⛓️ Chained Descent — Game Wiki
Genre: Lovecraftian survival-horror descent (prisoner in a diving bell)
Engine: Phaser 3 + React/Vite (TypeScript)
Platform: Web (Steam/itch.io planned)
Target Session: Slice is short; full fantasy is multi-chasm campaign
Status: Vertical slice exists — soul/intent must be restored (see )
Wiki Standard: Golden template for Metal Games gamejam wikis
Honest status (read this first)
| What exists today | What does not exist yet / was lost |
|---|---|
| Playable vertical slice (one trench) | Multi-chasm overworld + progression as playable code |
| Steam MVP scaffolding | Step 3 build against CURRENT carve only (do not inflate) |
| Step 1 accepted + Step 2 carved (2026-07-11) | Studio process lock (metalgames-site#16) |
| Track B Step 0 scrapes (IGN/GameFAQs Dredge, Jaws, Limbo) | FAQ numeric TBD rows (design debt) |
Creative north star (locked 2026-07-10): — Lovecraftian prisoner in the bell, at Navigator’s mercy; wake up inside the bell; overworld to different chasms with Dredge-style return-deeper progression; story. Do not ship copy or walkthroughs that gut this.
Process: CD was built slice-first (cautionary). Track B: https://github.com/LukeLit/chained-descent/issues/5 — Step 1 accepted · Step 2 carved 2026-07-11. Next: Step 3 build CURRENT only. Do not inflate Steam MVP as the game.
Pages
| Page | What's In It |
|---|---|
| Soul SSOT — Lovecraftian prisoner / Navigator mercy / wake-in-bell / multi-chasm | |
| IGN-style hub — Step 1 ACCEPTED · Step 2 carved; jump to chapter pages | |
| One page per chapter (Ch00–Ch09) with Next/Prev — not a mega dump | |
| GameFAQs-shaped Q&A — accepted with WT; numeric TBD debt | |
| CURRENT extract only — Alpha 0→2400 from accepted master | |
| Single-page archive / print form of the accepted master | |
| Superseded archive — do not use; opens Walkthrough hub | |
| Core systems: bell motion, navigator commands, resources, hazards, salvage, failure states | |
| Game-wiki reference catalog: vehicles, controls, resources, hazards, salvage, regions, unlocks | |
| Object health, segmented ledges, and bell/chain object physics (Phase 1) | |
| Stats, items, and the between-run surface hub (Phase 2) | |
| Data-driven narrative beat catalog and trigger contract | |
| Reusable image placeholder convention, gamejam wiki pipeline, agent anti-patterns | |
| Plan Alignment Review 2026-07-07 | Tech design review comparing the current plan against the local implementation |
| Visual language, SVG-first pipeline, atmosphere philosophy | |
| Comparable titles + Step 0 min1/rec3 | |
Index into references/ Step 0 archives | |
| Proof-game progress, shippable milestones, next-jam hardening | |
| Steam MVP | Slice -> Steam roadmap (map, story beat system, meta v2, packaging) |
| Agent cheat/harness contract; real-path death→hub gate (no F2 as proof) | |
| Screenshot gate before UI redesign | |
| GameJam Refresh 2026-07-06 | Ready-to-paste listing copy + screenshot capture checklist |
| Decision history, what changed and why, playtest results |
The Pitch (30 seconds)
You pilot a fragile vintage diving bell suspended from a chain into a vertical underwater shaft. The chain makes movement momentum-based — sometimes delicate, sometimes a wrecking ball. Oxygen ticks down. Your lamp burns fuel. Every meter deeper is a bet: grab the salvage and burn O₂, or keep dropping and hope you have enough to surface. The ones before you didn't come back. Their notes are still down there.
Closest comp: Iron Lung meets Limbo. Solo dev submarine horror with 2D atmospheric platformer DNA.
Two hands on the descent: A surface Navigator owns the chain — vertical motion (stop, reel up, ascend, descend) is requested through timed hold commands that fill a circular meter — while the Pilot in the bell steers left/right and nudges descent speed. Two roles, one lifeline.
Beyond one run: Salvage feeds an emerging meta layer — spend recovered scrap at a surface hub on hull, fuel, gear, and descent upgrades between dives, so each run starts a little stronger than the last.
Current Vertical Slice At A Glance
| Area | CURRENT Behavior |
|---|---|
| Session | 3-5 minute successful run target |
| Route | One shaft — seven segments from depth 0 to terminal depth 2400 ( bands, not campaign chapters) |
| Loop | Hub → Map → Descent → extraction floor → ascent → surface return |
| Controls | Momentum steering, brake/suspend/reel, accelerate, tap-toggle lamp, hold-to-salvage |
| Resources | Oxygen, fuel, integrity, pilot health |
| Salvage | Four authored nodes: supply crate, ruined bell, collapsed locker, navigator's cache |
| Hazards | Cave walls, ledges, mines, rocks/pipes, wreckage fork dividers, flooding |
| GEAR | Fuel / Bomb / Harpoon / Grappling Hook usable in-run (keys 1–4); feel/tuning still operator-owned |
| Future Guard | Multi-region shafts, creature AI, bell fleet, illustrated death cinematics are labeled future unless scoped |
Reusable Gamejam Wiki Pattern
Chained Descent defines the standard for the remaining Metal Games gamejam entries:
- Start with the implemented build as
CURRENT. - Add a player-readable walkthrough plus a systems-readable mechanics page.
- Catalog entities in a wiki-style reference page.
- Add image placeholders before final screenshots/art exist.
- Keep full-game/future material labeled and separated from shipped-slice behavior.
- Prefer full-game-before-slice for new titles (Step 0 → 1 → 2 → 3). CD is the cautionary slice-first case — do not copy that process failure.
See for the repeatable page set, placeholder format, screenshot/export pipeline, and agent anti-patterns.
Proof-game tracking + next-jam hardening: (milestones, lessons learned, bootstrap checklist).
Steam track: Steam MVP with sprint + tasks docs at docs/plans/steam-mvp-sprint.md and docs/plans/steam-mvp-tasks.md.
Store pack (stubs): docs/steam/README.md — capsules/screenshots still TODO.
Pipeline backlog (blocked work): docs/process/cd-pipeline-backlog.md.
Quick Links
- GitHub Repo
- GameJam Page
- Pitch Deck
- — slice player questions
- Steam store pack — checklist + packaging stubs