Kitsune

Jam games are usually designed to express an idea or a concept, which is why they are short and unpolished in most regards. However, they can evolve into something much more exquisite if the developers keep working on them, which is how many great indie games started out. Hence, competitions like Ludum Dare are essential when it comes to inspiring the developers.

Kitsune is a fast-paced survival game in which your goal is to defend a location by destroying monsters and activating three different altars in order to gain their power. It’s a simple idea on paper, but the gameplay mechanics are very engaging and demanding, not to mention the fact that it’s quite difficult to keep up with the enemies that seem to be coming from every direction.

There’s even a bit of a story to explain what’s happening, although it’s pretty basic. As such, it’s all about three powerful gods that are trying to rest and recover from their injuries after a great battle. However, evil monsters attack the sleeping gods after sensing their weakness, which is where you come in. Thus, the main character’s name is Kitsune, and he needs to protect the gods by all means necessary.

The gameplay is simple, yet tricky. You can only move left or right and use the mouse to quickly dash toward the cursor, which means that your movement is pretty limited. On top of that, the monsters come in three colors, and you can only defeat them by activating the altar of the same color, otherwise you die and lose the game if you touch them.

The altars need energy in order to be activated, and they are only temporary anyway. Hence, most of your time is spent trying to gather falling energy orbs or waiting around for the altars to recharge. To make matters worse, the monsters drain energy from the altars if they land on them, so it’s not a good idea to just wait it out. The final goal is to defeat 108 monsters in order to finish the game.

In the end, Kitsune becomes rather repetitive after a while, but it’s only a concept, after all. Hence, the game could turn into something much more exciting if the developers decide to follow through in the future.