I can't believe I'm the first to comment on this. This is really funny and well-balanced! The pixel art style works well here. It was hard to understand the feedback loops/mechanics at first, but I figured it out quickly.

This is a fun clicker game! I love the pixel art and the depth! Great job!

Hard game to grasp at first, but it was great fun once i got the hang of it :) Lovely pixel art style, good job man!

I like time killers, and this game is definitely one of them. Shame there's no sound.

Couldn't play, I tried clicking on HTML 5 (web) but I got this


Maybe try uploading on itch.io

I'm sorry. I did not get anything going.
Did not find the altar to sacrifice, at least I did not see anything happening when I drag my minions on anything.
Same for the phylactery
:(
Gut the graphics are nice!

@muffty you have to unlock them

@jack-maxwell I don't recommend the web version anyway as the performance is abysmal. There are dropbox download links for a packed executable version, as well as a love2d file. I'll look into getting an itch.io account, though. Thanks! EDIT: I uploaded the game to itch.io so it is also available there at https://healthire.itch.io/hell-venture-tycoon . Probably for the best anyway as dropbox isn't the most reliable for file distribution.

@muffty The altar is unlocked after you collect 100 praise!

Nice little clicker, but once I got the crystal building, it seemed like it took too long to get the 250 souls required. Is there a better way than manually dropping each one?

@nardanas when you unlock the crystal you also unlock a spell for zapping minions. Each zap costs 15 praise. Later you unlock other spells to make mass sacrifice even more convenient!

Love the graphics and the game play is interesting for this type game. 2 notes: first, I was thrown off by the sacrifice alter because I did not realize that the alter does not appear until you click the tutorial box. I thought it was broken till I figured that out. Second, the lack of audio was a real shame. I'll admit that my first 2 jam games had minimal/no audio but then I found out it's actually quite quick and easy. Grab the free sfxr, that is listed in the Ludum Dare rules section, and make sound effects in like a minute. Music can be harder but, for a game like this, a 2 to 3 note atmospheric track would work. Slow down a sample loop, record some noise, or even a flawed melody line will sound creepy. Lots of easy ways to make a creepy atmospheric track. At my beginner music level, it is very hard NOT to make a creepy atmospheric track. Anything that sounds off will sound creepy.

Anyways, If you are interested in checking out my entry too you can here: https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/40/squirrel-puncher-4000

@valkling-friend-of-all-things Thanks for the feedback! I agree some audio would have made a big difference. I just completely ran out of time. :( It's something I'll prioritize higher for future projects for sure.

Took me a second, but it was a lot of fun and looked really good

Took a while to understand what I needed to do, but I saw that the things need to occur when instructed. I also did not notice any real performance issues with the web version.

Haha that ending!!

Nice game! Keep it up!

Something happened, and my number of souls got stuck at 21/250, no matter what I did (in the web version). Too bad, I wanted to see what came next!

Nice clicker. I appreciated that a first the task fells very tedious untill we discover that there is strategy to perform them relatively quickly.

I loved the graphics, even if they are very basic.

@picapica, It is probably because is does not count souls, but harvested souls. You harvest free souls with the big rotating diamond.

I don't know why but I am always hooked by clicckers...

also: i haven't heard any audio, so you may remove the audio category and get to 20 faster

Very nice game. Graphics are nice and your game is really original. I would Love to hear some audio, but other than that very good game!