CHARGEBUG

Say hello to Chargebug. You play as a small, cheerful machine on a mission to clear out five dangerous energy cores. You start with 36 hull, a hand of five cards, and a heat problem that gets worse whenever you do something helpful.

The whole game is about being trapped between two clocks that absolutely hate you:

• Heat makes playing cards risky. Each card adds heat, and it never goes down. If you reach 50 heat, you take 6 damage and lose half your gauge. The game wants you to slow your pace.
• "Best-By" punishes you for waiting. Each card has a timer that starts as soon as the fight begins. If you play a card after it expires, it only works at half strength. The game pushes you to act quickly.

If you play too carefully, your cards expire. If you play too fast, you build up too much heat. Each turn, you have to decide which risk is better.

The Vent Is Tempting

When you deal damage, you build up Overcharge. If you fill it past halfway, you can vent it for the strongest attack in the game.

But there’s a downside: half of the damage you deal with Vent is added to your heat. If you charge it to 130%, you deal 26 damage but also gain 13 heat. If this pushes you over the heat limit, you’ll melt down the same turn you win. The Vent button even turns red before you use it, so if you overdo it, it’s your own choice.

Learn Each Core

You face five cores, and each one has its own pattern. The Capacitor Bank guards twice before charging up and then delivers the strongest single attack in the game. The Scrap Swarm attacks three times at once, which is when you’ll see if your armour module was worth it.

If you manage to defeat a core, your entire hand is refreshed. Finishing a fight quickly gives you a new set of cards for the next round.

Good luck. Don't overheat.

Music by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio.

Controls

• Play Card: 1–5 (or just click)
• End Turn: Space
• Vent: V
• Mute: M
• Pause: Esc