The Shadowed Rune

The Shadowed Rune is a challenging action roguelike where you can create millions of spell combinations to overcome a tower filled with dangers, random levels, and ruthless bosses. Play solo or in co-op and uncover the truth hidden behind the shadows, relying on the power of the runes.

This story is not told by the victors

Do you think you're invincible? Imagine entering a forgotten tower and losing your powers. You're trapped, and your only hope is to rely on ancient artifacts granted by a mysterious voice. Join Maia, Brishen, and Veld on a magic-filled adventure as you climb a tower without knowing what awaits you at the top.

Create your own spell combinations: millions of possibilities

Discover a rune system based on seven elements (water, fire, wind, earth, lightning, light, and darkness). Each equipped rune creates synergies with the others, adding devastating effects to your spells and allowing you to create millions of spell variations, unlock dozens of handcrafted arcane spells, and adapt your style on the fly without pausing the action.

By combining and swapping runes during combat, you'll discover new elements and equip secondary spells depending on the order in which you place them. Want to heal yourself? Summon allies? Create support turrets? A “just-in-case” super bomb? Everything is possible! Thanks to a deep yet accessible spell system, you won’t need to pause the action to adapt to the dangers of the tower. All discovered spells are automatically saved in your Compendium.

Accessible yet challenging roguelike action

In The Shadowed Rune, you'll enjoy bullet hell / bullet heaven-style combat filled with enemies and projectiles.

Face giant bosses that will put your skill to the test. Discover their weaknesses, study their patterns, and crush them with elemental power.

Random levels on every attempt: you’ll never explore the same tower twice.

Interact with the environment: the same runes you use for attacking are the ones you'll need to manipulate levels. Create water, activate flying platforms, grow root bridges, and play with lighting to unlock secret rooms and earn valuable rewards.

Play solo or in local co-op (or online via Remote Play Together)

The whole adventure can be enjoyed:

Solo, accompanied only by Neku: a cat you rescue in the tower and revive with the power of the runes. It will follow you in your adventures and allow you to store an extra rune for when you need it.

In local two-player co-op, ideal for sharing the adventure with friends or family. Choose from 3 characters (7 in the final version) with different elemental abilities to overcome the cursed tower.

You also have access to a family mode that softens certain elements of the game to make it more accessible when playing with inexperienced players, perfect for enjoying co-op without frustration.

Compatible with Steam Remote Play Together, allowing you to play co-op online.

Co-op mode requires at least one controller connected.

Explore the arcane tower and rebuild the camp

Travel through seven floors with unique biomes filled with enemies, traps, and puzzles. As you ascend, you'll discover the secrets hidden within the tower and the great evil that threatens not only its inhabitants, but the entire world.

Throughout your journey, you'll find survivors captured by the tower’s forces. Once you help them, they will offer different services, allowing you to unlock new features in the camp:

Unlock challenges and activities to complete between tower runs.

Take care of the garden to increase the camp’s morale.

Obtain cosmetic items (outfits for your characters and your pet).

Learn about the characters’ backstories and befriend the rest of the survivors.

Expand the camp and uncover the secrets of the ancient Tyran empire.

In the camp, you'll find only cosmetic rewards, minigames, and activities—nothing that will make your next run “easier”. Victory depends entirely on your skill.

EARLY ACCESS – Content available from day one

Three playable characters (one of them must be unlocked during your adventures).

Dozens of spells and artifacts to discover during your tower runs.

Explore three tower floors, with a final battle that will push your skills to the limit.

A camp to manage: rescue captured survivors and help them prosper by rebuilding their shops and services. In this first phase, you can help rebuild it and unlock various activities, minigames, and cosmetic shops.

Cosmetic item system for your characters and your pet.

English and Spanish text available from day one.

Achievements.

Regular updates following a defined roadmap and based on community feedback.

Collect clues during your incursions to uncover what really happened in the tower and who is responsible for the evil threatening the world.

Level editor integrated into the story

Create your own challenges using the official level editor and share them with your friends. Build rooms, add enemies, create puzzles, and play your levels solo or in co-op. Link levels together (up to 100) and put your skills to the test.

The level editor is available in Beta from day one, although it must be unlocked during your adventures (as it’s part of the story). It will allow you to create levels and play them solo or in co-op. A wiki will also be provided explaining how to share your levels with other players while it remains in beta.

(A mouse is required to use the editor.)

ROADMAP

The Early Access launch is only the first step in telling the story of “The The Shadowed Rune”. In short, during development up to version 1.0, we will include:

Greater variety of random levels.

The remaining tower floors (for a total of 7).

More activities to complete in the camp.

Three new elements with hundreds of spells and possible combinations.

Two endings.

An end-game system that will delight the most experienced players.

More customization for the characters.

Improvements for the editor.

The first part of The Shadowed Rune development roadmap can be found below.