Hello again, Custodians! We've got a bunch of good things in this patch across the board. First things first, let's start with the functional changes.

Saving Throws

Maxing out your Psychosis is a game over - we know that. Or do we? One thing that has popped up for us as designers again and again is that while we provide a tool to edgerun Psychosis (the Circuit Breaker module), few players seem to pick up on and use it. Instead of trying to harp on the topic, we decided to upgrade the entire concept with a new event - the Saving Throw. Once per game, at 100 Psychosis, a special event will pop to give you a chance to resist the psychotic shutdown. If you hit the chance, your Psychosis is set to 90 and you can continue to fight to the end. You can increase your chances of making the throw by making certain... sacrifices.
At the end of it, though, it comes down to a roll of the dice. Succeed, and you get a reprieve:
Fail, and that's the end of it. Running yourself to the wall is still not great, either for Custodians or the overworked heroes they resemble, so taking sacrifice options will reduce your end Score by quite a bit. Conversely, refusing to roll the dice or take any options will give you a large bonus to your Score for narrative reasons. Simply rolling the dice will have no effect on your Score. The Circuit Breaker module still exists and continues to work the same way it did. It will not affect your Score and using it is basically considered a valid usage of resources and planning. The only tweak is that it now sets your Psychosis to 90, rather than 85, to bring it in line with Saving Throws.

Polish and Finishing

1.1 includes another 2 dozen fixes of various typos, awkward sentences, punctuation fixes, and mistaken word choice. It also includes a buff for FRANK's "Crushin' it" perk, earned from the Pumpin' Iron self-improvement arc. The stress reduction from throwing the weights around was not enough to properly offset the stress of throwing doors open. Rather off-brand for the angriest brickhouse on the block!

Mod framework updates

Thanks to the continued tinkering by some of our awesome modders in the discord, today's patch also includes more modding seams to give everyone more space in the game for their creativity. Modders may now override the new turn activation message and title with the following global flags: global.game.flags.new_turn_message_body global.game.flags.new_turn_message_header This will allow modders to make up custom changes from custom Custodian choices, custom events, etc to give extra strangeness to the beginning of a turn. These changes are still subject to the effects of DECAYING SHIP I (activation messages are corrupted and scrambled). Modders may also override the new game activation message, and the responses, with the following global flags: global.game.flags.new_game_startup_message_body global.game.flags.new_game_startup_message_button_label This will allow modders to make changes to the new game startup message, and the Custodian's response. This is a big step toward making sure that custom Custodians are treated as first-class content, and also has the side benefit of adding in something important for modders considering making entirely new story arcs - this will allow a custom start when going into Sandbox Mode, which is blank enough to allow for full stories to be made from scratch.

The future

We still have more in the pipe for Endless Dark. 1.2 will come as health and time permit (once again, this patch was absolutely delayed a month by illnesses running roughshod through families), but the Endless Mode revamp, more modding updates, and continuing adjustments to the main game will be happening at least a little longer.

Our next game

We have also officially broken ground on our next game, and have the first vestiges for our prototype in Godot. There's nothing to report on it just yet as it is still too early, but we're super excited with the power that Godot puts at our fingertips and we're bursting with ideas to bring to fruition. More as we have it. More frequent and minor news will be published on Bluesky as it comes up, so follow us there! We have discontinued using Twitter entirely.

[ 2025-03-09 19:26:32 CET ] [ Original post ]

A refreshing twist on roguelite and storytelling, Endless Dark is a psychological horror game about the pressures of monotony and the purpose of existence.

You, the Custodian, are a sentient machine onboard a sleeper colony ship, charged with keeping it intact. No combat, enemies, or NPCs await you - only a myriad of system failures and the decay of your own sanity as you whittle away the decades in isolation. Hundreds of story events and a deep narrative keep each iteration of you intrigued. Customize your own chassis, repair the ship, and keep your passengers alive long enough to win... something. Can you uncover the intent behind your own creation before you slip into robo-dementia?

STORY MODE

The ship is shadowy in more ways than one. Ancient agreements and long-forgotten understandings conspire against you to keep you in your place. Doing your work. For however long the long-absent conspirators wanted.

Explore a deep narrative that evolves over multiple playthroughs, and choose how you deal with each new revelation. Not all truths will set you free, and some things are better left unsaid.

ENDLESS MODE

For a more mechanical challenge, try the optional endless mode. In this mode, the only objective is to propel the ship as far as you can before you inevitably lose your passengers, your mind, or both. Contend with the confusing oddities of the ship and its myriad catastrophes with a specially written CRISIS CYCLE. Three impending crises, promising grievous and irreparable damage, will be shown to you. Use your intuition, born of your intimate awareness of your vessel, to discern which two crises are lies, and which one is the true threat! Choose wisely - the Crisis will not be gentle if you fail to prepare for it.

PLAYABLE...

Endless Dark has been designed from the start to be eminently playable for Custodians with their own histories. The game has a specially chosen color palate to be visible for numerous kinds of colorblindness, even full monochromacy. Large, clear text makes messages readable at a glance. All Custodians need only bring their willingness to do, explore, and grow.

Busy Custodians also need not fear; distinct, bite-sized turns with effortless autosave allows for drop-in, drop-out play.

Control things your way; the game is fully playable with a gamepad only, keyboard only, or mouse and keyboard.

...AND REPLAYABLE

With over 50,000 words (and growing!) of random events, spread over dozens of dilemmas, and a finely tuned Director that applies just the right amount of pressure, Endless Dark is designed to never present the same situation twice. Fight and overcome, or struggle and succumb, the next time will always be different.