v1.1.0 — Windows and Android

A phone and polish update: the game fits phone screens, runs lighter with big swarms, and menus are easier to read.

Downloads

• Windows: HordeControl.exe. Windows 10/11, 64-bit, Vulkan GPU. No installer. Saves to %APPDATA%\Godot\app_userdata\Horde Control\.
• Android: HordeControl-v1.1.0.apk, built and signed by GitHub Actions. Android 7.0 or newer. It installs over v1.0.0 and keeps your progress. It is attached a few minutes after the release appears.

What's new since v1.0.0

• Fits phone screens.
  • Menus, the War Camp, draft cards and the HUD stay inside the screen, including around notches and rounded corners.
  • Text and buttons are sized for phones.
  • Records and long lists scroll.
• Smoother with big swarms.
  • Goblins are drawn in batches and share one brain, so large swarms cost much less.
  • On phones, the game logic runs 30 times a second.
  • Enemies are reused instead of rebuilt, so spawn waves hitch less.
  • The ground, scenery and boss bullets are drawn in far fewer passes.
• Clearer selection.
  • The chosen option shows a tick.
  • A yellow arrow points at whatever you are hovering or focused on.
  • Locked options are greyed out with a padlock and the reason.
• Less clutter in sieges. The red warning ring and "!" now appear only when a goblin is about to hit you, not for every goblin hitting the Tower.
• Show FPS. Settings → Video → Show FPS shows a readable panel with FPS, frame time, the slowest recent frame and enemies alive.
• Windows. The game opens full screen. Windowed mode fits above the taskbar.
• Sound. The doubled chime when a skill is ready is gone.

Heads-up.

• Very large swarms can still drop frames on older phones. If you see lag, turn on Show FPS and report the numbers.
• Goblins no longer block the player's movement, and some arrive at the Tower sooner, so the Tower may take more damage around wave 6. A balance pass is still to come.

Art: Tiny Swords by Pixel Frog (CC0). Music: cynicmusic (CC0). Font: Jersey 10 (OFL). Made with Godot 4.7.1.

v1.0.0 — Windows and Android

The full game: a 15-wave campaign of goblin swarms on a moated island, three bosses that fight in patterns, and a War Camp to grow stronger between runs.

Downloads

• Windows: HordeControl.exe. Windows 10/11, 64-bit, Vulkan GPU. No installer. Saves to %APPDATA%\Godot\app_userdata\Horde Control\.
• Android: HordeControl-v1.0.0.apk, built and signed by GitHub Actions. Android 7.0 or newer. No permissions, never goes online. It is attached a few minutes after the release appears.

What's new since v0.3.0

• Swarms. About ten times more goblins, and they get faster every wave. New enemies: the Bomber, the Brute, the Goblin Shaman, and elites with affixes.
• Bosses every 5th wave. The Goblin Warchief, Gutbarrel the Juggernaut and the Bombardier King. They attack in telegraphed patterns (charges, bullet spirals, bomb barrages), and each takes extra damage for a moment after its big attacks.
• New verbs.
  • Dash, with 2 charges.
  • Four Battle Skills: Arrow Storm, Frost Nova, Firebomb, War Horn.
  • Focus: stand still to shoot faster.
  • Repair the Tower with Scrap.
• Real abilities.
  • 18 abilities that level up to 5: orbiting and boomerang axes, a blade circle, meteor showers, storm bolts, ricochet, diagonal arrows, a ballista, a catapult and more.
  • Passives and ability combos.
  • 6 player ability slots and 3 for the Tower.
• Run events (Archero-style). An Opening Pick, a Patron's Boon, a Sanctuary before each boss, and a Blood Pact where you choose whether you or the Tower pays.
• A moated island. Four bridges, rocks and walls, powder kegs to kick, spike traps to lure goblins over, crates, and shrines with boons.
• The meta game.
  • A 30-node Skill Tree, 4 Champions, 8 Relics and 19 achievements.
  • Four difficulties, from Recruit to Warlord, plus an Endless mode.
• Clarity.
  • A clear look for focused, selected and locked choices, and big symbols on every card.
  • A Field Guide for every ability, enemy and object, and first-time tips you can turn off.
  • A redesigned HUD.
• Settings. Tabs for Audio, Video, Gameplay, Controls (rebindable keys) and Accessibility (HUD scale, reduce flashing, enemy outlines).
• Sound and music. New fantasy sound effects and a War Camp theme.

Heads-up. This version is meant to overwhelm you at first. Expect to die in your first runs, spend your Cores in the War Camp, and come back stronger. Balance will keep moving with playtests. Very large swarms (300+ goblins) can drop below 60 fps on laptops.

Art: Tiny Swords by Pixel Frog (CC0). Music: cynicmusic (CC0). Font: Jersey 10 (OFL). Made with Godot 4.7.1.

v0.3.0 — Windows + Android

Smoother, more consistent, and now on Android.

Downloads

• Windows: HordeControl.exe, a single portable file (Windows 10/11 64-bit, Vulkan GPU)
• Android: HordeControl-v0.3.0.apk (Android 7.0+). Allow "install unknown apps" for your browser or file manager, then open the file. Landscape; move with the on-screen joystick (it appears where your thumb lands); the bow fires automatically; the pause button is top right.

Smoother

• Movement is now interpolated between physics ticks, so the world no longer stutters on 120/144 Hz screens (measured: camera judder 3.36 px → 0.08 px)
• Enemies no longer flicker left and right; the archer runs instead of gliding in shooting poses
• Softer screen shake, fades on pickups and the level-up screen

More consistent art

• Crisp pixels everywhere (no blurry filtering), and every sprite drawn at one scale
• Paths, ponds, coast and plateaus rebuilt from the Tiny Swords tiles (no more vector outlines)
• Pack-style shadows, level-up cards, health bars and pointers; dark ink on parchment for menus
• Bigger, readable text at 1280×720 and on phones

Mobile

• Touch joystick and pause button; every menu works by tap, including Skill Tree hold-to-buy
• Phone layouts for the Draft, results, War Camp and title screens; Android Back pauses or goes back

The APK is built and signed by GitHub Actions from the tagged commit. Built with Godot 4.7.1. Art: Pixel Frog (Tiny Swords, CC0). Music: cynicmusic (CC0).

v0.2.0 — Windows

The improved build, from a full game-design + UX review of v0.1.0 (reports in docs/reviews/).

Gameplay

• The camera now follows you (it was stuck on the Tower)
• Fixed a bug where dead goblins kept their attack spots, so late waves could never reach the Tower. Standing still no longer wins
• Retuned waves: enemies scale per wave, the Tower shield refills only between waves, Sieges arrive in bursts from one or two directions
• Every run has a random seed (shown on the results screen)
• Draft upgrades stack correctly, card numbers are honest, and heal cards aren't offered at full health
• Screen shake, pickup and level-up sounds

Interface

• Objective line, three first-run hints, "Wave N" banner and Siege warning
• The Level-Up Draft shows every way to pick (click, 1/2/3, A/D + Space, hold W) and how many rerolls are left
• The Tower turns see-through when you walk behind it; the player can't hide under the HUD
• Clear symbols: purple crystal = XP, gold sack = Scrap, gold coin = Cores, red "!" = incoming attack
• Tower HP number, "Lv 1", an always-pointing Tower arrow, "Abandon run?" confirmation, readable Skill Tree and achievements, no more off-screen menu buttons

Requirements: Windows 10/11 64-bit, a Vulkan-capable GPU. Single portable .exe; saves live under %APPDATA%/Godot/app_userdata/Horde Control.

Controls: WASD / arrows to move (the bow fires automatically), Esc to pause.

Credits: art by Pixel Frog (Tiny Swords, CC0), music by cynicmusic (CC0). Built with Godot 4.7.1.

v0.1.0 — Windows

Horde Control is a top-down survival roguelite: keep yourself and the central Tower alive against eight waves of goblins.

• Full run loop: Title → War Camp → run → results → War Camp
• Level-Up Drafts with Common / Rare / Epic cards
• Skill Tree and achievements that carry over between runs
• Settings: master/music/effects volume, display mode, V-Sync, screen shake, damage numbers
• Single portable .exe, no installer. Saves live under %APPDATA%/Godot/app_userdata/Horde Control

Requirements: Windows 10/11 64-bit, a GPU with Vulkan support.

Controls: WASD / arrow keys to move (the bow fires automatically), Esc to pause.

Credits: art by Pixel Frog (Tiny Swords, CC0), music by cynicmusic (CC0). Built with Godot 4.7.1.