Reapers' Toll by dualithe

[raw]
made by dualithe for Ludum Dare 58 (JAM)

I've created a twist on the tower defense genre that requires you to actively protect your tomb from danger. Controls: Left mouse button to throw the scythe and retract it gameScreenshot.png

Ratings

Overall 466th 3.421⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Fun 186th 3.684⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 299th 3.395⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Theme 601th 3.263⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Mood 401th 3.526⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Given 15🗳️ 10🗨️

Feedback

Hydratini
Oct 07th · 15:11 UTC
The game is pretty hard but I had fun playing it, especially once I got into the rhythm of upgrading. I think what makes it hard is that its difficult to see the health bar because it is so small. Also some visual feedback on when I am low health and when I upgrade the scythe would be nice as well. Great game!
MrV
Oct 07th · 18:41 UTC
The most interesting game I've played at this jam. You can easily make it into a mobile game and be successful. The only drawbacks are the limited number of enemy types and a bug that causes you to be killed by something invisible at the beginning of the game every third time.
TemmyT
Oct 07th · 23:42 UTC
Got into it pretty easily, kind of captivating
loco
Oct 08th · 00:00 UTC
Simple and Interesting. Upgrade always existing makess it more difficult, but also a little different.
ACartlidge
Oct 08th · 00:07 UTC
This was fun! It was really satisfying to to line up big hits and hear the scythe hitting everything. I think if you developed it more just doubling down on that satisfying feeling would be super fun! One issue, I was not sure whether the health regen was working? Maybe the value was just very low, but I tried a tankier build with regen and it seemed like the health bar never went up. Nice work
Tkap1
Oct 08th · 10:51 UTC
Interesting concept.

Some upgrades (tomb regen, soul value, width, speed) felt like they did nothing. I did beat it but only because enemies on the left paths got stuck.

Also the winning screen popped up just as I was clicking somewhere, so I missed it. Thankfully I was streaming so I could watch the vod.
Nnnnneeeedddd
Oct 08th · 20:45 UTC
I thought the click once to fire, click again to retract thing was very interesting, went very against my instinct to spam click on things :D Awesome game, thanks for making it!
dendi_life
Oct 09th · 12:44 UTC
nice idea!
Mr_Field
Oct 12th · 21:38 UTC
Satisfying & fun to play, feels really difficult until you've got enough damage upgrades going.

I think this could really benefit from having a more carefully designed enemy spawning pattern/system, especially at the start where you're getting bombarded so fast that you don't even have enough time to read what your upgrade options do.

I also agree with the others about some of the upgrades, speed / regen seemed like they did nothing for me.

Nice to see another tower defence-esque game!
Kapricorn Media
Oct 14th · 05:09 UTC
I appreciate the simple controls, but the game is super brutal haha. Gotta sit down and play it for a bit to figure it out. Glad to see some of the harder games on ludum.
D3kryption
Oct 17th · 20:53 UTC
Super creative twist on tower defense — fast, intense, and really satisfying once you master the scythe mechanic. The upgrades and rhythm feel great, though some effects are a bit unclear. With a bit more balance and visual feedback, this could easily become an addictive full release.
LDJam user 243193
Oct 18th · 14:23 UTC
I played it wrong at first until I realized that you could pull the scythe earlier by clicking again. I've managed to reap or collect if you will souls better after knowing that. It's also nice that some enemies are willing to wait for me allowing me to focus on others.
Might try this again sometime.
Llevelin
Oct 19th · 20:11 UTC
Guys, you're great, you've done a great job! I really like it.