Really cool! I like the rotation mechanic but it feels way too slow. Do enemies only spawn within your current visibility or do I need to constantly be rotating my view? I like the way the connection mechanic works a lot too.
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The Tower of Krul'ar's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Mechanics | #19 | 4.135 | 4.135 |
| Overall | #31 | 4.000 | 4.000 |
| Sound | #44 | 3.692 | 3.692 |
| Music | #51 | 3.750 | 3.750 |
| Fun | #62 | 3.808 | 3.808 |
| Aesthetics | #89 | 3.981 | 3.981 |
| Theme | #249 | 3.538 | 3.538 |
| Story | #269 | 2.385 | 2.385 |
Ranked from 52 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
How many people worked on this game in total?
1
Did you use any existing assets? If so, list them below.
Yes, my own. Reworked old art like units and part of the title.
Comments
Some only spawn in view. It used to be that they spawned outside it, but it was a little annoying.
Now only 1 does, and it disrupts your radar.
You also have to rotate the cam for more gems, so you can be put into a position where they spawn in the opposite end of your view that you want to turn. which I was fine with.
Quite difficult on the first run... better on the next ones. Awesome and interesting mechanics, found it quite unique. The only thing I could say "against it" is the rotation speed, found it quite slow on the early game so if the enemies are close to the blindspot you can die in no time.
Submitted
REconnectCongratulations on your game!!! I really enjoyed the art and the music ^-^
Submitted
Shadow Of The HedgeVery creative strategy game and something I never played before. Great entry!
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Rainbow ConnectionWow! Big fan of this one. Really liked everything about it, especially the way it plays and all the mechanics fit together. The only thing I didn't grasp at first that I wish I had on my first few tries was that you can readjust the various crystal things at will. Very cool game, lot of fun. Would love to see more of this one.
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Wagon Duty: Connect to ProtectReally nice! I like that you need to think about your moves and the rotating battlefield is a super cool mechanic. I'd play more of this for sure.
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The Barrow of Ulmaghomgg, thats a realy fun and unique game to play !
and i see there are a lot potential =)
keep going ; )
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SpellboundOh, the game changed quite a bit since I last played!
Still love the mechanics and the theme! Super fun tower defense!
While the Acid pool is way more forgiving than starting with the axe, I really enjoyed my 'skill issue' with it.. haha!
I love that you did some calibration on it too! The option to pick what comes next is really nice!
One bug I had bumped on my very very first run, a few days ago was that if I placed one spare rune on top of another by mistake, on the shelf area, it would get stuck and I wouldn't be able to pick the bottom one up... didn't try this run today...
Brainstorming an idea here, you can toss it aside if you don't feel it fits, but since mining is crucial and time is precious, I found myself holding the acid for a little too long, to wait for the enemy to show up... while this can be part of the strategy of time /resource management, I think the player could be rewarded for waiting on a weapon too, like a 'charged' attack or something, if it goes for too long... just a thought...
Overall, great entry! Keep it up! 😊😊✨
Submitted
Gracillis VI: Lost ConnectionI considered banking the attack a while back, like, you skip it and the next time it pops up, it's stronger, but I really liked the loss of time by waiting and not positioning it well-enough on the grid to fit the timing of the enemies.
But another issue with it was that, in the later game, the enemies come so fast that you sort of have to use the weapon every time it pops up.
So that then counters the idea of skipping or powering up, especially when using it as fast as possible benefits you since every second you wait on using anything, causes a growing backup of timing.
Very, very good! I love what you made with the art direction, translating those Atari-like sprites really well into the modern age. Getting runes is really rare tho and the fact that all of them are random makes it pretty much hard to make a competent build. You guys already made a pick rune, imo that should have been the standard. All in all tho, a massive success
Submitted
Tower of the Rune Wizardfound it a bit hard, but it is so unique and innovative and a great idea, hard to describe with words. nice job!
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Compile CrewIt's a unique concept, it starts off easy, but becomes chaotic over time, it was well explained how to play, I like the rotation mechanic, the visuals were okay, good job!
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Chain WalkersReally loved the mechanics and it's well thought of. Well designed and very creative. Great wrok bro <3
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Systematic ChaosI loved the skill based idea with throwing the axes. I realized a little late that they needed to be timed with the enemy creep. Overall great idea with the resource management portion and always needed to be on your feet with the defences(you can always make it more effecient at any point which is chaotic! But fun!) Great job!
Submitted
Killer ConnectionsThis is an innovative approach to the theme. I really like the concept, but I'm terrible at playing it.
I understand what to do, but how to do it effectively is unclear. I did feel like I was at the mercy of RNG with the rewards; the first time through I got a soldier as an upgrade immediately, the second time I got saws, and my next offensive ability was also saws, and a soldier came along much later. The saws seemed great at first, but I couldn't aim them to save my (castle's) life. They sort of spun around the point I clicked on, so actually selecting an enemy I wanted dead didn't work very well, I had to hazard a guess to where the enemy would be when the saws would be circling to intercept it.
The idea of connecting all the runes together to make them more powerful is great, yet most of the upgrade runes are huge and can't easily fit into the board at all, much less line up their connections effectively. It led to me choosing to upgrade the castle so I could have more rows, but this comes with the trade-off of firing each individual rune less frequently, so it's hard to tell if it was actually making my overall abilities better or not. There were many times where I'd get an awkwardly shaped rune, such as a three long/one high with connectors on the top and bottom, which I couldn't possibly use.
Being able to rearrange the runes completely at any time is great, since the game pauses to allow for this. On the other hand, it does mean that every rune unlocked encourages the player to take everything apart and look for a better arrangement. I don't think that's a bad thing, simply that the methodical nature of connecting everything doesn't quite seem to mesh with the constant need to respond to enemies as the game progresses.
I'm sorry if it seems like I'm complaining a lot or nitpicking, I think this is an excellent game idea. It might be that the problems I see are more a skill issue than anything; either way I think you did a great job overall!
Submitted
Animal ConnectionsThe saws are actually one of the strongest abilities later on, but have a higher skill-check to them.
The trade-off with the castle upgrade was intentional, as I didn't want players to keep choosing the castle early for more room.
As for the Rune sizes, there's no real weighting system other than a slight percentage chance for how many connections there are.
And speaking of the connections, it is possible to trigger an Ability, swap a Rune to another Ability before the Ticker reaches it, and get that benefit. Though that's also a bit of a skill check with planning.
As far as balancing goes, it could use some work, but there's some higher level play and strategies I accidentally discovered while testing it that allowed some of the balancing to be less needed. Which was somewhat beneficial since I didn't have time to balance it as well as I wanted to.
Truly amazing game, this is definitely one you should work on and put on steam.
Fun game loop, unique, interesting.
Very well done!
Submitted
Shadow Of The HedgeThe game was really fun and the mechanics worked flawlessly! The idea was very unique and implemented in an enjoyable and fun way.
Submitted
Go, Fish!!Wow, fantastic game! Truly unique and a very well-rounded experience. The main menu is awesome, and it's so cool how you can rotate the map up and down. The connection system is great too. As for the art style: Seriously strong 2D pixel art! Great job! Might be one of the best I guess?
P.S. Someone like me needs some more prominent feedback for the runes. Well, maybe that would get annoying later when you have a lot of them, but I kept forgetting to use them every few turns because I was just staring at the cool design! :D Maybe if you don't use a rune for like 10 seconds, it could start blinking?
Submitted
Cosmic CargoWow, I love it! Interesting mechanics. Great work! It was really fun to play it :)
Submitted
Rune Enchanter: The Loki Paradox
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