LdDB
Ludum Dare #59jam

Signalmons

by portalis
co-authored: @kate-arty
Overall★★★★★★★★★★4.07
Fun★★★★★★★★★★3.91
Innovation★★★★★★★★★★3.36
Theme★★★★★★★★★★2.98
Graphics★★★★★★★★★★4.47
Audio★★★★★★★★★★4.12
Humor★★★★★★★★★★3.23
Mood★★★★★★★★★★4.13

Click to Play on Itch

Something is wrong with the world, and Vela is the only person taking it personally.

She drives an old bus with an antenna bolted to the roof, broadcasting a signal that Signalmon can't resist. The friendly ones come to her. Over time, if she treats them well, they become something more like family than pets.

But the signal is loud, and it carries into places where loud things are dangerous. Every time Vela tunes in, creatures from other dimensions find their way through and come for the bus.

Made for Ludum Dare. All art, sounds, and music were made by hand during the jam.
Tags: #deck building, #tower defense
Genres: strategy
Tools: Godot

Comments37

Ulziton
Ulziton20 Apr 2026, 22:44
Fun game, love the art style and sfx, gj!
Laminariy21 Apr 2026, 10:10
Yooo the art is so cool!
Awwwz
Awwwz21 Apr 2026, 10:30
like a combination of pokemon & PVZ,the color is great! the character design is cute and smart! the water seal is my personal favorite! sound effect is nice, love the feedback pop sound!
Kate_arty21 Apr 2026, 11:12
@awwwz Thank you for your kind words and feedback!
Ternarycat
Ternarycat21 Apr 2026, 11:31
Hey! It's really cute and interesting game! You may think about to add mechanic to replace animals, i wanted to change bunnies which i places in early game to birds/foxes, so i tried to let monsters clean lines :^).
rucksack21 Apr 2026, 11:38
Cute art style!
Portalisauthor21 Apr 2026, 11:45
thank you all so much for such a warm welcome
TheKimeo
TheKimeo21 Apr 2026, 11:50
Clicked for the signalmons expecting pokemon, but was happy with the pvz spin.

All the designs are adorable. Water fish is the best signalmon and nobody can convince me otherwise. So cute!
LDJam user 317693
LDJam user 31769321 Apr 2026, 11:55
It throws you in very quick and enemies can get overwhelming, but it's really cool!! Art is super cute and it's pretty polished, the variety that is there with the signalmons and enemies is nice, too. I looove tower defense games
Mamboman
Mamboman21 Apr 2026, 12:34
Very nice game! The art is beautiful and its pretty addictive! I didn't understand that I could replace my Signalmons with the signalballs, too. The sound and music is also pretty nice. Overall a very nice entry! Well done!
Sheepolution
Sheepolution21 Apr 2026, 15:48
I never played Plants vs Zombies, so this was a nice first experience, and fun that you combined it with Pokémon. I wish there was a bit more variety/strategy early on. I only ever had grass and water types. Not sure if a bug or intended, but never saw the flying and fire starter. Anyway, cute art and nice tune. Well done!
HHCH
HHCH21 Apr 2026, 17:46
Cutesy, I have to admit that it caught me off guard, Im very impulsive so I dont read any of instructions Im just going straight to the gameplay but it was easy to understand, thats a really important thing for me, the art style and the designs is unique and beautiful, nice job!
Portalisauthor21 Apr 2026, 19:39
@sheepolution, thank you for playing, and it's an honor to be your first PvZ game :) The deck grows during the game - some creatures are given with new waves, and others can be chosen through upgrades. Different elementals are highly important; it's actually almost impossible to win the game with just earth and water, as you rightly noticed
Gecko64
Gecko6422 Apr 2026, 04:15
Very much loved the art of the game, the gameplay was pretty darn fun to play given the waves and the roguelikey gameplay. I would say that it is a little too common I feel to get the earth bunnies and my hand would constantly be filled with those and no other choice but to play them to refresh my hand without wasting a redraw. Otherwise that I loved the game :)
Piano.Olya23 Apr 2026, 08:09
@pidifussel Thank you so much ❤️
Piano.Olya23 Apr 2026, 08:12
@gecko64 Thank you so much for the kind words! Really glad to hear you loved the art and found the wave-based roguelike gameplay fun. 🔥

And thank you for the honest feedback about the earth bunnies — that’s super helpful.
Piano.Olya23 Apr 2026, 08:14
@hhch Aww, thank you! 🐰💕
So glad the cuteness got you — and that you found it easy to understand even without reading instructions. That means a lot!
Really happy you loved the unique art style too. You're the best! ✨
fullmetal_automaton23 Apr 2026, 09:18
Wow, that was a very cute game! Easy to pick up and play, pretty fun.
eseniia_no
eseniia_no23 Apr 2026, 09:21
So cute!! Loved the game, very stylish, very clear gameplay, loved the vibes!
Roitchie
Roitchie23 Apr 2026, 09:23
Such a cute entry. Love the art and music in this. Feels like a mix of Pokémon and plant's vs zombies. Both games I love so this was really fun to play. The card deck mechanics are interesting too and the synergies. Some hidden depth to the mechanics. Very impressive. Well done!
Piano.Olya23 Apr 2026, 10:18
@fullmetal-automaton, Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for the kind words ❤️
LDJam user 42432623 Apr 2026, 10:33
The visuals are really cute and appealing.

But in terms of mechanics, at first I didn’t understand why I could easily fill the entire field—it felt too simple to just defeat everyone, and I was missing some kind of placement limitation. Then there was a very sharp difficulty spike, and after that it became the opposite problem where I couldn’t keep up with placing units.
I also felt the lack of an option to remove previously placed units.

Nevertheless, it feels like a lot of work has been done, keep it up!
Rinzu
Rinzu23 Apr 2026, 10:39
The design of these Pokémon-like things is so cute,I really like them.
Nordin23 Apr 2026, 10:44
Very cute art, and the mechanic works very well, i am very impressed by how polished the game is
Piano.Olya23 Apr 2026, 10:58
@roitchie, Wow, thank you so much for the thoughtful feedback!
Piano.Olya23 Apr 2026, 11:04
@nordin Thank you so much ❤️
HordorSok23 Apr 2026, 15:43
I love the game style and music. For me, it just needs some game design improvements, and it’s a really addictive Plants vs. Zombies–like game.
Sobigdrasil
Sobigdrasil23 Apr 2026, 17:25
Hey! That's a very cute are that looks so polished :3 Idea is simple but nice, I would tho make it a bit more clear as I was confused what signalmons I should use against which enemy and that was a bit frustrating that you can't take them back or switch places as often you would like to experiment a bit, especially when you don't know the game.
peak_vinnie26 Apr 2026, 00:04
The art is perfect and the tune is good I often found myself jamming to it while playing haha!
ginkgo-biloba26 Apr 2026, 18:08
The art style is absolutely adorable, and the gameplay is incredibly addictive
skiddings28 Apr 2026, 19:58
Wow a full pants v zombies rouge-like in a jam!
Ryutoro4 May 2026, 11:02
Good game, beauty artstile

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