LudumData

Compulse. by Syrup Plushie

[raw]
made by Syrup Plushie for Ludum Dare 59 (JAM)

Setting:

The world has fallen silent. In a post-apocalyptic wasteland swarmed by mutants, the only way to survive is to keep the signal alive.

Gameplay:

In this Roguelike Tower Defense, you are the Central Signal Tower. Your towers don't fire on their own—they need your command.

The Signal is your Weapon

Aim & Fire:

Manually aim your transmitter to fire pulses. Chain Reaction: When a signal hits a tower, it triggers an attack and relays the pulse in its facing direction.

Tactical Rotation:

Rotate your towers to create a complex network of bouncing signals to wipe out the horde.

Between waves, choose Roguelike buffs to strengthen your pulse or upgrade your towers. If the signal breaks, humanity falls.

Game Tutorial

tutorial.png ❤🌼 Screenshot 2026-04-21 141059.png ❤🌼 Weixin Image<em>20260421133249</em>3635_155.jpg ❤🌼 Screenshot 2026-04-20 104308.png

Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/59/compulse

Ratings

Overall 478th 3.517⭐ 31🧑‍⚖️
Fun 564th 3.19⭐ 31🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 138th 3.845⭐ 31🧑‍⚖️
Theme 210th 4.089⭐ 30🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 206th 4.155⭐ 31🧑‍⚖️
Humor 520th 2.5⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Mood 448th 3.593⭐ 29🧑‍⚖️
Given 71🗳️ 28🗨️

Feedback

🎤 Syrup Plushie
Apr 21st · 03:21 UTC
## Our Itch Page: https://waterdu.itch.io/compulse
🎤 Syrup Plushie
Apr 21st · 07:38 UTC
Thanks to all of u!
Chusui77
Apr 21st · 08:07 UTC
ilike this artt style
alpacalypse
Apr 21st · 08:28 UTC
This has a striking look, but if you were not aware already: you can point towers back at earlier towers and create escalating chain reactions, removing the need to signal. I had to quit out because of the spiralling effects from tower cycles were blotting out the screen and causing slowdown. That said, it was fun to find that out.
j3m
Apr 21st · 08:53 UTC
Very confusing game for sure, UI would need some workshopping in a finished game, but I love the concept of a tower defense with some kind of communication network mechanic like this, nice use of the theme. Love the weird visual aesthetic/universe you guys created
Cambryx
Apr 21st · 09:46 UTC
Really nice game! I love the artstyle and the music. The concept is super clever and I like creating big chain reactions. The pacing could be improved. The first round I did not realize that I have limited rotations and then was stuck with my towers pointing a certain way and I had to wait quite a while for the enemy to walk into my path. Otherwise really nice idea and a lot of potential here!
Pastry chef
Apr 21st · 10:17 UTC
I love your art style! What tool did you use for it? It's a clever spin on 'signal' to have tower defence game based around communicating with the other towers. I had a bit of a hard time figuring out which way the the signal would go from the circle indicator. I would suggest showing a preview of the signal when rotating the tower. Cheers!
TheKimeo
Apr 21st · 10:27 UTC
I really like the art style and music for this game. I had to restart the first level a bunch of times before I could kill the first enemy though.

I think some sort of preview for where lines would go and what tiles they would damage would do wonders for that initial figuring out how the game works.
Haruka_0.o
Apr 21st · 15:24 UTC
I really love the art style and music. Although I was a little confused at first, once I figured it out, I started to appreciate the ingenuity of the concept. The combination of this aesthetic style and tower defense gave me a very novel experience.
Tori
Apr 21st · 17:18 UTC
beautiful game, really nice art style, i loved the idea. struggled a lot tho but once i got it it was better ! nice entry
Thomas Gelman
Apr 22nd · 03:50 UTC
This is a good game! I love the art style and the idea. The main piece of feedback I have is that it was hard to tell what to do at first, and took me a while to figure out exactly what to look for/how to place towers/how to properly angle them towards each-other. But once I got it it was pretty good.

I think the best way you could improve this would be in the beginning segment, where there's just one enemy. If there was two or three towers instead of one, showing how they had to be angled towards each other & how to kill enemies, I think it'd be easier to pick up.

Great work still though, doing a roguelike tower defense is super ambitious. Good luck!
Itero Proto
Apr 22nd · 05:08 UTC
Cool art. Well done
alextudor4273
Apr 22nd · 05:41 UTC
loveee the art style and the ideea is really cool, a bit confusing at first, but overall very good
Ydindamin
Apr 22nd · 05:44 UTC
Great idea, but I found it unfortunately very difficult to aim the towers. I ended up using all my rotations before getting the lines where I needed them. Very neat twist to the genre though, and I loved the art!
ChelDav
Apr 22nd · 05:51 UTC
Love the art style and REALLY love the music! Unfortunately I've never seen a game even remotely like this before so I couldn't logic out how to actually make the signal work. The concept is fascinating and new (to me), but I needed either a tutorial or more dumbed down set of instructions that spelled out what I was supposed to do step by step. Cool game!
LDJam user 426288
Apr 22nd · 07:33 UTC
I really love this hand-drawn art style! 🎨💖
VenomousMouse
Apr 22nd · 08:26 UTC
I like tower defense. Great game!
Tay Elenberg
Apr 22nd · 11:15 UTC
art is very beautiful, interesting gameplay. Good job!
Accelerate0814
Apr 22nd · 11:17 UTC
I love the art style
Tomtomgome
Apr 22nd · 11:33 UTC
Yes so it was very unclear how everything worked x) I struggle my way through, but even then, I couldn't get my tower to split signals. Twice I had the upgrade show up but non of my tower showed any signs of spliting the signal... I'm a bit sad because the game looked very fun.

The art style is very cool, and the the enemies and towers makes it a rather moody game! It's too bad that everything feels pixelated. Is it because of missing mipmaps ? Ok weird ratios ? I don't know...

The music was alright, pretty well choosen and didn't get in the way of the mood.
goodwayman
Apr 22nd · 16:28 UTC
The art style is really good in this game. The game has a lot of potential, but due to how everything is unclear (mechanics and the UI) I had to quit the game early. Very interesting idea for sure!
Ruaan
Apr 22nd · 18:20 UTC
喜欢这个游戏的整体风格！机械和植物融合得不错，游戏也很有意思👍
Jikazushi
Apr 22nd · 21:29 UTC
The concept is soooo amazing I could see it being a very successfull game if polished. The UI is very confusing at first and to this point Im not sure when can I change where the tower is shooting. The game could use a double speed mode, as it is rather slow especially at the beginning. Overall very enjoyable prototype
amo
Apr 23rd · 03:21 UTC
十分新颖的游戏设计，开局的动画很惊艳，塔防的策略可能需要一点时间来理解，但总的来说非常有趣！
SkySakura2005
Apr 23rd · 08:49 UTC
Like the art style and welcome to play and rate our game!!!
DAYA
Apr 23rd · 13:40 UTC
Adjusting the position of the signal towers, along with the concept of signals transmitting between towers, is a brilliant idea. You'll need to calculate the timing carefully to ensure the signal hits the monster once the transmission is complete. I noticed you've specifically designed special effects and an interesting worldview; the art and music really have their own unique style.
However, I'm not entirely clear on the hit detection for the signal towers' attack range. Sometimes the light beam passes right over the monster, but it doesn't seem to register a hit—maybe I'm just missing something. All in all, this is a gameplay mechanic that would be really fun to refine further!
Hs-2300
Apr 25th · 10:06 UTC
本作是一款 LD 赛事创作的 2D 短篇游戏。整体美术风格特色鲜明，整体色调统一和谐，视觉氛围营造成熟，画面表现十分出色。界面 UI 设计用心考究，细节打磨充足，排版规整舒适，视觉风格高度统一，精致感十足。作品紧扣赛事主题，内容贴合度优秀，风格表达完整且协调。作为限时创作的 Jam 作品，整体完成度扎实可靠，整体观感舒适耐看，具备良好的制作功底与打磨质感。

This is a brilliant 2D short game created for the Ludum Dare jam. It features a unique and recognizable art style with unified tones and mature visual presentation. The UI is thoughtfully designed with abundant details, neat layout and consistent visual logic, delivering a refined and polished look. The game fits the official theme perfectly and presents a complete, well-balanced artistic expression. As a time-limited jam entry, it owns solid overall quality, comfortable viewing experience and remarkable production standard.
zhangzhimu
Apr 26th · 08:03 UTC
Using the signal tower's signal reflection to repel the enemy, I think the visuals add more color to this gameplay! The bright colors contrast strongly with the tense atmosphere, but are these really enemies? They are so cute, like little cats. Hahahaha.
aniretti
Apr 27th · 20:21 UTC
i agree with the previous comments: the graphics are excellent and unique, the setting is unusual, all those monster towers look really cool. also, tower defense with signal transmission between towers sounds interesting! the theme is very well-executed. but the tutorial and controls are a bit confusing

in any case, a good prototype and excellent submission! i think if you continue develop it, it will be a great game!
Victoria715
May 06th · 13:25 UTC
OMG fantastic creativity!I love your art!