Project Hail Meowy is a turn-based roguelike about punching a ship's moves onto a punch card. Every modern vessel is grounded, so you are flying the last fighter left: an old ship that runs on punch cards.
The combat works like programming. You punch out your moves and shots one row at a time, hit RUN, and then watch your program play out — the ship does exactly what the card says, in the order you laid it down. Enemies show their plans too, so a good read of what is coming lets you outsmart them before you commit.
Between fights you build the ship up: salvage and trade for new modules and upgrades across three acts and three bosses, so the loadout you take into the last act is one you assembled yourself.
The game was created in 72 hours for Ludum Dare 60, on the theme "Old Tech", and it keeps its retro ASCII presentation. It plays in the browser and can also be downloaded for Windows. The developer notes that the game may take a moment to load, and that WebGL may need enabling if it does not start.
How to Play
Punch the rows of your card to program the ship: each row is one action, in the order you enter it. Press RUN to execute the whole card and watch the fight resolve. Read the enemy intent panel before you commit, because you can see what the opposition is about to do. Between acts, spend salvage and trade to fit new modules and upgrades, then push on toward the Fat Cat's mothership.
Controls
Mouse or WASD / Arrow keys – navigate menus and options
Click / Space / Enter – confirm (punch a hole, press RUN)
X – discard a mis-punched card
Esc – menu / back
0 (zero) – full reset
All controls can be rebound in the pause menu
Tips & Tricks
Read the enemy's next move before you punch your own rows — the fight is decided before RUN is pressed.
Order your rows deliberately: the card executes exactly as written, so a badly ordered program wastes a whole turn.
Spend salvage between acts rather than saving it all; new modules open up plays your starting loadout cannot reach.
If the game fails to load, enable WebGL in your browser first — the developer calls it out on the page.
Features
Turn-based roguelike where ship behaviour is programmed on a punch card
Punch moves and shots one row at a time, then press RUN to execute the whole program
Enemies display their next action, so you can read and counter them
Ship building through salvage and trade across three acts and three bosses
Retro ASCII presentation
Created in 72 hours for the Ludum Dare 60 jam, on the theme "Old Tech"
Plays in the browser, and a Windows build is available for download
Mouse, keyboard and touchscreen input, with every control rebindable in the pause menu
The developer discloses AI assistance for code, graphics and text
Latest Updates
Added to PlayBloo
Punch out your moves and shots one row at a time, hit RUN, and blast your way to the Fat Cat.. Discovered on itch.io's new releases feed and added to the PlayBloo catalogue with verified source details.
PlayBloo
