Death Scythe

Death Scythe is a cross-scroll running game submitted to js13kGames 2022 (theme: "Death"). The core mechanic is distinctive: you move forward while hanging from a rope, and you need to collect souls to be able to hang the rope in the first place. This creates a risk-reward loop — souls are the resource that enables your movement, so you cannot simply sprint to the end, you must gather fuel to progress.

The game is controlled entirely with mouse clicks, making it accessible and immediately playable on any device. The art is created in Aseprite (pixel-art tool) and the sound effects use ZzFX (Frank Force's tiny sound generator), both standard tools in the js13k community for fitting complete audiovisual experiences into the size limit.

Death Scythe earned top recognition in the 2022 competition. For players who enjoy one-button runner games with a resource-gathering twist, the soul-rope mechanic gives this entry a mechanical identity that pure runners lack — you are not just dodging, you are managing the resource that lets you move at all.

Death Scythe uses a single input: the mouse click. Click to control your movement as you cross-scroll through the level.

The core mechanic: you hang from a rope to move forward, and you need souls to hang the rope. Collect souls as you progress — without them, you cannot maintain your movement.

Strategy: treat souls as fuel. Do not rush past soul pickups to go faster, because running out means you cannot hang the rope and you stall. Balance forward progress with soul collection, and time your clicks to the rope-swing rhythm rather than mashing.