The Tithe of Souls
The Tithe Of Souls
O Grand Priest, our hero and saviour—darkness descends.
The blessed Holy Machine is our last hope, a relic of impossible grace. Yet it lies unfinished, its sanctified heart silent. Take up the crusade, scour the lands, and raise this divine engine piece by sacred piece.
Check it on the itch page:
https://sergs.itch.io/the-tithe-of-souls
Build
Craft your Holy Machine from Altars, soul Cages and other holy parts. Link its inner systems into a living labyrinth that drinks the souls you reap. Shape conduits, transform the energy and awaken chambers until the whole contraption thrums with holy purpose.
Fight
Weave modifiers to conjure unique projectiles that break the wicked. Cast down foes, cage their Souls, and harvest their power. Channel that current through hallowed Altars to empower Priests whose hymns thunder across the battlefield.
Decree
Forge an intricate mechanism fueled by harvested souls
Combine modifiers to sculpt devastating, stacked attacks.
Consecrate Altars to amplify your Priests and their sacred songs.
Slay the Darkness and spare the world from calamity.
#How to Play
Connect Cages to other elements to power them. Connect by clicking on an output and then on an input in another object. The flow will be automatic and won't stop! Each output can connect to one input.
Click on the Tank to pick up a Soul and put it in a Cage to fill it up. Pack in more to sustain it for longer.
Connect Cages with Priests so they can shoot. Pipe the Souls through Altars beforehand to create powered up projectiles. You can chain altars!
Manage your connections, save up Souls for the shop to get new elements. Use the Restorator to heal and keep your Engine tanked.
#tl;dr
It's a weird mix of Oxygen not Included piping mechanics, with Kingdom movement and enemies, with a small roguelike autobattler element to it. Pretty short!
The ambition was great, but so was the challenge. It works, is playable but requires tuning and more levels to reach full potential. It was a tough one!
Lots and lots of free assets were used to create the world and enemies.
Castle was made by us though!
Changelogs
v1.02
* Tutorial UI improved
* HUD UI improved
* Balancing Fix: Updated prices and item names in store.
* Balancing Fix: Updated altar damage values (major buff to all)
v1.01
* Pause fixed
Comments56
Unfrog7 Oct 2025, 01:28
Fantastic art style! Love the theme you've gone with as well it felt very cohesive. I found organizing the parts and figuring out what I can/can't click on a bit confusing, but I got there eventually. Nice stuff!
Matthew Rose7 Oct 2025, 01:33
Really like the unique theme, found the mechanics a little confusing at first but got the hang of it. Great work!
UsuMidori7 Oct 2025, 02:01
I really enjoy the black humor in this. The art is excellent!
CamComDuck7 Oct 2025, 02:12
I love Oxygen Not Included, and definitely can see the inspiration on the pipe mechanics! This game is impressively complex to make in just a weekend, very well done and congrats to the team!
WaveForm7 Oct 2025, 02:12
It took a little while for me to figure out the mechanics but when I did, it was fun! I also like the dark theme and art :)
zexurge7 Oct 2025, 02:16
love the grungy art aesthetic, i'mma try doing that sometime
LDJam user 3556927 Oct 2025, 02:42
Very nice art, quite interesting mechanics, though I didn't get altars at all, they seem to be less effective than using souls directly. Why does engine has 3 inputs, to get to a top speed faster? Never used more than one input occasionally.
Well done!
Well done!
massivejack7 Oct 2025, 09:10
We didn't manage to get the altars to where they should be - big buffs, different visuals for projectiles, better communication on what they actually do and ageneral balance improvement.
They do make the projectiles behave differently, aside from buffing damage. Homing, splitting, passthrough, ricochet, etc. It's all there and works, but I get it can be hard to grasp :D.
Engine has 3 inputs to make it fill up faster, yes. We had ideas for some extra features that didn't make it and the inputs are left as legacy.
Thank you for the good words guys!
They do make the projectiles behave differently, aside from buffing damage. Homing, splitting, passthrough, ricochet, etc. It's all there and works, but I get it can be hard to grasp :D.
Engine has 3 inputs to make it fill up faster, yes. We had ideas for some extra features that didn't make it and the inputs are left as legacy.
Thank you for the good words guys!
Celian7 Oct 2025, 14:40
It was a really cool game, i was a bit lost at first and even started to dislike the game but after another try i really loved it and found myself wanting more bosses ! Well played !
Maghwyn7 Oct 2025, 15:04
The mix of machine building, piping mechanics, and tactical combat is really unique, and the art and ambiance sell the game perfectly to me. I can honestly see myself playing much more of this game.
Well done, It was hella fun.
Well done, It was hella fun.
Shadowmyst7 Oct 2025, 21:54
Great mood, love the dark humour. Gameplay feels good too, overall super well done.
SergS Workshop7 Oct 2025, 21:55
@celian thanks for giving it a try🙏! The concept was a bit too ambitious for 72 hours, so some parts ended up unpolished and occasionally confusing - but we’re glad you enjoyed it! Hopefully, we’ll get a chance to improve it in the future.
Shadowmyst7 Oct 2025, 21:58
I would like to see a post fight fast heal or something convenient like that.
Faust_Mi7 Oct 2025, 22:31
Cool visual style! Excellent sound! All together, it really enhances the atmosphere and gameplay.
Thanks for the gaming experience! Good job!
Thanks for the gaming experience! Good job!
MaxineY7 Oct 2025, 22:33
It's unbelievable! Such a detailed image is actually the result of 72 hours of work! GOOD JOB!
swaiky7 Oct 2025, 23:51
It was hard to understand at first, but once I got the hang of it, it became really fun! Great job!
MatthewDrake8 Oct 2025, 00:38
Really cool concept, had some trouble understanding at first but once I got going I was really invested. Unfortunately I used all my souls to buy an upgrade at the first shop and then had no way to defend myself in the next battle though.
Really solid entry, great work!
Really solid entry, great work!
red8 Oct 2025, 02:26
This is probably one of the strangest games I've seen. Really unique idea and art style / mix of art styles.
LDJam user 4177588 Oct 2025, 08:15
The graphic design is nice, but the font is too small.
LivingiPod8 Oct 2025, 09:41
Collecting souls was a very... Open door of a concept I felt like, but you guys did such a sick twist on it. I really like the castle in particular, so I was very happy to read you made it yourselves. Big props! I sometimes didnt understand what the hell I was doing, maybe because I don't usually play games like this. I feel like it could do with a little more visual clarity if you guys ever want to make more of this kind of stuff. Really cool!
ave2brave8 Oct 2025, 09:52
really unique art style!! love the atmosphere.
Kirillm21-18 Oct 2025, 12:53
The game is good, but as always, there is something to be improved.
Tesseus8 Oct 2025, 13:43
Really great coherent style and atmosphere!
ugly_robot8 Oct 2025, 14:36
Fantastic work - absolutely loved it. As a big 40k and trench crusade fan, it was a dream to see this aesthetic in a jam game, you pulled it off magnificently, and gave it your own unique flair!
I'd love to see a full game with more Holy Machines, components, your own enemy designs, etc.
I can imagine some breathtaking rolling cathedrals - though I must say, the 'baroque gothic perfect square' actually has an artistic quality all it's own. Something about the juxtaposition of filigree, industrial riveting, and the imposing cube silhouette is surprisingly impactful. Somehow reminds me of the monty-python foot? Not sure if that makes sense.
Would be great to explore allowing multi-inputs on most/all components. The engines had them - but it's the altars / priests / health that would really blossom with multi-input. Would really love to get more into the mechanism-management, find different altars to provide different effects to the souls. E.g.:
* A 'candle laiden' altar makes 'slow-burn' souls: burn-over-time when used as projectile, heal-over-time when used in restorator, fuel-over-time when put in engine
* A 'radiance' altar makes 'accelerant' souls: faster moving projectile, higher speed when put in engine, more burst-like healing when put in restorator
Then you could chain together altars to put several effects on souls - that kind of thing. Yeah, I really love the mechanics you have here, I'd love to see them taken further.
One of my absolute favorites so far. Incredible work, you should all be very proud.
I'd love to see a full game with more Holy Machines, components, your own enemy designs, etc.
I can imagine some breathtaking rolling cathedrals - though I must say, the 'baroque gothic perfect square' actually has an artistic quality all it's own. Something about the juxtaposition of filigree, industrial riveting, and the imposing cube silhouette is surprisingly impactful. Somehow reminds me of the monty-python foot? Not sure if that makes sense.
Would be great to explore allowing multi-inputs on most/all components. The engines had them - but it's the altars / priests / health that would really blossom with multi-input. Would really love to get more into the mechanism-management, find different altars to provide different effects to the souls. E.g.:
* A 'candle laiden' altar makes 'slow-burn' souls: burn-over-time when used as projectile, heal-over-time when used in restorator, fuel-over-time when put in engine
* A 'radiance' altar makes 'accelerant' souls: faster moving projectile, higher speed when put in engine, more burst-like healing when put in restorator
Then you could chain together altars to put several effects on souls - that kind of thing. Yeah, I really love the mechanics you have here, I'd love to see them taken further.
One of my absolute favorites so far. Incredible work, you should all be very proud.
lizardinblizzard8 Oct 2025, 14:39
Sick art, nice gameplay and cool idea - it's all about your game! Just Wow!
SergS Workshop8 Oct 2025, 15:10
@ugly-robot thank you a lot for your words🙏
We definitely would like to continue the development and have a huge list of features that would like to design. This jam really showed us how resource‑intensive the idea is and how much time and effort it will take...
...and how many souls we need to burn for the Glory of the Omnissiah
We definitely would like to continue the development and have a huge list of features that would like to design. This jam really showed us how resource‑intensive the idea is and how much time and effort it will take...
...and how many souls we need to burn for the Glory of the Omnissiah
ugly_robot8 Oct 2025, 15:25
All praise the machine spirit.
(idk if ldjam will let me post links, but if you like, checkout my personal altar to the Omnissiah:
https://www.tiktok.com/@ugly_robot/video/7494317383616711982)
I did indeed make sure to do my daily benediction during the jam, to keep my dev machine pure and bug-free.
(idk if ldjam will let me post links, but if you like, checkout my personal altar to the Omnissiah:
https://www.tiktok.com/@ugly_robot/video/7494317383616711982)
I did indeed make sure to do my daily benediction during the jam, to keep my dev machine pure and bug-free.
Xichan Zheng8 Oct 2025, 15:52
Really enjoyed this game. The arts are stunning! Great works guys
robert188 Oct 2025, 16:51
Interesting game took me a bit to figure out what to do, visually it looks great
5108 Oct 2025, 17:08
This was interesting and quite challenging! I got scammed by buying the large altar and found out half my souls were wasted to something I didn't need so I ended up not using it =)
On a side note, I think the UI could be a bit bigger. The text was quite small even if half the screen was available.
Nice game!
On a side note, I think the UI could be a bit bigger. The text was quite small even if half the screen was available.
Nice game!
LDJam user 1585718 Oct 2025, 17:09
Purely great!
Keith Wang8 Oct 2025, 18:58
Gameplay wise this is the best Ive played so far, just wish it can be a bit longer. Cool idea too.
Also the first Altar seems to make no sense? It consumes souls worth of 20 and output a 15?
Also the first Altar seems to make no sense? It consumes souls worth of 20 and output a 15?
Zzzkvidi48 Oct 2025, 19:18
Good game, but initial altar seems to be useless - it takes 2 souls but increases power on 1.5 (attack causes 15 damage against 10)
Throwing soul not into cage will remove it, so it can cause failure if it is your last soul and you miss clicked cage
Throwing soul not into cage will remove it, so it can cause failure if it is your last soul and you miss clicked cage
hajpappan8 Oct 2025, 19:27
Really cool idea and good execution as well. Game looks great and the gameplay is fun. Great job!
Ciphereo9 Oct 2025, 06:26
A very cool concept. I'm very happy to see such a refined and unique artistic style. And I really like the atmosphere of this game!
Yorze9 Oct 2025, 06:29
So many soul-collecting theme games out there, but I'll say this one is the coolest.
PoshDan9 Oct 2025, 13:07
I managed to softlock myself pretty much immediately as I put my first souls into the engine instead of the cage. On my second try i kept accidentally picking up souls and wasting them with the right mouse button.
I love that the text is skippable but on first press it should finish typing its current line, and on second press should it go to the next line.
The aesthetic and mood was pretty good, though
I love that the text is skippable but on first press it should finish typing its current line, and on second press should it go to the next line.
The aesthetic and mood was pretty good, though
dumchevdev10 Oct 2025, 13:21
Wow, you've created an excellent gameplay and visual style, well done!
LDJam user 28018911 Oct 2025, 14:49
This was really fun to play and interesting, never seen these kind of mechanics before!
I can definitely see the potential of this game with more fleshed out mechanics and content.
I can definitely see the potential of this game with more fleshed out mechanics and content.
6Knowledge12 Oct 2025, 09:08
Well this was an interesting take on the theme. Quite a few of these in the same graphical style, but this is the first in gameplay. For a jam game, very well done in the graphics and atmosphere departments. UI may have been a bit cluttered but that didn't take anything away from the experience.
LDJam user 37402812 Oct 2025, 12:19
Interesting game, but it has some input problems with mouse clicking and I think that the difficulty is not well balanced. Maybe having more soul cages would help with shooting and heath regen simultaneously. I made a similar grid connecting game back in LD54, if you want to check it out, the source code is available. Good job! You could make for an interesting mobile game with this.
marudziik12 Oct 2025, 21:24
This is a great entry. I loved the theme and the darkish humor, but the gameplay mechanics were also really good and pretty unique for me. There's quite a lot of content as well. Not sure about the balance - but then, it's forgivable given the jam timeline.
I also love that you list your inspirations. I'm familiar with *Kingdom* but I've only heard (good things) about *Oxygen not Included*. Now I'll be sure to check it out as well.
Awesome entry, congrats!
I also love that you list your inspirations. I'm familiar with *Kingdom* but I've only heard (good things) about *Oxygen not Included*. Now I'll be sure to check it out as well.
Awesome entry, congrats!
jscommander13 Oct 2025, 09:32
Hi, your game is great. I love the dark theme about sinners and priests - it's very funny. The jokes in the game are awesome, especially the one when you connect the engine for the first time - it made my day :)
JuanRod70713 Oct 2025, 16:47
Wow, I'm impressed, amazing work, you managed to get so many features and mechanics in such a short time. Would love to see this become a full game.
CameronPenner13 Oct 2025, 18:12
I love the grimdark aesthetic. The yell sound when you pick up a soul, the giant church on wheels, the unwaivering dedication to a brutalistic religion. I had fun piecing my machine together, and rewiring it during fights to power different parts of the machine depending on what I needed. I would love to see an ending added! And more modules available. It's a pretty cool concept, great job.
rynti13 Oct 2025, 21:19
really enjoyed playing it :) was really satisfying to chain turbos/richocheter together and become much stronger over time.
Baturinsky13 Oct 2025, 23:14
I got to the first village, and then no idea what to do next. Whe I connect the cage to guy, it just shoots in random directions. When I connect the cage back to engine, it does nothing, not moving around. An d no enemies in sight.
lespaul5914 Oct 2025, 17:42
Wow nice experience. We build a game with a similar kind of theme/mechanic years ago in a other jam but it was nearly not that polished as yours. very cool mechanics and the art style and overall vibe is really good.
Flatgub17 Oct 2025, 06:25
Absolutely LOVE the aesthetic and vibes on this one!! Not being able to move components after placing them was a little frustrating but it wasn't a deal breaker! Well done!
Pancu17 Oct 2025, 20:46
nice game! the sprites were very good and the game itself felt pretty good to play, however i think it could've been better if there was the ability to replace/remove components, maybe like an inventory. but still i liked how all elements had a specific function, and i liked the fact that the ray that was shot sometimes missed fast enemies. overall good job!
xpoho18 Oct 2025, 06:44
Good concept! I think I'm done, there is nothing but darkness, haha ^_^
Pimeko18 Oct 2025, 15:34
Well that was an original take! The mood with earphones is just great, super immersive, and the overall concept is interesting — a bit hard to play for me but great entry :)
LDJam user 22156120 Oct 2025, 20:54
A great entry! Only minor gripe is not being able to move around the components once placed, but the setting, the idea everything is a lot of fun! One of my favourites from LD58 so far!
Ginger_Kyoko20 Oct 2025, 22:51
Waaah! I really like Souls like atmosphere, haha))
Art and music are also good
Art and music are also good
Kagegona21 Oct 2025, 04:06
really nice ambience!! there has been a lot of work and everything find it's place, really nice little game! Maybe I would have liked to have a little description of the objects in the shop to know what I will buy :D
My favorite game right now! Great idea!