Acheron

About this game

Acheron is a fast action roguelite about getting out. You start at Undertow Station, at the bottom of the Underverse, and the only way out is up: room after room of fights, with a choice of reward behind every door and a different run every time. Each run you take one of six weapons, every one with an Attack and a Special: the Arc Blade's quick combo, a Volt Spear you can throw and call back, a shield that bashes and blocks, a Prism Bow with a charged power shot, Pulse Fists and a Rail Cannon that lobs bombs. Dash through danger (you cannot be hurt mid-dash), read the red shapes on the floor before they land, and save your Call for the moment it counts. On the way up, the Signals drifting down from the surface offer boons. There are eight of them, from Volta's storm and Cryo's long cold to Pyra's furnace and Umbra's unlit moon, with ninety-four boons between them that change your Attack, Special, Cast, Dash and Call, and Duo boons when two Signals combine. Four regions stand between you and the dawn - the Drowned Grid, the Cobalt Floodworks, the Ember Arcade and the Aether Spire - with nine bosses along the way. When you fall, the river carries you home. Echoes, Keys, Shards, Glow and Prisms come back with you, and the Station turns them into permanent upgrades, new weapons, weapon aspects and improvements to the Station itself, while its people have something new to say each time. Escape once and the Static Pact lets you make the next run harder for bigger rewards. A run takes twenty to forty minutes, and your progress is saved in the browser.

How to play

WASD to move, left click or J to attack (hold to charge or keep firing), right click or K for your Special, Space or Shift to dash, Q to Cast and F to Call when the gauge is full. E talks and interacts, R reloads the Rail Cannon, Tab shows your boons and Esc pauses. A gamepad works, and on a phone the left thumb moves with the buttons on the right. Dash through attacks rather than away from them.

Read the Acheron guide