THOTH

THOTH is a top-down twin-stick shooter played in small, single-screen, minimalist and abstract arenas. The game consists of 64 levels that need to be completed one after another and checkpoints are only activated when a set of about four is completed in one go without dying. The player controls a circle that can be moved around freely and can shoot in any direction independent of movement. The goal of each level is to neutralize all enemies and this generally takes no longer than 30 seconds.

Enemies have different colours and behaviours. What they have in common is that their colour is drained when they are hit and they turn black permanently when neutralized. If the player stops shooting briefly before they are neutralized entirely however, they regenerate their colour. After turning black they are not removed from the arena but continue to be present as a threat, sometimes even faster. When all enemies are turned black the level is completed. Levels have some puzzle element to them as the player needs to figure out how to attack and how enemies respond. Enemies generally only chase and attempt to collide which leads to instead death, but there are also other hazards such as small blocks launched as projectiles, barriers that move or change quickly, enemies that expand into a deadly black void if they are not contained, enemies linked together through chains and so on. The player's character has an unlimited amount of bullets, but the speed is slowed down while shooting. To move quickly, for instance to escape, firing needs to be ceased briefly.

The game supports cooperative, local multiplayer with a second player on the same screen. When one of the player characters dies however, it is turned into an aggressive enemy who chases after the remaining character. Next to the initial 64 levels there are procedurally generated levels and very difficult lava challenges that can only be tried after completing a large amount of levels in one go without losing a life.