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Thanks for the feedback, dkomnen! A "press to upgrade now" mechanic could be cool! The leveling being a debuff is sort of the premise of the game (i.e. the curse). I agree that the pacing of the game is very bad in the sense that speed-decrease is big and can grind you to a halt quickly if you are not careful. Totally agree that the core mechanics should have been finetuned more. It is the first game I have made and did not spend any time getting player feedback, so that is definitely something I will prioritize in the next game jam. Thanks so much for playing!

Thank you for the feedback! I noticed severe framerate drop at +1m points as well. I assume it is due to many enemies off-screen as well. I will look into having dynamic sprites and other optimization strategies! As for the counter-intuitive strategy of going backwards I totally agree. It was not meant to be only playable using the cheese strategy. This is most definitely a balancing issue among other wierd quirks of the rushed game, hehe. Again thanks for playing!

Thank you so much for playing! The "More Spikes!" upgrade is capped at level 4! I figured there wasnt really much more space on the lance, especially with the combination of "Bigger Spikes!" upgrade. The only way I communicate that now is by disabling the upgrade, which I agree is not the best way to convey to the player it is maxed.

Thanks again! I really do appreciate your feedback :) After the game jam I will make a new version, and tag you in the comments. (If you do not mind of course)

Thank you so much for taking the time to give feedback! 

I realize now that many game mechanics are not obvious as I did not have any play testers.  Here is an explanation of whats going on for you (if you want to try it again) or any new testers before they play:

1.  Damage is based on Lance size and player movement. 
2. At the start of each game you are given 100 Coins which you can use to buy upgrades by pressing P
   2a. Horse Feed upgrade increases player movement (also damage)
3. When the Lance increases in size the player movement and rotation speed decreases
4. Movement speed forwards is the same as backwards.

Hint: You can cheese the enemies moving into them with the lance, then immediately reverse(S, or down arrow) and repeat. 

Had some unfortunate issues with the viewport. Did not realise untill after submission deadline :/ Hope the resolution is correct for you!