A week ago, while discussing the nuances of Arco, I expressed a desire to play more bullet hell games with time freezing mechanics, to better enjoy the complexity of their projectile patterns. Now here’s Moon Watch, a Vampire Survivors-esque pixel art shooter where you have a watch that stops time when you stand still. Snug in that frozen moment, you can laugh into the snarling faces of the living dead as you idly pick and aim garlic grenades, stake throwers, and bouncy ice comets.
At least until you run out of energy for garlic grenades, pole throwers, and bouncy ice comets. In a sadistic reversal of the premise – akin to offering a spoonful of pudding to a child, only to exchange it for a spoonful of disgusting, nutritious vegetables – energy for weapons must be restored by moving. So when you’re not laughing at the living dead, you’re flying them out carefully, avoiding their shrapnel, with one eye glued to the energy reservoirs on the bottom left.
Why is Moon Watch ‘Vampire Survivors-esque’, instead of ‘Vampire Survivors-esque’? Firstly, because many of the skills require manual aiming and firing with the mouse. And secondly, because the game consists of several levels or arenas spread across a roguelite campaign path. Each arena asks you to hold out for a certain amount of time, rather than being a continuous, upward spiral of enemy waves and unlockables. It’s a bit reminiscent of Into The Breach, I think.
The vampire swarms aside, similarities to Vampire Survivors include a choice of three unlocks when you level up. This is the usual mix of passive improvements and new weapons for your hand. For example, you can get turrets, a throwable zombie bait, and a teleportation dashboard. I’m sure you can find a way to combine these things.
What more is there to say? Well, the starting character is some kind of warrior nun who resembles the ogre-like blonde girl from Hey Arnold!but doesn’t seem nearly as ogreish. When you beat a level, she does a victory spin, even if the remaining zombos rush her position like pigeons noticing a dropped sandwich. I find this charmingly courageous. Furthermore, developers The Jaspel are the same depraved, genre-bending scientists as Backpack Hero.
Find the demo for Moon Watch at Jeuk.io with a full release to follow Steam sometime in the tactically deferred future.