Shellter

A small kingdom has built its castle on the back of a giant sea turtle. Keep stacking while the turtle swims, rolls and dives beneath you, and don't let the crown fall into the sea.

How to play

• Drag to aim the next castle piece. A ghost shows exactly where it will land. Release to drop it, or let go over the sea to change your mind.
• Every piece costs gold, which trickles in as you play. Short of gold? Tap the Next card to swap pieces.
• Merge pieces for a sturdier castle. A roof on a tower makes a Spire, a tower on a tower a Great Keep, walls side by side a Rampart. Merged pieces turn gold, hold fast and pay bonus points and gold. The ghost glows gold when a merge is ready.
• The turtle leans towards whichever side is heavier, and a lopsided castle slides whole stacks into the sea. Watch the balance bar; the ghost warns you when a spot is slippery.
• When the horn sounds, the turtle dives in three seconds and the sea washes over the rim of its shell.
• Lose five pieces, or lose the crown, and the run is over.

What keeps you going

• Grow your settlement. Every few pieces your castle becomes a Hamlet, a Village, a Town and beyond. Villagers move in and you choose one of three boons.
• Sail further. Calm Shallows, Coral Reef, Open Sea, Sunset Straits, Storm and Moonlit Deep. Each brings a bigger swell, stronger wind and more frequent dives.
• Unlock skins. Every run earns trophies towards 6 turtles and 6 castles.

Best played in portrait on a phone (touch). Mouse works too; on desktop, use the fullscreen button at the bottom right of the game.

About

A submission to Slapjam AI. Theme: Castles. Everything was made during the jam window.

Credits

AI tools used

• Claude Code: code
• Claude Design: UI and visual system
• ChatGPT: concept art
• Codex: code review, music and sound

Team

• Adrian Diez Cuadrado: design and direction

Built with Phaser 4. Fonts: Alegreya and Alegreya Sans by Huerta Tipográfica (SIL Open Font Licence).