Cool game but it is not clear what the strip on top does.
Thanks for checking out our game and leaving a comment!
Originally, we planned for there to be an upgrade system where you would choose a power-up once you filled the bar and leveled up, but ran out of time to properly implement that.
So right now it's a gauge that fills up a charge for your special attack (and you can hold up to 3 charges). I do plan on improving the HUD in a patch as there's other improvements we wanted to add post-jam.
Cheers.