Turn-Based Invaders from Space!

You've done it again. Not only my favorite jam game, but now my favorite browser game in general.

Can't really get past 5 or so but I like this genre combinations. I wish there we upgrades or at least a way to send the enemy up.

Sounds well, looks well! Feels really tight. Well done!
Hiscore seems bugged though?

Awesome game! Great feel and super solid. I got stuck because the green guys make new invaders so quickly. I might have enjoyed it more if they took two turns instead of one to make a new invader.

Interesting concept! Seems simple at first, but it's fun to figure out the enemy movement patterns.

I did run in to a bug where the aliens never took their turn after replaying a few times. Also, it'd be cool to see some more variety with this sort of thing.

Love the game!

They turn base style is really interesting and fun. Nice job! Its really hard though :D

Very good game.

Is there another level after the first wave? I almost cleared it!

The graphics and music are really good! I like how there's a good amount of animation so the game feels alive even when you're not doing anything.

I do feel a bit cheated though since it looks like it's impossible to win. The entire swarm alternates between moving horizontally and downwards right? There's 11 moves before they reach the bottom row and there's 13 enemies so it doesn't look like it's possible to win :(

I love the presentation. The animations and music is really great.

I remember seeing a gif of this while scrolling through the blog posts one time and was so keen to try it out, you didn't disappoint!! The way this game is set out is fantastic, you did such a good job!!

I loved it! Good work.

Hi!
I almost made it past the first screen, but aliens got stuck here, don't make their turn :(
I don't think I would've made it though as the green guy makes new ship every turn.
Loved the game!

Aaah, this one's so similar to mine! Haha, but this one's very well polished. I really like the different patterns of each enemy, it made for a challenging strategy game. Good fun!

Very polish and focused. A great implementation of the theme. Lots of great polish like the command window floating to the correct side, and the waiting cursor animation.

It's a real shame that it doesn't seem win-able though. The green guys pumping out new enemies every turn seems kind of overpowered.

It's spot on, those genre should definitely not be mixed ! :)

The polish is great, add a small upgrade/bonus system and it would make for a super game.
Different weapon that shoots twice, or in a different fashion would improve the content a ton.

I tried different strategies without success, would you be willing to share one ;) ?

Graphics are excellent and game is very easy to read which is always a plus.
I hope you take some time post-jam to build on it, I am sure it can be excellent with one week worth of efforts.

Well done.

Cool game. At first I was playing it like simple action game, just turn based. Then I realized that it should be played like chess and you have to think about what turn you make and it became a lot more fun :smile:

Good job!

Nice pixels and overall feel is great as usual. I could get down to maybe 3 ships left but no better than that. The whole idea does work though, could be expanded on and be something pretty cool I think.

Woah !! What an amazing game :D Seriously, it looks so complete and professional. Awesome work ! The art/graphics are beautiful, great pixel/minimalist design. The music and sound effects are great and complementary. Perfect use of the theme. Awesome work :D

*claps* I'm impressed. :smiley:

This one is great. It's a true turn base-battle game.
Compare to this one, my game has no tactical design.:D

Really good. Like really, really good.

Awesome game! Love the aesthetic! Great music and sound effects!
The only issue I have, is playing the game for a longer period of time; the turn transitions and enemy movements take a lot of time, this becomes a bit tedious after a while.
Overall, really great compo entry :)

really fun game! spent a long time trying to beat it, but I think it really may be impossible.

The level of polish on this is great, really love the art, sound and gameplay. Still don't quite understand exactly when and why they move downward though.

Had a lot of fun with it and it was well made!

Got to level 7! Got so close to clearing the whole screen, but one white ship cornered me. Man, this is really, really fun. I played several rounds. Fantastic graphics, sound, and gameplay all around.

Very solid entry! The UI, graphics, sound, idea, and general feel of the game were all extremely well done and coherent. I did seem to die inexplicably every time, and I don't think it's beatable without forward and back movement, which really hurts the fun factor (to know you can't advance, that is).

EDIT: To see my live thoughts, check out this recording of the livestream here.

Really great game. Love how you merged this two genres.

Great game! Efficient art, loved the animations. The sound effects are a great fit for the art. The music sets the right mood and meshes well with the sound effects. Plus the puzzle mechanics are simple to read and fun to play out. Excellent work!

Could get too far but I like how it all turned out. Great job!

It's currently the game I played the most. It's very fun. Amazing work :)

It seems to be a bit too RNG-based, but other than that it's great.

Also, same as @faze - almost had it, but not quite

Seems like an AI loop? Also, Construct threw a js error at around that point

I don't know how to kill the green guys, but I made it to level 7 before dying!

Good game though. :D

Wow, I actually had a blast playing this one ! :v:

I also made something turned based if you want to check it out
https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/41/brains-of-racing

This is a pretty nice genre fusion IMO. The main thing I feel that it needs is a way to back up the ship to keep the aliens from moving to the bottom of the screen. If you get unlucky in that regard, it can become impossible to win. It's a really fun and polished simple browser game, the sorta thing I can see being popular back when Newgrounds was a thing. I loved the idle animations that play as well, they add a lot to the game's simplistic art.

Love this mix. Always been a sucker for turn-based games and feel this proves you can combined it with just about anything if done right. From the visual to sound design its sets the mood extremely well. Love it! Keep up the good work.

@bloodyaugust Thanks for playing! BTW, you were losing because aliens got to the bottom of the screen. (Ideally would have been communicated better!)

Awesome, but hard :-)

Powerups would make a great addition.

Very nicely done all around, loved the graphics and sound.

@HacksawUnit Good to know! It certainly could have... but time limits! I feel you. Great entry!

This is the second game I've played from this author and it seems like the delivery is very high quality as usual. Definitely one of the best compo games I've played so far.

good quality

great mash-up of the genres. couldn't pass level 5.
fun/interesting take!

A brilliant mix of a classic arcade space shooter and a strategic grid game with limited actions to take. The simple visuals stand out and fit really well and there is a good level of polish as well.

Looks, feels and sounds great! The gameplay wasn't quite up my alley, but I can absolutely appreciate the amount of polish this has. Good job!

Plays great! Brilliant idea, very hard to complete. Only cons is too random behaviour of inviders =)

Nice one ! Love the music ,great mix on theme too ! good job!!

if youd care to see mine https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/41/spacescape

The style, the music, the difficulty, the mechanics are all beautifully balanced. Well done!

Very nice and polished game. I like simple turn based strategy games so this really hit my nerve.

Ah, I had big expectations from the premise. Unfortunately the game didn't quite meet them. Could have been a great tactics game.
Music and graphics are cool, but gameplay is not so much - impossible to win. I got to lvl 7 with one green alien. I hope you don't abandon the game and release it as a full game with proper combat system and leveling. It's such a cool idea. And please try my game if you have time.

Very nice game! I got past the first screen after a few tries. Got to level 10 in the end.

Once you get the basic strategy down it does perhaps feel a bit random/hopeless to beat the aliens - I couldn't really say "where I went wrong" when I died in the end. Super cute graphics and chiptunes.

Wow. This is very polished and quite fun. It's interesting how it becomes closer to a puzzle game once you understand the winning/losing scenarios. It might have been nice to have some kind of single-use lifeline skill, but maybe it would feel less arcade-y if there was one.

Feedback:
+ Everything feels very polished & coherent.
+ Visual cues are intuitive, but some subtleties escape notice due to placement/layout (i.e. action gauge below buttons gets obscured by cursor, etc.).
+ Gaining levels doesn't seem to lead to anything. It would be nice if there was some kind of payoff or at least slightly more palpable feedback cues to it.
+ The buttons panel sliding animation (to the other side) has a nice feel in terms of giving a sense of tactility but could probably move over a little faster.
+ The starting level of difficulty is rather high. It could probably benefit quite a lot from a smaller platoon at the start to give players room to experiment.
+ Gameplay mechanics are rock solid, but they don't seem to evolve or reveal added depth with progression. Minor mid-level growth/change would be nice.
+ The loop of gaining better comprehension of the game creating a desire to "try again" after losing is quite strong, though each run takes a bit long.

Other than those, there is the stalemate state that others have posted about already.

In all, this is a very tight game and a well-realized exploration of the genre mix chosen. Great stuff!

Another really solid game hacksaw! The art and sound design is great and compliments each other. Controls are simple and easy to understand, polish is on point, and man does blasting away those ships feel good. You nailed the theme dude, great game!

Absolutely incredible! You took familiar mechanics and turned them into a difficult puzzle game! I was determined to get past an entire wave, and somehow managed too? I almost got to level 9 >-

interesting idea, but why no keyboard controls? would be great on a numpad

Really well done. I played 3 games, and each time the aliens on the right side of the formation would shoot every turn, and I could never get under them to shoot them first, so I couldn't figure out how to win the game. Maybe the AI isn't random enough? I really liked the controls and the audio.

It feels like an arcade game from the 80s. A relaly well done one. Nice retro graphics and music to go along with it.

I really like this game. It was fun, even if it did seem impossible to beat overall. Good job!

Very nice game!! Quite hard though. It seemed as though there were too many space invaders to complete the first screen, but overall, very nicely done!

Interesting concept and fun little idea, would be better with some balancing of the gameplay though, like e.g. if you leveled up you could shoot more shots in a turn. Nice polish!

I love the premise and it felt very polished. Bullets felt/looked fluid and dope

This was super addictive. Even though it seemed way too RNG based (unable to beat, green enemies can screw you if they want to, etc.) it was still really fun and compelling. I managed to get to 7 BTW.

wow i cant believe this game was fun! how did you do it. the mix feels just right and keeps me coming back for more - awesome game

very cool game. good job!

It's a nice little game. Very fresh approach to an old arcade. I like it! Got job! :space_invader:

I loved the game and this combination. I just wish there was more screen.

I left my rating of your game, if you can leave your feedback in our game, Witch's Escape.

I hope you continue with the project.

https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/41/witchs-escape

Really like this game. After 20 attempts I still wasn't able to win, but I will definitely come back to it one day.