A very novel incremental game. Actually ends up feeling like a tower defense game once you have enough stuff bought up, with the game being more about the placement. Gameplay can get tedious and I think it could be improved further into a full game. Maybe different maps with obstacles that you have to "explore" while keeping up with the objective, or new types of monsters that behaves differently.

For my taste, the take on the theme was best by far by this game. It took what I imagined someone should do with the theme, and it was done here - something other than just a number/story, and a mechanic of light being core to the gameplay. The very bad part for me was the awful balancing and way too slow pace. If that was fixed slightly, this would've been a 5/5 for me and a clear winner for the jam, because it introduces new mechanics and how they can be applied to the genre - There's a ton of games great just with numbers, but I think we need to see more originality like this, where actual interactions/visual progress is presented in a fresh way.

Game mechanics balance needs a little bit of work, but good pace and beautiful game.

The start is painful, you have to play hyperactively to have a hope at getting money and you end up repeating the same level a decent amount of times to get the money needed to put up a defense. By the end, it's dreadfully boring, because the monsters will put zero fight and you just watching people walk from one end to the other.

These would be issues I would fine with if there a decent middle between these two extremes, but there isn't. Not just not a decent one, but there is no middle at all. Mind you, I don't think it's an issue that can even be fixed, I think the whole concept of the game is screwed from the start, because once you have enough light via a beam force-field or a bunch of lamps, there is nothing that can challenge you.

There is at least positive to be found in that it is a pretty nice feeling to be trouncing the monsters that had given you so much trouble in the start, but it isn't enough to make the game fun.

Overall this concept has immediate appeal and the player knows what the goal is right away and how to get better at it, very well done. Upgrades in this game are satisfying to obtain. At least the ones where you get to place more towers anyways. They have a very clear effect and identity and really compels you forward. The radius ones are a bit less enticing because they're small, which I assume you wanted to be careful with. Once the walls come into play, you reach end game fairly quickly from there.

Getting walls set up reminds me of Jezzball, where you're sort of corralling the enemies and locking them into certain areas. It feels very good to pull this off. With some different paths and enemies this could turn into something even cooler :)

i love it.