There’s definitely something here. I played the game all the way through, experimenting with various upgrade paths. I eventually settled on upgrading damage until I dealt 50 damage per hit the very first time the upgrade menu appeared, after which I never bought any upgrades or used any abilities for the remainder of that run. Dodge chance is kind of annoying because you can really get cooked by the time thieves if you roll poorly, but honestly the game is short enough that restarting a few times isn’t too punishing. I liked it.
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Also, the Fish is overpowered.