Horde Night

Horde Night is a top-down horde-survival game on a moonlit field of gravestones, crooked fences and glowing pumpkins. You walk and your weapons do the rest: a whip cracks by itself, magic missiles hunt down the nearest monster and lanterns circle you, bumping the crowd away. Every monster you knock out drops an experience gem that you pull in by walking close. Fill the bar and the game pauses to offer three cards, so every level is a small choice about how you want to survive.

There are eight weapons and six passive items, each with five levels: whip arc, seeking missiles, orbiting lanterns, garlic aura, thrown axes, holy water, lightning and a boomerang, plus boots, a lodestone, a heart locket, an old tome, a silver ring and an iron plate. Max out the whip while you carry the heart locket and it evolves into the Moon Scythe; the missiles and the tome become Star Storm. The night gets busier by the minute: shamblers first, then fast ghouls, bat swarms, armoured brutes and orb-throwing witches, a pumpkin-headed elite every two minutes with a chest to open, and the giant Bone Wyrm at ten minutes. Time-stop clocks and bomb scrolls turn up now and then.

A night lasts twelve minutes. The church bell tolls every two minutes, and if the horde knocks you out you can rise again from the last bell, so a bad moment never costs much. Gold from coins and chests buys small permanent boosts in the moonlight shop, and three more heroes unlock as you play, each starting with a different weapon. When one night is not enough, Endless mode keeps the horde coming for a high score. It is quick to pick up with a keyboard, mouse or touch screen, and your progress stays in your browser.