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RUN THE GRID · CAPTURE THE CORES · OUTRUN THE TRACERS
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A top-down roguelike maze-runner. Playable in your browser.

You're a PSI-class Runner. The Tracers have taken sectors of the System, and you're the only thing that can move into their territory and come back out. Dash through the grid, capture the cores, reach the exit before they corner you. Die. Wake up at the entry point. Go in again, sharper.

This demo covers the first 15 Levels of the System.

Like what you played? The full game is on Steam.
▶ WISHLIST ETCH ON STEAM
It's the single best way to support the game and to know the moment it launches.
"The war has begun, and we are losing. You are the last plan we have."
— ETCH

[ THE LOOP ]

  • ▸ Move fast. The Tracers hunt by pattern. Give them one and you're done.
  • ▸ Capture the cores in each sector. Find the exit before they corner you.
  • ▸ Pick an upgrade after every cleared Level. Equip a new module after every boss.
  • ▸ Die. Restart. Push further than the last run.

[ DEMO FEATURES ]

  • ▸ 15-Level demo run
  • ▸ Your starting Protocol:
SURGE forward dash, destroys what's in your path
  • ▸ Upgrades after every Level, modules after every boss
  • ▸ 6 classes of Tracers, layered in as you push deeper:
SCOUT sweeps the perimeter
HUNTER locks on the moment you're flagged
INTERCEPTOR cuts off where you're headed, not where you are
STALKER picks a trail and never drops it
GLITCH doesn't play by the grid's rules
AMBUSHER already waiting
  • ▸ Elite bosses (L5, L15) and a sub-boss (L10)
  • ▸ Level-by-level shop, slot machine, bonus rooms
  • ▸ Reactive data grid that pulses with your run
  • ▸ CRT post-FX: scanlines, vignette, film grain, color-temp drift
  • ▸ Gamepad supported

[ THE DESCENT ]

L1–4 Scouts. Easy. Don't get cocky.
L5 First elite. Sentinel, Disruptor, or Charger. You don't pick.
L10 Sub-boss. Warden walls you in or Phantom doubles you up.
L15 Demo finale. One last elite, faster and meaner. Survive it and the System remembers.

[ CONTROLS ]

Move WASD  /  Arrow Keys  /  Left Stick
Surge Space  /  A button
Pause Esc  /  Start

[ STATUS ]

This is a free playable demo: the first 15 Levels of the System, Surge only.

The full game is on Steam: 30 Levels total, four Protocols (you start with Surge and unlock the rest as you push deeper), 47 modules including 12 corrupted high-risk builds, six bosses across the run, and the Archon waiting at the end of the System. Endless mode, 57 achievements, and Cloud saves round it out.

Steam release supports Windows and Linux.

Feedback welcome in the comments. Tell me what killed you, what worked, and what you want more of.

ETCH is the first chapter in a series.

THE WAR DOES NOT END.

IT ONLY ITERATES.

> indie dev · godot 4.6.1 · web (html5) + windows

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