The Crypt Chronicle — Issue #1

Greetings Crypt delvers!

With the recent official trailer release and the first ever announcement for the game, I'm really excited to share what I've worked towards and what you can expect from the game. It feels good 'coming up for air' to share what the Crypt actually is (if you haven't figured it out already), what is being built and what's coming! Below you'll find a mix of game mechanic updates, development news, and early concept art!

So... the game concept stems back for several years and has drawn a lot of inspiration from familiar titles like Slay the Spire, It's taken on many forms since that time into the game it is today. You move through a procedurally generated crypt in first-person - stone corridors, locked encounter rooms that really don't have any friendlies in them, and you fight off everything you can with your hand of cards.

Sounds like a familiar formula? Here's where things take on a form of their own:

Cards That Break

In most deckbuilders, cards are seemingly lasting forever. In Into the Crypt, your Attack cards have Durability. When a locked door blocks your path, you target it with a card — lift it, slam it against the lock, and watch the chains fall. Every time you do, that card loses 1 use. Play it enough times on enough doors and it shatters permanently. Gone from your deck. Gone from the run.

It means every card you build your deck around is also a resource you're slowly spending just to move forward. Do you save your best cards for combat and struggle through doors with weaker ones? Or do you burn through your strongest cards to reach the next fight faster, knowing they won't last forever?

That's the kind of tension I wanted to create in the game. Steam post image

While the 'DNA' of familiar titles like Slay the Spire is definitely here, you'll find that the Crypt takes a form of its own. Some of this includes:

• Each of the playable clases in the game will have fresh new mechanics and unique cards of their own.

• Enemies are ruthless - majority of them have one or more 'passive' abilities that fundamentally require you to pivot your deckbuliding strategies every run in the Crypt.

• Event encounters are varied, and secret encounter types may be discovered as well.

A Deckbulider-first game

While the game is set in 3D, I wanted to ensure the experience was a first-and-foremost deckbuliding game versus a hybrid deckbuilder/exploration game. Earlier in development, I was bouncing around the idea of making it a 'labyrinth' kind of experience in which you could both explore and battle, but iterations of this felt like it was taking away from the 'magic' of fast-paced card battling. Instead, there's brief moments added to enhance the traversal through the Crypt, such as lifting up your class's arm with a torch during movement.

Three ways Down (so far)

Currently there are 3 fully unique classes to choose from, and each one asks you to think about card battling completely differently:

The Berserker class runs on Fury - a resource that builds over time as you play cards, which can be spent just like the primary resource (Energy), or built-up to reward you with a special threshold card. The Druid commands allies called Sheaf & Gob, and the cards for this class have an optional 'Offering' tag which allows the Druid to sacrifice those cards on his allies to enhance them instead of playing the cards normally. Sheaf & Gob will have their own set of actions/passives during combat. The Alchemist collects 'Ingredient' with cards played during battle and can brew potions, and can also generate special cards called 'Concoction' cards.

How Development Is Going

Many of the mechanics for both player classes and enemies has been mostly fleshed-out, and a closed alpha is currently underway. One of the challenges I have been faced with is to maintain familiarity with known deckbuilder 'formulas' while also bringing on new layers of different experiences of my own.

The game's development is in overdrive, with a lot of work being put in each and every week.

Team / Collaborators

Lead artist:

Dan Vitoria

Overload card illustration

Initial sketch of capsule art Steam post image

Event sketches

Crypt prop sketches

Animators:

Tyler Baraby

Tebo La Roza James Rommel Gonzales Lobaton Borók Bence Máté

Enemy ability and attack animations

Music Composer and Sound Artist:

Dirk J. Neefs

What's Next

As development progresses, I plan to show proper class spotlights, some more enemy reveals with specific mechanic details, and more game art, just to name a few! Drop a Wishlist if you enjoy what you've read and join the community on Discord Until next time - watch your step!