Cavern

Factsheet

Developer:
Brendan Roarty (Dogma Quest)
Colorado, United States

Release date:
TBA 2026

Platforms:
PC / Mac / Linux
Steam
Consoles TBA

Dogma Quest Website:
dogma.quest

Description

Swap, Experiment, and Explore in Cavern, a roguelike sandbox. All objects in the world can be swapped back and forth at will, from the walls to the enemies. Swap slimes into harmless pots, turn enemy projectiles into countless health potions, and discover hidden interactions to conquer the ever-changing depths of Mirror Cavern.

Dev History

Cavern began as a game jam project in 2023, where my interpretation of the theme ("roles reversed"), attempts to place the player in the role of level designer. What if the player had debug tools that let them change the level around them as they progress? The jam revealed a few cool interactions that reminded me of very open ended systems in games like Noita, and parts of Breath of the Wild. The importance of different states that take advantage of object effects (carrying a pot or rock to block bullets), and the existence of objects that spawn more objects (plants that shoot fire bullets) as generators of infinite swappable objects, were two notable interactions that felt like "aha!" moments, emergent from the system. I'd previously produced a small arcade skiing racer, and a tower defense game, and was looking to work on a much larger scoped project I believed could go the distance in terms of complexity and depth, and I got the opportunity to go caving! I've been tuning the gameplay, creating new and unique interactions, and creating the in world story for cohesion presently.

Features

Unique Swapping Mechanic that turns every run into a sandbox. Objects in the world can be swapped back and forth for unlocked object types no matter their state. That skeleton's sword is now a useless stick!
Anomaly System that changes the game as you play, presenting you with fresh challenges and unique opportunities. All rocks deal double damage...
Procedurally Generated Levels with Seeding Support and Perma-Death for a roguelike experience.
Specialized Character Classes that all interact with objects differently to recontextualize the game world.
Difficult Bosses, Enemies, and Traps that reward experimentation and ciritical thinking skills.
A Humorous Narrative with Epic Cutscenes that will pull at your Heart Strings