Sakura Shrine by arzi
Long ago, when the moon was still young and the cats walked on two feet, there was a priestess who tended the most beautiful sakura tree you have never seen. Each year, the spring would come when the tree bloomed, and each year, the snowkai would try to delay its inevitable onset. And year after year, she would drive away the demons. Until one year...

A narrative tower defense game that is not a very tower defense game. We ended up interpreting the theme pretty loosely this time.
- Collect the sakura petals to perform the Rite of Spring.
- Petals can also be used to activate towers, which stop the demons.
- Don't let the demons reach the sakura tree.
Ratings
| Overall | 393th | 3.754⭐ | 69🧑⚖️ |
| Fun | 761th | 3.318⭐ | 68🧑⚖️ |
| Innovation | 472th | 3.523⭐ | 66🧑⚖️ |
| Theme | 820th | 3.547⭐ | 66🧑⚖️ |
| Graphics | 50th | 4.571⭐ | 72🧑⚖️ |
| Audio | 32th | 4.316⭐ | 70🧑⚖️ |
| Humor | 718th | 2.887⭐ | 55🧑⚖️ |
| Mood | 100th | 4.194⭐ | 69🧑⚖️ |
| Given | 69🗳️ | 110🗨️ |
An amazing work of art! I would like to know if the art and music were all made by the team, because everything turned out so visually amazing!
I think the sound effects break the mood a bit, (I believe they were made in sfx), but not much.
The gameplay is also interesting, and it was a different way of thinking about the tower defense genre and the theme.
Congratulations!
@very-bad-bunny-studio Art is made by @cheezegami and music by @danae!
Playing it remember me some old chinese drama I watched long time ago!
The discussion with the demon was really fun!...
..Well I coudnt save the Sakura and felt sad about it but congrats to the team for all the job!
My only complaints is that some wishes were hard to distinguish their type, and it was also difficult to keep track of where demons were.
Great entry!!
The art and music was beautiful and the story fit the theme very well.
It took me a while to realise how to play. I missed the demon at the start and walked around aimlessly trying to understand how I'd get petals :smile:
Once I figured it out it was very fun to beat and discover the different endings. The prayers added a lot of personality and variation to the game.
I don't know if this word makes much sense in the context of a game, but this game is well composited.
Everything fits the overarching story. Even the tutorial, end screen and restart button.
Graphics-wise, the pixel art is amazing. However, like I said, I did experience a bit of frustration because I didn't know where the demons were at, and I didn't know where to go or what to do at first. Plus, I couldn't find any petals that would have helped heal the tree. Another difficulty I had was when everytime dialogue was spoken, I sometimes automatically moved. No problem with controls, though.
Difficulties aside, it's still a solid game, and the graphics and atmosphere made up for its flaws.
@yulotomorrow Yeah, we started off as a tower defense game, but then slowly drifted more towards a puzzle game.
The gameplay is nice and I would sooo love a longer game in the universe you created. It's not so easy to understand how to progress in the game and how to optimise everything so you don't lose when demons come near the tree (it might be good to have a permanent indicator when one starts getting close).
Overall great experience ! Well done !
Thanks all for the compliments on the game/art!~ 🥺
If I get the chance I'll try to check out your games and rate them!
-Tim
As the description says, perhaps a rather loose interpretation of the theme, but I could see the connection there, and it's a very minor thing with a game this polished. Great work!
I managed to break it somehow though and didn't manage to complete. :cry:

I struggled a bit with bumping into terrain (which wasn't great when I was in a hurry!) and I think maybe making all of the petals able to light torches/heal the tree would have allowed for you to make the yokai--sorry, *snowkai*--more numerous (assuming maybe that the torches also burned out after enough time and needed to be relit). Then there would be an element of having to make the choice as to whether you take the prayer to the shrine it's intended for, or if you sacrifice it to protect the tree.
Just some thoughts on the gameplay. The game as a whole was very well presented and I felt immersed from the get-go. Really well done! :grin:
But glad you like the art!
The gameplay of balancing between protection and accomplishing the ritual is well balanced
I get the idea of trying to find out what poem should go where, but it took me a bit of time and I was not very good at it haha!
Thanks for the game I had fun and would love to see other games you make!
Great job on the visuals and overall mood.