Free to playDeepest Sword Vault with a sword too big to lift
Pole-vault a growing blade up a dragon's cavern, one clumsy thrust at a time, until the length is finally right.
Is Deepest Sword worth it?
Deepest Sword is worth it if…
- you want a short, sharp challenge you can finish in an evening
- you like physics platformers where the main obstacle is your own equipment
- you want a friendly first speedrunning game with real time targets
- you enjoy jokes the dragon makes about your sword, and about you
Screenshots
A sword you cannot jump over
Your knight cannot jump. What you get instead is a very long sword and the ability to plant it against a ledge, rotate it and lever yourself up like a crowbar with commitment issues. Move with A and D, swing the blade with the arrow keys, and learn to read its weight: too short and it will not reach, too long and it gets wedged in the scenery while you flail. Every obstacle is measured so there is one clean way through, and finding it feels great. The pixel art is clean and charming, and the dragon's facial expressions as you approach are worth the trip on their own.
Deeper every time, and the sword knows it
The first run ends at the dragon's heart, which your puny blade cannot reach. So you get a longer sword, and the cave grows deeper to compensate. Each attempt adds more rooms between the start and the dragon, and every room you cleared easily with a short sword becomes a new puzzle with a blade twice your height. The whole first playthrough takes most people well under an hour, and the loop of "one more run" is the whole point. There is a story about a stolen kitten in there somewhere, delivered with a straight face and a lot of innuendo.
How hard is it really?
Can you play it solo?
Yes, it is a singleplayer game from start to finish, and a short one: a first playthrough usually takes 20 to 30 minutes. There is no multiplayer mode of any kind, so all the cursing at your own sword happens in the privacy of your own room. The speedrun controls and key rebinding are there for one player chasing a better time, and that chase is where the hours hide.
What makes the sword mechanic special?
Most platformers give you a jump. This one gives you a lever. You plant the sword, rotate it and push yourself up, and because the blade keeps growing between runs, the same trick gets heavier, wobblier and more absurd each time. Late in the game the sword is so long it can trap you in a corner, yet it also opens moves a short blade could never do. Learning to handle each new length is the real progression, more than any room or enemy.
