It's 1992. A German PC gaming magazine, Dungeon Weekly, is hosting a worldwide tournament. The challenge: complete a series of strange dungeon-crawling “games” they send you. Each one feels familiar, but never quite the same.

Every dungeon is a mutated version of a game, the genre that is coming to be known as "rogue-likes" in the USENET circles... but core elements of these games appear, disappear, and recombine: sometimes the gameplay is close to what you would expect, sometimes the rules are bent in unexpected ways. You’ll have to adapt, survive, while carrying your character’s progress from one challenge to the next, if you want to win the challenge's grand prize: A 486DX2 gaming computer.

However, unknown to the players, the tournament is part of a massive experiment run by a mysterious Berlin institute studying what truly makes a roguelike fun. As players around the world compete, their adventures become data points in an evolving theory of game design.

But something about the tournament feels… off.

Features

  • Meta-roguelike structure – Each tournament is a high-stakes run where failure is permanent, and every round enables or disables different roguelike design principles with your hero continues across multiple dungeon runs. 
  •  A strange experiment – Participate in a global study on the nature of fun in roguelike games. Every enemy is a unique type of dungeon – Face a wide variety of randomized roguelike games.

Updated versions

The web playable version is a slightly improved version over the original 7DRL submission; if you would prefer to play the original version, please download it from the list below.

Following is the list of changes for this improved versions:

Version 0.2 [7DRL++]

  • Recover HP on level completed
    • This one is critical to make the game playable, unless you are a god..
  • Tweak placement of player and enemies in ASCII mode
  • Tweak Game options windows layout
  • Prevent changing or using game options unavailable on 7DRL scope

Version 0.3

  • Fix critical progression level throwing players forward two levels on each round
    • This one is critical to make the game winnable, unless you are a god..
  • Keep a separate state for training mode to prevent it affecting tournament game mode.
  • Use all music tracks for training mode, victory variations, and defeat.
  • Add Reboot option to menu to start again.
  • Fix qualitative depth descriptions
  • Show "You have new email" alert
  • Fix: placing player behind the level in graphics mode
  • Use proper walls and floors in ASCII mode

Credits

  • Sound Effects: QuietGecko
  • Music: Dinti
  • UI Programming: Santiago Zapata
  • Dungeon Game Programming: Camilo Ramirez, Santiago Zapata
  • Design: Santiago Zapata
Updated 1 day ago
Published 3 days ago
StatusReleased
PlatformsHTML5, Windows
Authorslashie
GenreStrategy
Made withUnity
Tags1-bit, Dungeon Crawler, Experimental, Retro, Roguelike

Download

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Click download now to get access to the following files:

Version 0.3 42 MB
Version 0.2 (7DRL++) 39 MB
Original 7DRL submission 39 MB

Comments

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Awesome concept,  my friend you always deliver! Enhorabuena!

love the concept, i gave it one quick try and am already loving the ui and the way the story presents itself. i'll try a more in-depth playthrough soon!!

What a weird idea! I’ll have to try this out!