Man of yellow, imps, and grumpiness Ben “Yahtzee” Croshaw is filling the gaps in between his Zero Punctuation sessions with some indie game development. His new project, drawing upon his love for survival horror games, is a dark roguelike going by the name The Consuming Shadow. You can download the beta right now and help him tweak it to perfection.
Croshaw describes The Consuming Shadow as drawing influence from FTL, Eternal Darkness and the boardgame Arkham Horror. H.P. Lovecraft’s work is also a heavy muse for the story, which sees a world plunged into darkness as prophecy dictates that an ancient god will turn up at Stonehenge in 72 hours.
As player and hero, it is your task to travel from town to town, raiding dungeons and slaughtering the minions of the shadow, whilst looting four components required for the Banishing Ritual. All in a day’s work, eh?
But wait, hold your daggers and mythical artifacts Mr. God Slayer you… are you sure you know which ancient no-doubt-tentacle-bearded god will errupt from the earth in three days time? “As well as the ritual, you must also determine which god, out of three possible candidates, is the invader, as banishing the wrong one will result in failure,” explains Croshaw on his blog. “And even getting as far as the ritual will mean surviving countless trials with your body and mind intact. Try not to go mad and shoot yourself. This is important.”
Ready to save the world then? Head here and download the beta and get to work.