I like the idea, though I would have liked some more variety in the "side effects". Maybe some that make you slower, or larger, or spawn more enemies, or make enemies move faster, etc. And maybe some positive side effects too, maybe paired with spells with weaker main effects.

This has been a bit of a theme in this jam, but it's hard to make "choose the least bad thing to happen to you" feel good.

The thing that really frustrated me was that it's extremely easy to accidentally choose your new spell without even seeing the new-spell-screen while fighting. 

With a single swarming enemy type and no real reason to switch spells, I feel like this could have been more fun with the spells autocasting.

Unfortunately, there are many games with the same mechanic and this one haven't seem to bring anything exciting to the table. Would be nice if you tried to implement some assets to make the game look cool and have it's own vibe!

It feels kinda strange that the spell upgrades are actually downgrades, and "take damage" seems to be the best side effect by far (because it doesn't permanently weaken you). Nice concept though.

Fun game with lots of anxiety. My highscore is only 251.

Really cool particle effects! Had fun watching my max health slowly decreasing as I frantically tried to keep the enemies back, asking myself if each cast is really worth the side effects.

Kinda fun!

I got to 1066 kills without moving just by spawning geyzers at the origin lol