A week ago, while examining the nuances of Arco, I expressed my desire to play more bullet hell games with time-freeze mechanics, to better appreciate the complexity of bullet patterns. Now, here's Moon Watch, a pixel-art shooter in the style of Vampire Survivors where you have a clock that stops time when you stand still. In that frozen moment, you can laugh at the scowling faces of the undead and idly select and aim garlic grenades, stake launchers, and bouncing ice comets.
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At least, until you run out of energy for garlic grenades, stake launchers, and bouncing ice comets. In a sadistic reversal of the premise – like offering a child a spoonful of pudding and replacing it with a spoonful of disgusting, nutritious vegetables – energy for weapons must be regained by movement. So when you're not laughing in the face of the undead, you'll be carefully scuttling them and dodging their shrapnel, one eye glued to the energy reservoirs in the lower left.
Why is Moon Watch “Vampire Survivors-like” and not “Vampire Survivors-like”? First, most of the abilities have to be manually aimed and fired using the mouse. Second, the game is made up of different levels, or arenas, interspersed throughout a roguelike campaign path. Rather than being a continuous, upward spiral of waves of enemies and unlockables, each arena asks you to last a set amount of time – a bit reminiscent of Into The Breach, I suppose.
Vampire hordes aside, similarities to Vampire Survivors include three unlockables as you level up. These are the usual mix of passive buffs and new weapons at your disposal. For example, you can get turrets and throwable zombie bait, and a teleport dash. I'm sure you'll find a way to combine them.
What else is there to say? The starting character is a sort of warrior-priestess who resembles the ogre-like blonde girl in Hey Arnold!, but she doesn't look all that ogre-like. When you beat a level, she makes a triumphant return as the remaining zombies swarm her position like pigeons spotting a dropped sandwich. I find that fascinatingly bold. Also, the developers are The Jaspel, the same twisted, genre-stirring scientists who made Backpack Hero.
You can find the demo for Moon Watch on Itch.io, while the full version will be released on Steam at a tactically delayed future date.