Descent

About Descent

Descent is a short isometric sci-fi horror game by patchware, programmed, written and scored by jpbash, and made in under a week for Curdle Jam #20, whose theme was Descent Into Madness. You have been drafted to investigate the disappearance of the crew of the research vessel VALIS XI.

You explore the abandoned spacecraft room by room, a small figure in a spacesuit in pools of light surrounded by black. The core generator is still running, and a spidery creature hangs suspended in a glowing amber tank. The aim is to uncover the crew's fate and the discovery that led to their end.

The horror is quiet and lonely rather than violent; the maker tags the game non-violent. It works through darkness, isolation and what the ship's rooms tell you. The maker encourages full screen with your lights off, and warns of some mild flashing lights.

It takes about half an hour and is free in the browser. You can switch the camera between perspective styles with C and rotate the controls with R so that up is up, which helps on a gamepad.

How to play Descent

1. Open the itch.io page and press Run game, then go full screen.
2. Move with WASD or the arrow keys, or a controller.
3. Press R to choose a control rotation that feels right, and C to change the camera style.
4. Explore the ship's rooms and piece together what happened to the crew.

Tips

• Turn the lights off and play full screen, as the maker suggests.
• If moving feels off, press R: the 45 degree setting makes up mean up.
• Look into every lit room; the story is told by what the crew left behind.

Questions