Spirits Abyss

A game by Caiysware for PC, originally released in 2020.

Spirits Abyss is a roguelike platformer offering procedurally generated destructible environments. The opening cutscene shows a parent carrying their child as they trek up the side of a mountain under the light of a blood moon. Legend has it that there is an opening on the mountaintop that leads to the gates of the Resting Realms, and any child cast into the abyss on the night of a blood moon may someday return with great wealth and power over The Undying. You take on the role of the child who is tossed into the abyss, and you must battle your way out... or die trying.

While the game takes many inspirations from Spelunky, it carries over the aesthetic qualities and dark childlike humor of the developer’s previous works, Straimium Immortaly and Skelly Selest. Each of these games offers multiple gameplay modes, a gritty pixel style punctuated by occasional garish colors, and arcane beings who offer to help you to survive for just a few more minutes, often in exchange for some kind of sacrifice. These games are brutally difficult at the start but become more manageable as the player makes progress, gains an understanding of the inner workings, and eventually begins unlocking new characters.

Read More

 2020, Caiysware, PC

Skelly Selest

A game by Caiysware for PC, PS4, Xbox One, and Switch, originally released in 2018.

Skelly Selest stars a skeletal fellow known as a Heavenly Keeper who has been sent by the Selestial Order to destroy the hell-beasts that are spilling out onto Earth on account of Hell being full up. It is up to him to purify the land of this plague lest Earth be overrun. The game is a top-down hack-and-slasher with a dose of projectile combat. There are numerous game modes, including arena combat against waves of enemies, roguelike dungeon crawling, special hardcore challenges with unusual restrictions, and even a demonic card game inspired by Final Fantasy VIII’s Triple Triad.

Most of the game modes are locked at the outset, offering only the option to try the tutorial or dive into the first combat arena. Like many roguelikes, the game is not friendly to newcomers, so players can expect to die repeatedly until they master the basic combat, understand enemy behaviors, and figure out what all of the powerups do. As such, despite the simple controls, a run through the tutorial is highly recommended.

Read More

 2018, Caiysware, PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox One

Straimium Immortaly

A game by Caiysware for PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One, originally released in 2016.

Straimium Immortaly is a roguelike dungeon crawler starring the Straima Ninja (or one of six unlockable characters) who descends into a cube of procedurally generated interconnected rooms to blast enemies and defeat the "Queeni Emperess". Along the way, the jetpack-equipped explorer acquires numerous randomized support items, as well as more powerful weapons and special abilities to help him wreak destruction. However, these rewards are hard-fought and easily lost upon death, which results in the player being booted out of the Cubicus to try again from the start.

Before the game begins, the player determines whether he would like to enter a small, medium, or large Cubicus, along with selecting a playable character, hats, modifiers, and/or cheats, all of which must be unlocked before use. The player is able to move freely in any direction but can only fire to the left or right, and his aim locks in the direction he is facing until he lets off the FIRE button.

Read More

 2016, Anthony Case, Caiysware, PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox One