Grave Chase

I love it! It's very fun, has great music, the gameplay feels inspired by some of my favorite retro games, and its only 5 bucks. I recommend checking it out.

Grave Chase is a simple-to-learn strategy title that involves a brother and sister trying to avenge their murdered parents by digging up body parts buried throughout each graveyard and using science to bring them to life. You'll have to alternate between digging, fighting off a small army of monsters, and avoiding the Gravekeeper, as if he was that skeleton whale from Bubble Bobble (he kinda is). In addition to fast-paced gameplay and a frustrating-yet-fun level of challenge, GC's 2D pixel art and quirky charm are clearly inspired by one of my favorite childhood games for the SNES - Zombies Ate My Neighbors. There are as many levels as there are days in the month of October, so, like, more than 27, but fewer than 32 (unless it's a leap year, I think) and you'll probably start dying on day three. By collecting all the parts within each stage, you'll be rewarded with a dancing whatever made from them. It's unpleasantly cute, or, perhaps, just unpleasant. I don't know. One was a jar with two torsos and a foot attached to it. Decide for yourself. The graveyards become larger and more mazelike with each new night, and, eventually, it all turns into a game of Pac-Man as a wide variety of monsters are constantly emerging from the ground, the obstacles, the hedges, and all around the borders of the stage to group up into a Benny Hill train of headaches if you don't take the time to clear them away. Meanwhile, the Gravekeeper himself is immune to all attacks, is sensitive to nearby sounds, hates having dirt thrown at him, loves cats, and will temporarily charge towards you when spotted. The objective may be to dig up body parts, but this must be balanced alongside defeating enemies and avoiding the chop-happy chubster. New monsters and obstacles appear at the start of most levels to help keep things fresh (or as fresh as dead can be) and trying to keep track of their abilities will lead to many, many mistakes. There were several times where I'd only need to find one more part, and I would end up dying because I allowed a slime to follow me into a dead end, or I swung at a psycho before he was vulnerable. Much like any proper arcade-styled experience, high scores can be saved and shared with others, but not in Normal mode. Normal mode was more than enough for a filthy casual like me, and it's your best bet for earning achievements, but if you're just looking for a challenge, you're welcome to try the Nightmare and Speed Modes. The music isn't bad, though not memorable, and that can be typed about the characters, as well. I like the kids, and it's nice to know that The Gravekeeper has loved ones of his own, but that's about it. None of them stand out in any way. No dialogue or unique gestures. Who knows, maybe we'll get to learn more about them in the sequel... if there's a sequel. I'd like a sequel.

Fun little holloween arcade game

Gotta be quick on your feet!

Lots of fun! I love the design and sounds. Make no mistake though, this game is difficult. I've struggled just to get to night 5. I can't imagine how people play it on Nightmare mode. Still, it makes me wan't to come back and keep going. One thing I noticed, and this may be my video settings/monitor, but full screen seems to crop the picture on the top and bottom slightly, and I can't see some of the action going on.

This is a very good but challenging game. I got this game after winning a trivia on the dad stream and it was harder than expected. I recomend this game epicly

Arcade gameplay that evokes Pac-Man & Zombies Ate My Neighbors. Fantastic aesthetic. 31 levels to run through and they are progressively challenging by incrementally adding in new gameplay elements such as monsters with varying abilities that switch up your strategy on the fly or Power Ups that turn you into the million dollar boy or girl wonder. Don't get cornered, and mind where you shovel your dirt. Some folks don't take too kindly to grave robbers. This is a Gem being offered for pocket change, don't sleep on this. Update: Yep, still a blast. At Day 14, there's still new monsters being introduced and based on achievements there are still more. I've been jamming through one to two levels per day based on how I'm feelin' and it's been a positive experience. Recommend this one to pass the time. Would love to see this get a port to mobile, it'd crush it on the play store.

Grave Chase is a very tightly designed little game that evokes classics like Zombies Ate My Neighbours, Zelda, and, of all things, Pac-man. There's just enough randomization in the game to constantly keep you on your toes, but the layout of each stage is still always the same, so optimization is possible. Which is good, because this game's design is clearly focused on replaying it over and over once you clear it, trying to attain the highest score and shortest time possible. The aesthetic is basically perfect, just creepy and spooky enough to feel fun, without being so gruesome that it can turn anyone off. The controls are tight and precise, the music and atmosphere are perfect, and every enemy and power-up feels very well thought out. Sadly, it's not all fun and nostalgia. The game is a bit too unforgiving, even in the normal mode where you can't game over. You have 2 lives and can earn more, but a single hit by almost any enemy (except the status ailment inducing ones) drops you immediately, which makes everything very nerve wracking and means the slightest split second mistake or mistimed input means you've just lost one of your rare, precious lives, which is all the more infuriating when playing on nightmare mode, where you have to start over from stage 1 if you lose all your lives. And it's not like the game is easy to start with! The early stages feel like the late stages of a lot of more accessible games, and things only get tougher from there. The fact that the "optimal" gameplay mode means surviving all 31 stages with no continues and trying to go as fast as possible means that a lot of more casual players will be turned right off, and even veteran pros might find the entire experience a bit too frustrating. I can't count the number of times I died to a weak enemy simply because my shovel swing was aimed in the wrong direction. Giving the player characters health points, even just 2 or 3, would make everything feel a lot less unfair and frustrating, and would bring the game's difficulty down to the tough-but-fair 16 bit classics it takes inspiration from. I truly hope if the devs see this, they'll consider this update. One more thing I need to point out, the fact that the player characters are siblings makes me think at one point they either had subtly different gameplay, or, more likely, the game was intended to have a co-op mode. Kind of a shame that neither is the case, and the character choice is entirely cosmetic! As it stands, I still heartily recommend the game, but only if you've got a lot of patience or experience playing twitchy high-skill games. People looking for a relaxing experience stay away!

Really, really not fun.

Good, solid arcade-y gameplay. Great music, great visuals, great times.