Begin the Slaughter

Begin the Slaughter is a roguelike built around runs of about 30 minutes, with no metaprogression. You play as a snake-like creature in a world being invaded by humans, and set out to slaughter them.

Build and clear regions

Each round, you draft building types in tetrad shapes, like Tetris blocks, and place them on the map. You then destroy crystals to clear regions. Clearing the required number of regions unlocks that round’s boss room. After placing and completing the boss area, you choose one of two downgrades and receive three more building types. This sequence continues for three rounds.

Buildings have different requirements for reaching their optimal power level. Higher power levels spawn more humans, while completed regions with higher power produce more upgrades. You claim upgrades by placing them in completed regions.

Momentum-based combat

You need to build up enough speed to hurt enemies. Movement techniques include automated wall-bouncing, grabbing the ground to pivot quickly without losing momentum, slithering and the slither-strike, teleporting above a dead enemy, and launching yourself from a climbing position. You can also wall-climb and use other maneuvers to move around.

Freezeframe

The game temporarily slows the world to 10% speed, giving you time to process what is happening.