Catacrawl

A cat. A horde that never stops.

Catacrawl is a fast 2D action roguelike. You are a cat, the screen fills with things that want you dead, and the boss that ends the run arrives ten minutes in. Mouse-aimed skills, two bosses every stage, loot on the floor, and progression you keep when you die.

You drop into a generated map with one attack and no plan. Every level deals you three boons and you keep one - more damage, a new element, sometimes a unique that rewrites the run. At five minutes the first boss arrives. At ten, the one that ends it. Die and you keep your levels, your loot and half your coins, and the next run starts stronger.

The Ranger fires arrows that curve, poisons, traps and a hunting falcon. The Sorceress burns, freezes and electrocutes. The Barbarian throws axes, leaps and screams. 91 skills with Diablo-style synergies, six hotbar slots to earn, and a skill tree that grows across every run.

Every monster has an attack of its own and a telegraph you can read: treants that grow roots under your feet, toads with a tongue you can outrun, balloons that hunt where you are walking instead of where you stand. Between them: defend zones that field whole formations, side quests, shrines, traps, sandstorms, and a Warden who sets three trials for anyone who clears the map.

Early Access

Three stages are in, with their own monsters, bosses and music; two more - the White Cube, a museum where the exhibits fight back, and The Feed - are still in development. Three cat classes are playable and more are coming; which one arrives first is something Early Access players get to vote on. And the balance is not settled - reworking the skill trees and the difficulty ladder around how people actually play is the main job of Early Access, and the runs you play are what it gets rebuilt from.