionally, many of the point values and calculations were changed in this update.
WARNING
• Due to changes to bullet patterns, old replays will be de-synced and should be deleted.
• It is strongly advised that you delete your scores. You will be prompted to do this upon updating, but you could also just say no to this prompt... But, like, please don't.(NEW) Hard Mode Revamp
• All Hard Mode changes that are present in the full game but were missing in the demo have been restored. In short, there's a lot more bull... ets. Bullets, yeah.
• Some sections are particularly cruel (not sorry).(NEW) Tension!
• Your tension is displayed in the UI under your graze.
• Base spell bonus values are affected by tension: Base Spell Bonus = (Base Value + (Tension * (16 * Difficulty)))
• In Boss Practice, tension has no effect: Spell Bonus = Base Value.
• You now receive (50 + (Tension * .1)) points per graze collected in the current stage during the end-of-stage scorecard sequence.
• Blue star worth is enhanced by tension: (Item Worth = Item Size * (Y Value + Tension)), capped at 64,000
• Tension is halved upon losing a life.
• Tension is reset to 0 upon entering a new stage.How to increase your tension...
• Collecting a pink star = +1
• Collecting bullet bonus stars = +1
• Collecting graze = +2 (or +1 as Esther)
• Collecting a blue star (not max) = +2
• Collecting a blue star (at max) = +5
• Defeating an enemy = +5
• Clearing a boss spell without losing a life but you used a spell = +50
• Clearing a boss spell without losing a life and without using a spell = +250
• Clearing any boss phase (not as Esther) = +(Time Left * 3), capped at +500
• Clearing any boss phase (as Esther) = +(Time Left * 6), capped at +500(Rework) Bullet bonus has been made important
• Using ANY spell causes all bullets on screen to turn into bullet bonus stars now, not just counter spells.
• Bullet bonus automatically triggers at the end of a boss attack phase if you didn't lose a life AND didn't use a spell... Basically, counter spell spam has been de-incentivized, and will give you the same if not worse results than thoughtfully-used normal spells.
• Bullet bonus stars now give 50 points (in addition to tension).
• Mastering bullet bonus is key for maximizing your score, especially during the non-boss portion of the levels. Well-timed bullet bonus triggers can give hundreds of extra tension. Although, since spells cost power, you need to be clever about it!
• Also, here's a cool fact that may help Esther players: Did you know that if you use a spell right as a boss's non-spell phase is cleared, it won't count against your spell bonus for the next phase? (Its usefulness is situational though)(Rework) Graze has been simplified
• Graze is no longer lost upon getting hit.
• During the end-of-stage scorecard sequence, instead of displaying the number of graze collected during the stage, it displays your Graze Bonus and ticks up to your total rather than down to 0 for improved clarity.Misc. score related changes
• All spell bonus values have been altered to be more consistent and much lower.
• Timeout spell bonus base values have been greatly reduced.
• The points received per remaining life at the end of a playthrough have been reduced from 500,000 to 160,000.
• The game clear bonus has been significantly reduced and now only gives (64,000 * Difficulty) points, as it is more of an aesthetic bonus rather than one meant to have impact.
• The perfect clear bonus is no longer multiplied by difficulty and now only gives 64,000 points. Again, aesthetic bonus.
• The mega blue star's base worth has been halved.
• The maximum worth of blue stars is now capped at 64,000. The number displayed will flash rainbow at this value (Did you know this was already a feature?).
• All tiers of boss drops have been altered.
• Boss drops are no longer effected by your current power for simplicity.
• Boss spell highscores are no longer recorded outside Boss Practice.
• Boss Practice non spell boss attack score calculation has been changed: Score = Score + (Graze Bonus Calc).
• In Practice Mode, when you lose a life, you also lose 160,000 points.Misc. gameplay changes
• Spells now cause all items to be collected during their entire duration rather than just at the end.
• All items are now collected upon reaching max power.
• Added a mega pink star which gives +.2 power that is dropped by bosses and during set points in some stages on certain difficulties.
• Many bullets have increased size.
• Stage wave timing has been significantly improved (no more empty space).
• Added more birds to stage 2.
• The second half of stage 3, the flower spawners are no longer killable.
• The enemies at the end of stage 3 no longer punish you for using a spell.
• Many stage enemy formations have been made more complex.
• Added more telegraphing sfx to various attacks.
• It is now significantly harder to exploit Snapdragon's last stand spell for massive graze (work for it!).Help menu improved
• Updated the help menu with information about the new scoring mechanics.
• Added a section about boss item drops.
• Added a section about item value.
• Added a section about end-of-game bonuses.
• Some wording has been made more direct.Graphical improvements
• All pickup sprites have been made darker to help distinguish them from the background and bullets.
• The largest pickup tiers are darker for enhanced readability.
• The opacity of the limited continue message has been increased.
• Some bullet sprites have been swapped with their outlined versions for enhanced contrast between pattern layers.
• The mega score enemy sprite has been changed to be more obviously important.
• Added more color variety to stage 2 and 3 patterns for better pattern readability.
• Streaming bullets will now usually be drawn below all other bullets for better pattern readability.Other changes
• Your highest tension score for the current game is recorded and displayed in the end-of-game stats screen.
• Removed the misc option that loaded your best graze score in practice mode, as it no longer effects anything.
• Added a misc option for toggling if whether total graze, stage graze, or stage/total graze in shown in the UI.
• Pressing back on the main menu no longer sets the selection to "Quit".
• The focus button now slows down the credits.Bug fixes
• Replays no longer de-sync when holding and then letting go of the skip button during dialogue.
• Stage Practice stages ending early is no longer tied to the highest difficulty beaten (this was functionality leftover from a long-removed mechanic).
• Fixed an oversight that caused the graze score to be wrong in the end-game results screen after exiting or losing the current game.
• Fixed an oversight that caused the graze bonus to be calculated slightly incorrectly.
• Fixed an oversight which caused your stage score to be lower if you skipped through the scorecard sequence too quickly.
• When a boss appears, all items will now always be instantly collected as intended.
• When pickups swap from score to power upon obtaining max power, they now calculate their score using max height value as intended.
• The life piece sprite is no longer distorted.
• The foggy bullet spawners in stage 1 no longer erroneously give 3x graze.
• Player spells no longer deal damage to enemies that are off-screen (fixes the issue with empty waves after using a spell).
• Fixed a crash in the practice select menu that would happen when holding the focus button and moving the cursor right three times after completing the secret stage.
• Corrected several incorrect bullet hitboxes.
DEMO v1.0.1
6/24/2025
Bug Fixes
• Fixed a rare crash that would occur when clearing a boss's last stand spell during your death animation.
• Corrected most graphical errors in ultra wide resolutions.Improvements
• Added visual control prompts to certain menus.
• On subsequent playthroughs of the secret stage, you can now pause the game. Exiting the stage, either by clearing or through the pause menu, will now return you to the title screen.
DEMO v1.0.0
6/15/2025
• Initial release!
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✽ Mongo ✽
Director
Artist, Programmer, Writer... Pretty much everything except the sound design.
✽ Princess Sylvysprit ✽
Contact: [email protected]
At the edge of the earth lies a floating island inhabited by dragons called Mallow.
Dragons wield incredible magic, capable of bending the universe to their will.
But any dragon who uses their magic for evil is sealed away by a priestess...
...
Recently, there have been rumors spreading about an evil necromancer who is planning to revive a dangerous monster at the peak of the mountain. After hearing about this, a lone priestess sets out to stop them...
Poly, the fire priestess
As a priestess, Poly has always been held to high standards. Although, rather than focusing on her magic, she spends most of her time focused on napping.
Esther, the lightning priestess
Esther always dreamed of one day being someone who was admired by everybody, and it seemed like becoming a priestess could help her do just that.Unfortunately, she was rejected due to her lack of holy magic, but that didn't stop her… She decided to just be one anyway. She is actually quite well-known throughout Mallow, but not for the reasons she might think.
??????, the lost priestess
She's been missing for a while. Maybe you can find her on your way to stop the necromancer?
... And many more.
Mallow, the island of dragons, is in grave danger...
"The peaceful island of Mallow has been transformed.Ominous flowers have sprung from the earth along with the dead.A lone priestess sets out to find the cause..."
Choose from 3 playable dragon priestesses as they search for a mysterious necromancer.
"The third priestess has been missing for some time now...Maybe you can look for her too while you're at it?"
Learn more about each boss you defeat in an unlockable bestiary!
Discover the secrets of the world through their stories.
Other features:
✿ 7 unique stages!
✿ A replay system!
✿ An in-depth practice mode!
✿ ... And more!!
(Screenshots)
