From The Depths: Mining Meets Tower Defense by cdupe

[raw]
made by cdupe for Ludum Dare 57 (JAM)

TITLE_SCREEN.png

Randalf the wizard cat's new magic drilling machine gives him access to unimaginable riches, but he has delved too greedily and too deep, and now he must use everything he has, including his newfound wealth, to build a labyrinth of towers and defend himself FROM THE DEPTHS.

Instructions

  • WASD to move
  • Click to build / upgrade / shoot
  • Mine resources and a path
  • Build towers to defend your camp
  • End the day to begin combat
  • Fight off the enemies from the depths
  • Upgrade at shops
  • DIG AS DEEP AS YOU CAN!

Created by: Coleman, Eric, and Liam

EARLY_MINING.png

EARLY_COMBAT.png

UPGRADES.png

ENDGAME_COMBAT.png

ENDGAME_MINING.png

Ratings

Overall 45th 4.197⭐ 35🧑‍⚖️
Fun 48th 4.136⭐ 35🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 81th 4.015⭐ 35🧑‍⚖️
Theme 78th 4.273⭐ 35🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 217th 4.106⭐ 35🧑‍⚖️
Audio 132th 3.894⭐ 35🧑‍⚖️
Humor 252th 3.3⭐ 32🧑‍⚖️
Mood 191th 3.969⭐ 34🧑‍⚖️
Given 32🗳️ 37🗨️

Feedback

Pontax
08. Apr 2025 · 02:14 UTC
unique concept i enjoyed the dancing cat. I wish there was a volume adjustment though but I liked the digging concept combined with the base building.
CamComDuck
08. Apr 2025 · 03:56 UTC
super impressive game, I can't believe you made this in a weekend! the genre combination is very interesting, I'd love to see this explored in a larger scale game in the future if you revisit this project. Just a few suggestions: some indication of where the enemies are spawning/where they are going, I got stuck in my hole in cat form and wasn't able to defend anymore, and moving turrets (the first turret I placed was completely wasted because it wasn't anywhere near where the enemies were coming/going). great work on this game overall, probably my favorite I've played this jam so far!
Willby
08. Apr 2025 · 03:58 UTC
Rather difficult but I had a lot of fun. The deepest I got was 20m out of two runs.
Fernando Tonon de Rossi
08. Apr 2025 · 04:00 UTC
Wow I really enjoyed playing this! A mixture of tower defense with terraria... haha really nice concept!

I guess, for this game to get better, i'd would be making it multiplayer, besides that, it is perfect! well done!
Brain Delay
08. Apr 2025 · 04:03 UTC
Super fun concept, and well executed! I'm a little sad the towers were so expensive because I didn't really get to put very many down. Also, the digging is super satisfying! I wish I had more fuel so I could dig to my heart's content. Overall, super impressive!
Wyzal
08. Apr 2025 · 10:51 UTC
Ineresting concep, i like the idea. Very fun when drill becomes a cat :)
Hongttisme
09. Apr 2025 · 09:10 UTC
An interesting mini-game that combines tower defense and mining games, making it addictive. After finishing it, you still feel unsatisfied.
Skrelevsky
09. Apr 2025 · 09:29 UTC
t's always fun for me to play 2D pixel games, it sends me back to the memories of the game Terraria, I love it. It's nice to play, I spent enough time and didn't get bored, cool! GJ!!!!
Dandee
09. Apr 2025 · 09:33 UTC
Loved the aesthetic! Terraria vibes! Well done guys!
freamdev
09. Apr 2025 · 09:59 UTC
This was a fun run, loved the immersive NPC UI, and the cozy little mining camp feeling. :smiley: My first attempt ended because I fell off a hole I dig and 2 bat killed the entire camp, I wish there was a "unstuck" button, but maybe its a deliberate don't be a fool design.
ssiannas
09. Apr 2025 · 12:51 UTC
Awesome game!

Things I really liked:
- Music was fire :fire:
- Artwork was super cute and kept making the cat headbang with the cursor haha
- Just the right amount of turrets and mechanics
- Upgrade mechanics

Only criticism would be that I felt the gold was a bit too sparse and it made it difficult to keep everything under control and not lose early.

Otherwise a very polished game! Great job :D
AthosPap
09. Apr 2025 · 13:28 UTC
Amazing work guys!
I instantly got hooked, you blended the theme with tower defense perfectly. If I had to point out something it would be the difficulty needs some fine tuning
Well done
Ronalchue
09. Apr 2025 · 14:04 UTC
An interesting development of the idea of ​​tower defense. The game is pleasant, you can get stuck in it for a long time. There are vibes of Terraria and for some reason Factorio.
Providence
09. Apr 2025 · 17:50 UTC
Got to 97m which I was pretty proud of, but I could have gotten way deeper, cause all my damage just happened outside of combat at random, please fix <3

One of my favourite LD57 games though! Keep up the good work!
mremmele
09. Apr 2025 · 18:17 UTC
The sense of drilling is amazing—it feels really responsive and immersive. Great job! I do wish the combat stages were a bit more dynamic, and it would be awesome to have some upgrades for my cat too!
Marilou
09. Apr 2025 · 18:23 UTC
So cool little game ! It was cool having two phases and i looove the music when its dog tiime !! The music really set realy well the mood there, i had a great time thank you !
jtap
10. Apr 2025 · 04:43 UTC
Very fun and addictive game, enjoyed playing, great music, concise, thanks for this experience
HelloImBenjamin
10. Apr 2025 · 05:36 UTC
I liked the art. The music was really good as well. Great job!
xpoho
10. Apr 2025 · 08:05 UTC
![изображение_2025-04-10_150452525.png](///raw/d14/a3/z/6bdbf.png)

Got 25m ^_^


Good game, interesting mechanic that combines mining and tower defense. Wanna see full game ^_^
gquibao
10. Apr 2025 · 22:22 UTC
Great idea, very unique. I was caught off-guard when I turned into a cat haha loved the game and it was very well executed. Congrats on your work!
Saryah
12. Apr 2025 · 03:03 UTC
Fantastic entry, well polished LOVE the music but I'd like a volume knob please. :) Otherwise excellent and very fun. WIZARD CAT!
cherrybcake
15. Apr 2025 · 12:00 UTC
Haha very fun game, I love games like this and you nailed it! Also the cat is so funny XD
Anton Florey
15. Apr 2025 · 21:57 UTC
45m should do the trick for now. But maybe i will play this again and try to beat this pb :)
Your idea is very innovative and has a lot of potential!

However, there is one issue i noticed. Combining the "digging in a grid" and tower defense genres leads to a conflict: The tower defense machanic forces you to dig long, bendy tunnels (or at least it feels right to do so), while you yourself want to get up quickly. Always traversing my long tunnel of (enemy) death felt very annoying. And accidentally removing one wrong block can destroy your carefully crafted tunnel also felt pretty bad.

Maybe you could add the option to build special blocks that you yourself can go through but enemies dont. I would love seing you guys continue developing this game. Like I said this has serious potential!
jscommander
16. Apr 2025 · 16:12 UTC
Great game! I really liked how you combined tower defense with a digger-like resource collection mechanic, it adds a whole new layer of creativity. I enjoyed shaping tunnels in ways that made base defense easier. The music during the collect phase is an absolute banger! Awesome work!
LDJam user 388314
18. Apr 2025 · 08:27 UTC
Interesting rethinking of the "Tower Defense" genre

The pixel art is very cool! The work with tiles is very creative. The only thing I don't understand is how our base works without a bottom? I can advise adding a small platform there in the form of a shelf, so that it looks organic.

Cat wizard on a drill? Lmao :)))

It's not obvious that you can upgrade towers. I'd like to restore the land so I can put towers there. And restore health if needed. That would help with survivability!

And I found a bug. Sometimes something hits me and I lose lives. This happens until the end of the day. It's not very good... (don't hit me...) ( ,_,)

P.S. The music during the fight is quite dynamic, I like it! :)

This is my maximum!:р
![2025-04-17_22-26-44.png](///raw/adc/e5/z/6c4ca.png)
knarf
19. Apr 2025 · 16:05 UTC
Super cool game, I loved that pixel art ! The gameplay itself is interesting, a bit slow once some dept reached as it's dangerous to go there with the cat (I also have a powerful wizard cat)
I went 85m deep, but in an excess of confidence i went away from screen and got submerged by red bats :( I think i could have gone deeper... I wonder if there is something more to reach if I didn't do that ! Also it happened a few times I felt i did get randomly hit without understanding who did that ? Cool music also ! Very good entry !
kaba
20. Apr 2025 · 04:41 UTC
Oh man, I got greedy and poured all my resources into digging abilities and ended up neglecting defence. And then things got bad with the tougher brown goblins and bats. It was also cool how the music changed the mood during the genre switch. Great idea, top notch execution!
MaxDrago
24. Apr 2025 · 17:59 UTC
A very thoughtful and interesting game! Very cool art!
Paulsams
25. Apr 2025 · 15:49 UTC
It's a cool combination of TD and the fact that you create your own maze. I liked it very much.