The Black Pool

The Black Pool is a 3D action roguelike for solo play or co-op with up to three friends. Stranded in a remote, unknown galactic system, you make repeated attempts to return home, fighting through a procedurally selected sequence of worlds. Along the way, you choose and upgrade abilities, adapting your build to the challenges ahead.

Worlds and abilities

Each journey takes you across a random sequence of diverse worlds, with abilities and upgrades drawn from a large pool of possibilities. The game includes 10 worlds and more than 50 levels, selected dynamically. You can combine abilities with your own and your friends’ powers, then upgrade them to shape your build; the game offers 90 abilities and augments based on nine elements: Fire, Light, Ice, Decay, Terra, Wind, Lightning, Void and Chaos. There are also 99 upgrades for abilities and augments, plus randomized event challenges that reward augments and other special upgrades.

Learn and improve

Each attempt gives you a chance to learn how enemies behave and where their weaknesses lie, and to discover how abilities work together. You can unlock permanent enhancements that carry over between attempts, strengthen your character and support different play styles. Eighteen upgradeable device powers also improve progression across playthroughs.

Co-op play

You can play alone or cooperatively with up to four players. Abilities can encourage teamwork: players can redirect friendly attacks, amplify one another’s spells, and coordinate stuns and buffs. Co-op rewards players for working together, rather than simply playing alongside one another. Disconnected or incomplete playthrough sessions can be recovered in both solo and multiplayer.

Arena Survivors

Arena Survivors is a battle arena mode with rapid progression and randomized waves of increasingly difficult enemies. Its four unique arenas have varied, evolving layouts, hazards and challenges. A successful attempt takes around 30 minutes, compared with around 90 minutes for a full playthrough, and the mode offers a shorter way to experiment with abilities and builds.

Additional content

The game includes 55 enemies, including 11 multi-stage boss encounters, and four multi-tier endgame challenge modes, each with three options. Its original score features seven dynamic tracks that progress with the playthrough sequence, as well as 10 tracks for the Temple hub world.