Brut@l

Brut@l is a modern reimagining of the ASCII dungeon crawler. Choose one of four heroes—Ranger, Mage, Warrior or Amazon—and descend through a procedurally generated dungeon made entirely from ASCII. Your goal is to reach the 26th floor, defeat the Guardian of the Dungeon and claim his crown.

Explore the dungeon

You begin with an unlit torch, a battle-worn shield and your bare fists. As you travel from Floor 1 to Floor 26, you gather raw materials and learn skills to craft and enchant weapons, brew potions and forge magical talismans. The dungeon is home to Trolls, Orcs, Rockmonsters, Lycanthorpes and other monsters. Each enemy type has its own attack style and weakness, which you can learn by unlocking pages in your adventurer’s Field Guide.

Enemies also appear in groups called Squads, whose combinations become more challenging as you descend. For example, a Minotaur’s heavy-damage charge can be dodged, but Frozen Skeleton Archers can freeze you in place with their arrows while it bears down on you.

Craft and enchant weapons

To craft a weapon, find a Weapon Codex—a blueprint or recipe—and combine it with the required raw materials, which are ASCII letters. The five weapon types are short-swords, long-swords, spears, hammers and bows, each with its own special move. The Skullcrusher Warhammer can pound the ground to deal area damage and knock enemies back, while the Goblin Pike lets you charge and thrust at enemies from farther away.

You can replace a key ASCII letter in a weapon with an enchanted letter to give it a special ability. Enchantments can set enemies on fire, freeze them, poison or electrocute them, or transform them into other creatures. For example, the Flaming Thunderstrike bow sets enemies alight from a distance. Arcane letters can randomly transform an enemy into something smaller and weaker, but may instead turn it into something bigger and more dangerous.

Brew potions and forge talismans

Potion ingredients are scattered throughout the dungeon. Combine them to brew potions that can help you or hinder enemies, but their effects are unknown until you drink or throw them. Potion colors, effects and recipes are randomized on every new playthrough, so you cannot be sure what a potion does in advance.

Talismans are magical relics found deep in the dungeon. Wearing one grants a special ability: the Gift of Farsight reveals the entire map, while the Rune of Methuselah increases the experience points you gain.

Play together or create dungeons

You can explore the dungeon in local co-op with a friend. If your friend dies, you must reach the next floor alone before you can revive them.

After completing the game, you can use the Level Editor to build, play and share your own dungeons. Start with a blank canvas or adapt a procedurally generated level, then place weapons, furniture, loot, traps and monsters. Custom levels can take the form of dungeon crawls, platformers or wave-survival challenges.