The Twenty-Ninth

In the year 1538, a township sends a man down the Root Way. This is the twenty-ninth time.

The Twenty-Ninth is a first-person horror roguelite in the dark. You move a step at a time through floors that are different every rite, and what lives on them does not wait for you to move. Some of it wanders. Some of it hunts. Standing still will not hide you.

Going down

A hundred floors of the Root Way, cut by hand and left where the work stopped.

Five things that live down there, each with its own way of finding you: one wanders, one cuts you off, one hunts by sound alone, one does not stop, and one only watches. Until it decides not to.

Your lamp lights three paces. Your ears reach further. Headphones recommended; sound captions are in the options.

Chambers every ten floors, where a stone can be set — and a stone set is a floor you can begin again from.


Coming back up

Everything you carry is lost when you are caught. Everything you bring back up to the camp is kept.

A trunk, a counter and a tender's chest at the camp: sell what you found, buy what you need, and go down again heavier or lighter.

The twenty-eight before you left things behind. Some of them left writing.


The look
Drawn on a 480-pixel-wide view with ordered dither and a lamp that falls off the way a lamp does. It is dark on purpose. There is a brightness slider for your monitor, not for your nerve - and higher contrast, reduced motion and larger text in the options.

Keyboard, mouse, or controller. Rebindable keys. A full run is an evening; getting to the bottom is a good deal more than one.