In development · Roguelike
The Under-Warden
You owe a soul, and the only way to pay it is down.
In development
The job
Sasha of Reven used to be what the trade politely called a specialist. Retired now, living above a vineyard that won't keep itself, behind on the rent. Then the goddess who keeps Sasha's ledger offers a deal: a woman named Anik died because of a contract Sasha should have refused, and if Sasha goes down into the Paths of the Dead and brings her back, the account is closed.
The goddess isn't telling the whole story. Sasha goes anyway.
The way down
Twenty-five floors across five regions, from the Boundary, where the orcs have held the same line for four hundred years, to the Weighing, where the dead are audited before they move on. The underworld is not empty. It is administered. It has soldiers who have built a culture in the dark, a smuggler with a stall between floors, and middle management with opinions about you.
Every fight is a problem to solve, turn by turn. The brass wand on Sasha's hip, Hollowmark, knows more than she says and argues about everything. You will die down there. You will come back. Why you come back is part of the story.
Ten years of this
This one is a labour of love. It started about a decade ago with me following a roguelike tutorial, and it has pivoted at least a dozen times since, each time a little closer to the game I actually want it to be, as I got better at making games. The current version is built in Godot and aimed at phones first.
One day it will be released.
The code is public, if you want to watch: github.com/RafeHatfield/catacombs-of-yarl.