{"author_link":"\/users\/liam","author_name":"Liam","author_uid":1010440,"comments":[{"id":1164210,"author_name":"Zeq","author_uid":"zeq","epoch":1759817588,"text":"Great job! It is very thematic, I felt like a real collector. Slightly wished I could attack on my own but I get it. The upgrades were entertaining and the different graphics for the bits you collect were distinctive. \n\nIt would add so much if there was more sound effects. Imagine whirlwinds for tornado blasts, massive rock smashes, flames searing the face of the earth. Monsters dying in awe of your wizardry. \n\nOverall very nice. ","format":"md","likes":1,"spam":"N"},{"id":1164216,"author_name":"poboy","author_uid":"poboy","epoch":1759817719,"text":"Cool game, would play a version with all the upgrades fixed! The mana system is interesting and I like the optimizations around which mana to pick up","format":"md","likes":1,"spam":"N"},{"id":1164279,"author_name":"woona","author_uid":"woona","epoch":1759818808,"text":"I liked how many different upgrades there are. Running around and vacuuming things and watching numbers go up is fun. Overall, it's an enjoyable game, I cleared the last 9 wave and got all the upgrades.\n\nIt's easy to understand the basics, but if you asked me what every upgrade that I bought does, I wouldn't be able to tell. \ud83d\ude01 Maybe some descriptions and clarifications would help, there is a lot of empty space in the UI to add them.\n\nAlso, a bit more enemy variety would improve the game, I think. Or maybe a day\/night cycle with some waves during daytime and some waves during nighttime.","format":"md","likes":1,"spam":"N"},{"id":1171861,"author_name":"Dianavi","author_uid":"dianavi","epoch":1759919327,"text":"it's a cool game, maybe you need more VFX, but well done ^^","format":"md","likes":1,"spam":"N"},{"id":1171911,"author_name":"Imos","author_uid":"imos","epoch":1759920182,"text":"It's interesting! It feels great to collect those small items and upgrade the tower. But I wonder why that circle moves so slowly.","format":"md","likes":1,"spam":"N"},{"id":1171946,"author_name":"UMC049","author_uid":"umc049","epoch":1759920681,"text":"![Snipaste_2025-10-08_18-42-34.png](\/\/\/raw\/8da\/56\/z\/6ee2d.png)I successfully completed the game. The core gameplay is still pretty good: you defeat waves of enemies and collect the fragments they drop for upgrades. However, some of the numerical elements are a bit off. The stone blocks move way too slowly, and you can barely hit enemies until they reach the base of the tower. Most of the upgrade options on the second page are practically useless. The collection box doesn't really need upgrades for range or movement speed, and the filter upgrades below it are also of little use\u2014sometimes they even feel like a negative feedback. Except for the late game, when a certain type of elemental weapon is maxed out, there is rarely any need to upgrade the filter.  \n\nI\u2019m playing the web version, and aside from the start game button on the main screen and the sound when successfully collecting crystals, there\u2019s no other music or sound effects. ...","format":"md","likes":1,"spam":"N"},{"id":1172488,"author_name":"Liam","author_uid":"liam","epoch":1759929528,"text":"Huge thank you to everyone taking the time to play and rate, extra thanks to the comments! I will make sure to play all your games if they have a web version :grin: ","format":"md","likes":0,"spam":"N"},{"id":1179409,"author_name":"Diralf","author_uid":"diralf","epoch":1760119410,"text":"Fun experience and great art. It was a bit tough to defend the tower at first, but with upgrades it became satisfying to gather resources and mow down enemies. In the upgrade menu, it was hard to quickly tell which resources were required. Maybe some color-coding or icons would really help visually. Great game!","format":"md","likes":1,"spam":"N"},{"id":1183590,"author_name":"graebor","author_uid":"graebor","epoch":1760391340,"text":"Neat concept! At first I thought I was controlling where the attacks go with the cursor, but it makes more sense with the theme that you're just collecting everything. The UI for the upgrades was a little overwhelming but everything was easy enough to figure out just by playing the game. ","format":"md","likes":1,"spam":"N"},{"id":1183618,"author_name":"freeworld","author_uid":"freeworld","epoch":1760392640,"text":"Very nice, I enjoyed that a lot! The simple and easy to understand premise combined with upgrade options and interesting busywork really make a great incremental-esque game!","format":"md","likes":1,"spam":"N"},{"id":1184095,"author_name":"Liam","author_uid":"liam","epoch":1760460939,"text":"@diralf @graebor 100% agree, the UI for the upgrades would have next on my todo list. Thanks for playing!","format":"md","likes":1,"spam":"N"},{"id":1184097,"author_name":"Liam","author_uid":"liam","epoch":1760461017,"text":"@freeworld I was definitely going for a little incremental style game inspired by tower defence \/ picking up coins in Vampire Survivors so glad you think so, ta!","format":"md","likes":1,"spam":"N"},{"id":1184119,"author_name":"MrV","author_uid":"mrv","epoch":1760462479,"text":"it's addictive)","format":"md","likes":1,"spam":"N"},{"id":1188451,"author_name":"Jim jagers","author_uid":"jim-jagers","epoch":1761263668,"text":"Incredibly interesting game I would love to see this expanded upon in a post-jam version","format":"md","likes":1,"spam":"N"}],"format":"md","images":["ld58\/wayback-placeholder.png"],"links":[{"url":"https:\/\/github.com\/hawkstein\/ludum-dare-58-collector","text":"GitHub"},{"url":"https:\/\/hawkhelm.itch.io\/ghouls-and-grimoires","text":"Link"}],"metadata":{"g_key":"88949","g_author":"1010440","g_event":"LD58","g_eventkey":"112","g_subevent":"JAM","g_urlkey":"426759","g_title":"Ghouls & Grimoires","g_status":"WAYBACK","g_place":"338","g_commentcount":"14","g_site2_node_id":"416294","g_hide":"N","g_has_icon":"Y","g_rqueue":"0","g_random":"0"},"nds":{"n_key":"416294","n_urlkey":"426759","n_parent":"415614","n_path":"\/events\/ludum-dare\/58\/ghouls-grimoires","n_slug":"ghouls-grimoires","n_type":"item","n_subtype":"game","n_subsubtype":"jam","n_author":"10440","n_created":"1758708311","n_modified":"1778327152","n_version":"1330053","n_status":"WAYBACK"},"node":{"_collation":{"body_sanitizer":"TextUtils::SanitizeHTML via existing importer","event":"LD58","removed_author":false},"_superparent":9,"_trust":4,"author":10440,"body":"A tower defence game with a singular tower and a wizard with a spell collection as the upgrades. Every time the tower is destroyed by the ghouls, upgrade your spells and then go back in time to try again. Unlock new spells, defeat more waves each time to get to the end and experiment with builds.\n\n![Screenshot 2025-10-06 at 22.37.33.png](\/\/\/raw\/8c8\/2\/z\/6dec3.png)\n\n- Control the Collector with your mouse, this collects mana dropped from defeated enemies\n- Four types of mana exist: Fire, Water, Earth and Air\n- When you fill the bar, you will only get the currency (Mana Crystals) of the largest amount, so try to avoid collecting Water mana if you want Fire crystals\n![Screenshot 2025-10-06 at 22.12.29.png](\/\/\/raw\/8c8\/2\/z\/6de5b.png)\n- The game saves your progress, you can reload and return later, full refunds are available to adjust purchases when upgraded. You can delete the save file from the Options screen at the start.\n- The wizard in the tower casts spells automatically\n\n- Fireballs always aim at the nearest enemy\n- Frostbolts slow the ghouls down\n- Rockblasts fire over and hit multiple enemies at once\n- Tornados hit every enemy they pass through\n\n![Screenshot 2025-10-06 at 22.37.10.png](\/\/\/raw\/8c8\/2\/z\/6debf.png)\n\nThe Collector ratio upgrade increases the amount of mana you must pick up before converting to crystals but gives you a better rate: you start out at 5 to 1, level 2 upgrade gives 10 mana drops to 3 crystals.\n\nKnown issues: the mana filters don't work, don't buy them. The fireball burn upgrade and rock area upgrades do nothing as well.\n\nThanks for playing, bit of a rough one this time round, definitely bit off more than I could chew in the time!","comments":14,"comments-timestamp":"2025-10-23T23:54:28Z","created":"2025-09-24T10:05:11Z","files":[],"files-timestamp":0,"grade":{"grade-01":24,"grade-02":24,"grade-03":24,"grade-04":24,"grade-05":24,"grade-06":1,"grade-08":23},"id":416294,"love":0,"magic":{"cool":100.3669737103,"feedback":20,"given":17.125,"grade":24,"grade-01-average":3.591,"grade-01-result":338,"grade-02-average":3.614,"grade-02-result":228,"grade-03-average":3.045,"grade-03-result":522,"grade-04-average":4,"grade-04-result":185,"grade-05-average":3.114,"grade-05-result":594,"grade-08-average":3.024,"grade-08-result":663,"smart":2.0620726159658},"meta":{"author":[10440],"cover":"\/\/\/content\/8c8\/2\/z\/6edc5.png","grade-06-out":"1","grade-07-out":"1","link-01":"https:\/\/github.com\/hawkstein\/ludum-dare-58-collector","link-01-name":"GitHub","link-01-tag":[42332],"link-02":"https:\/\/hawkhelm.itch.io\/ghouls-and-grimoires","link-02-tag":[42336]},"meta-timestamp":"2026-05-09T11:45:52Z","modified":"2026-05-09T11:45:52Z","name":"Ghouls & Grimoires","node-timestamp":"2025-10-06T21:40:10Z","parent":415614,"parents":[1,5,9,415614],"path":"\/events\/ludum-dare\/58\/ghouls-grimoires","published":"2025-10-06T21:38:36Z","scope":"public","slug":"ghouls-grimoires","subsubtype":"jam","subtype":"game","type":"item","version":1330053},"text":"A tower defence game with a singular tower and a wizard with a spell collection as the upgrades. Every time the tower is destroyed by the ghouls, upgrade your spells and then go back in time to try again. Unlock new spells, defeat more waves each time to get to the end and experiment with builds.\n\n![Screenshot 2025-10-06 at 22.37.33.png](\/\/\/raw\/8c8\/2\/z\/6dec3.png)\n\n- Control the Collector with your mouse, this collects mana dropped from defeated enemies\n- Four types of mana exist: Fire, Water, Earth and Air\n- When you fill the bar, you will only get the currency (Mana Crystals) of the largest amount, so try to avoid collecting Water mana if you want Fire crystals\n![Screenshot 2025-10-06 at 22.12.29.png](\/\/\/raw\/8c8\/2\/z\/6de5b.png)\n- The game saves your progress, you can reload and return later, full refunds are available to adjust purchases when upgraded. You can delete the save file from the Options screen at the start.\n- The wizard in the tower casts spells automatically\n\n- Fireballs always aim at the nearest enemy\n- Frostbolts slow the ghouls down\n- Rockblasts fire over and hit multiple enemies at once\n- Tornados hit every enemy they pass through\n\n![Screenshot 2025-10-06 at 22.37.10.png](\/\/\/raw\/8c8\/2\/z\/6debf.png)\n\nThe Collector ratio upgrade increases the amount of mana you must pick up before converting to crystals but gives you a better rate: you start out at 5 to 1, level 2 upgrade gives 10 mana drops to 3 crystals.\n\nKnown issues: the mana filters don't work, don't buy them. The fireball burn upgrade and rock area upgrades do nothing as well.\n\nThanks for playing, bit of a rough one this time round, definitely bit off more than I could chew in the time!","title":"Ghouls & Grimoires","wayback_recovered":true,"wayback_source":{"capture":{"original":"https:\/\/api-jam.ludumdare.com\/vx\/node2\/get\/420501+420502+420503+420504+420505+420506+420507+420508+420509+420510+420511+420512+420513+420514+420515+420516+420517+420518+420519+420520+420521+420522+420523+420524+420525+420526+420527+420528+420529+420530+420531+420532+420533+420534+420535+420536+420537+420538+420539+420540+420541+420542+420543+420544+420545+420546+420547+420548+420549+420550+420551+420552+420553+420554+420555+420556+420557+420558+420559+420560+420561+420562+420563+420564+420565+420566+420567+420568+420569+420570+420571+420572+420573+420574+420575+420576+420577+420578+420579+420580+420581+420582+420583+420584+420585+420586+420587+420588+420589+420590+420591+420592+420593+420594+420595+420596+420597+420598+420599+420600+420601+420602+420603+420604+420605+420606+420607+420608+420609+420610+420611+420612+420613+420614+420615+420616+420617+420618+420619+420620+420621+420622+420623+420624+420625+420626+420627+420628+420629+420630+420631+420632+420633+420634+420635+420636+420637+420638+420639+420640+420641+420642+420643+420644+420645+420646+420647+420648+420649+420650+420651+420652+420653+420654+420655+420656+420657+420658+420659+420660+420661+420662+420663+420664+420665+420666+420667+420668+420669+420670+420671+420672+420673+420674+420675+420676+420677+420678+420679+420680+420681+420682+420683+420684+420685+420686+420687+420688+420689+420690+420691+420692+420693+420694+420695+420696+420697+420698+420699+420700+420701+420702+420703+420704+420705+420706+420707+420708+420709+420710+420711+420712+420713+420714+420715+420716+420717+420718+420719+420720+420721+420722+420723+420724+420725+420726+420727+420728+420729+420730+420731+420732+420733+420734+420735+420736+420737+420738+420739+420740+420741+420742+420743+420744+420745+420746+420747+420748+420749+420750+420751+420752+420753+420754+420755+420756+420757+420758+420759+420760+420761+420762+420763+420764+420765+420766+420767+420768+420769+420770+420771+420772+420773+420774+420775+420776+420777+420778+420779+420780+420781+420782+420783+420784+420785+420786+420787+420788+420789+420790+420791+420792+420793+420794+420795+420796+420797+420798+420799+420800+420801+420802+420803+420804+420805+420806+420807+420808+420809+420810+420811+420812+420813+420814+420815+420816+420817+420818+420819+420820+420821+420822+420823+420824+420825+420826+420827+420828+420829+420830+420831+420832+420833+420834+420835+420836+420837+420838+420839+420840+420841+420842+420843+420844+420845+420846+420847+420848+420849+420850+420851+420852+420853+420854+420855+420856+420857+420858+420859+420860+420861+420862+420863+420864+420865+420866+420867+420868+420869+420870+420871+420872+420873+420874+420875+420876+420877+420878+420879+420880+420881+420882+420883+420884+420885+420886+420887+420888+420889+420890+420891+420892+420893+420894+420895+420896+420897+420898+420899+420900+420901+420902+420903+420904+420905+420906+420907+420908+420909+420910+420911+420912+420913+420914+420915+420916+420917+420918+420919+420920+420921+420922+420923+420924+420925+420926+420927+420928+420929+420930+420931+420932+420933+420934+420935+420936+420937+420938+420939+420940+420941+420942+420943+420944+420945+420946+420947+420948+420949+420950+420951+420952+420953+420954+420955+420956+420957+420958+420959+420960+420961+420962+420963+420964+420965+420966+420967+420968+420969+420970+420971+420972+420973+420974+420975+420976+420977+420978+420979+420980+420981+420982+420983+420984+420985+420986+420987+420988+420989+420990+420991+420992+420993+420994+420995+420996+420997+420998+420999+421000?authors&parents&superparent"},"object":"objects\/sha256\/0f\/0fdaf8b391ece18e5b2800c133ecbcb32f8dd818618fde27476aeb4c111bf979","record":"shard-0\/json-live-urgent-v3\/records\/58fa4f68a7e146d8a1ba7996cc110d4c02f508640ec437077051b0a5e353dc06.json","sha256":"0fdaf8b391ece18e5b2800c133ecbcb32f8dd818618fde27476aeb4c111bf979","source":"https","stored_at":1784022534}}