This is a neat concept - a tower defense + card + side scroller game - but it wasn't executed well.
Having A and D keys for movement instead of the arrow keys is OK, if a bit unconventional for a sidescroller. Involving the mouse doesn't make sense to me; why have the player click on the map to place towers instead of have them placed next to the player character in the direction they are facing? Furthermore, I could not get the tower menu to appear consistently, and would occasionally get the shop to open instead.
The thing that hurt this game the most was the attempt to throw too many mechanics together:
- I have to maneuver the player character around the map to avoid damage from enemies
- I have to place towers on the field
- I have to manage resources so I can purchase new towers and upgrade existing ones
- Play continues while the menus are open, so I get overwhelmed by enemies while navigating and reading
I never got past the first wave because of these issues. Perhaps this will work better with more refinement?