Imagine you have radiation poisoning and are faced with certain death. After accepting the opportunity to explore a mysterious and dangerous underground labyrinth what decisions would you make along the way? Malcolm Pierce’s experimental rpg dungeon crawler allows players to explore that story in 26 Gy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUdy8P2SVCk The game is set in the year 20XX and an accident at the Los Alamos National Laboratory has left three of its staff members with 72 hours to live. Underneath the facility is an ever-shifting labyrinth. A door to the labyrinth has been found but no one knows what lays beyond it.
Inspired by old school games 26 Gy is an experimental and unique experience with horror themes. In most RPGs characters level up as they gain experience but in this game the three poisoned characters will lose a level and ability every minute. This can be compensated for by donning more powerful weapons, armor and stat boost items.
Players time is limited so they’ll have to choose whether they want to fully search each level of the labyrinth or try and find the path to the bottom of the dungeon. Each of the three playable characters has their own combat style. There are 15 procedurally generated levels of the labyrinth to explore.
To encourage exploration there are plot points and secret areas hidden within the levels. Players will have to strike a balance between exploring and making the most of their limited time. 26 Gy also features classic turn-based RPG combat and a Commodore 64 inspired soundtrack by composer Jenny Gibbons.
The title was designed to be reminiscent of the era of PC shareware discs and pirated cassette games. For anyone nostalgic of old adventure games you needed a manual to get through then 26 Gy may be the game for you. Available now on Windows PCs, 26 Gy costs $2.99 from the game’s website. The game is also in the process of being greenlighted on Steam, you can vote for it here.
