How to play ~dvngeon

What is ~dvngeon?

~dvngeon is an action RPG where you fight hordes, not turns. You move and aim your hero while automatic weapons whirl, strike and burst around you, and the screen slowly fills with monsters and projectiles. If you have played Vampire Survivors or other survivors-like games, the loop will feel familiar, with direct aiming, a dodge and class skills on top.

Every expedition is a short run with a fresh build: level up, pick weapons and passives, and see how far they carry you. The gold you bring home buys permanent boons, so even a lost run makes the next one stronger. It runs in the browser, so there is nothing to download and no account to create.

How a run works

1. Choose a hero and a destination. Pick a hero on the title screen, then walk to the Wayfarers' Gate in Hearthmere (or press Journeys) and choose an expedition. All nine are open from the start, ordered by difficulty.
2. Arrive. You get a three-second calm at the arrival camp, then the horde comes.
3. Survive six waves. Each wave lasts a minute. Monsters stream in from beyond the edge of the screen, and each wave adds events: rushes, swarms that sweep past, and rings of monsters that close in. Eight-second transition windows lead into waves three and five, where named minibosses appear and drop treasure chests.
4. Level up. Kills drop experience gems. Each level offers three choices, sometimes four: a new weapon, a passive, or an upgrade to your hero's own attacks.
5. Slay the boss. After six minutes the expedition's boss arrives with its own mix of telegraphed slams, charges, ring, fan or crossing volleys, and visible gaps to escape through. At half health it enrages, attacks faster and summons help.
6. Go home. The boss's death opens a gate back to Hearthmere. Dying takes you home with half your gold and no gathered ingredients. Abandoning takes you home without run rewards or career XP. Only a boss kill counts as a clear.

Under the town

Find the candlelit burial court in Hearthmere's eastern quarter, south of the restaurant. This descent opens nine underground depths in sequence: The Old Drains, Drowned Cistern, Hollow Ways, Candleless Catacombs, Buried Foundry, The Reliquary, Silent Necropolis, The Black Rift and Heart of the Abyss.

Every visit generates a large network of chambers, caves, halls and winding tunnels. Mixed squads, padded out by a brood of lesser creatures, guard a randomized sequence of keys, levers or relics. Watch for ambush warnings, flankers and ranged attackers protected by guards. Support creatures can heal a wounded ally, so choosing your target matters. Treasure applies immediately without a Continue screen. Defeat the guardians, use E or the touch interaction button to break two seals, then face the keeper. There are no timed waves underground.

Every underground species has its own trick, always telegraphed in red: rats bite and fall back, deep ones pounce down a marked lane, minotaurs and horses charge (and stagger if they miss), ogres and trolls slam a ring around their feet, toads drag you in with their tongue, beholders and mages fire three aimed bolts, elementals, hierophants and drakes lob poison or fire onto a marked ring, ghosts vanish and reappear behind you, skulls light a fuse that still goes off if you cut them down, slimes split in two, and war cries quicken a whole squad. Squads surround you and take turns attacking, casters aim where you are walking, quick monsters sidestep your shots, and a room in a fight can shout for help from a neighbouring room. Melee blows step in as they land, so strafe or dodge rather than just backing away. Each floor grows harder from its first wing to its last, and a wiped squad sometimes leaves a small heal.

Fall underground and the monster that killed you holds a grudge. It becomes that depth's nemesis: a named, larger champion with a rank and traits (swift, vampiric, armored, vengeful or crippling) that waits beside the trail on your next descent into that depth, whichever hero you bring. Each time it wins again it ranks up, to rank five. Slay it for a bounty of gold and career XP; the descent menu shows every standing grudge.

The Old Drains is available immediately. Clear a depth on Normal to open the next one and unlock Veteran for that depth. Clear Veteran to unlock Mythic. Floor access is shared across heroes.

The descent advances your existing character. Career XP, permanent boons, gold, ingredients and packed meals are shared with outdoor journeys. Each hero earns a first-clear bonus per depth. Defeat keeps half your gold and earned career XP, but no ingredients. Abandonment keeps no rewards.

Crimson Space campaign

Find the crimson gateway east of Hearthmere's market square. Six worlds contain ten levels each: Ash March, Brood Wilds, Drowned Dominion, Cinder Engine, Hollow Winter and Crimson Abyss. Each world keeps its own scenery and lighting, with different clearings, ground patterns and encounter arrangements across its ten levels. Every tenth level is a distinct three-phase boss.

Fight swarms, clear finite waves, destroy nests, hold shrines, survive hazards and hunt marked creatures. Later missions combine flankers, chargers, snipers, healers, shielded guards and explosive creatures. Watch the attack warnings. Flank shields or use area damage; prioritize healers and move sideways when a charge locks on.

Use your currently selected hero. Fighter has more health and a stronger shockwave; Ranger moves and readies faster; Wizard deals more damage; Cleric's Holy nova restores health. There are no separate arena hero unlocks. Town upgrades do not apply.

Clearing a level permanently opens the next. Continue within a world to keep your weapon and perks and recover up to 25 health. A new world keeps your hero but starts a fresh build at full health. Replays also start fresh. Each level offers up to two perk choices. Daily encounters change at 00:00 UTC; a continuing run keeps its starting date. First victory each date earns one blood seal as a trophy.

Your stage unlocks, scores, medals and seals stay in this browser. There is no online leaderboard. Replays can improve personal records, but cannot earn another seal for the same date. Abandoning earns nothing.

The four heroes

Choose a hero on the title screen. The game remembers your choice, and Change hero on the town screen lets you switch between runs.

• Fighter

  Sweeping sword strikes and a piercing shockwave.

  Attack

  Cleave, a wide sword arc

  Skill

  Shockwave, which pierces up to three foes

  Health

  120

• Ranger

  Fast movement, precise arrows and a three-shot volley.

  Attack

  Arrow, aimed at range

  Skill

  Fan Shot, three arrows in a fan

  Health

  90, and the fastest on foot

• Wizard

  Arcane bolts and explosive fireballs. Powerful, but fragile.

  Attack

  Arcane Bolt

  Skill

  Fireball, which bursts on contact or at full range

  Health

  85

• Cleric

  Holy strikes and a close-range nova that also heals.

  Attack

  Holy Strike

  Skill

  Holy Nova, which restores 2.5 health when it hits an enemy

  Health

  105

Nine expeditions, nine bosses

Expeditions are ordered by tier, from 1 to 9. Enemy health, damage and speed rise with the tier and with each wave, and every destination fields its own monsters, elite and boss. The map is generated fresh for each run, with open fields for the horde, winding roads, water, walls and themed sites.

1. Tier 1

   Alderwake Wilds

   Old woodland paths winding between alder groves and quiet clearings.

   Sites

   Old Grove, Stone Circle, Hunter's Camp

   Elite

   Rotbloom Bear

   Boss

   Mycelos, the Rotbloom Colossus

2. Tier 2

   Mire of Whispers

   A drowned fen crossed by narrow causeways and reed-choked islands.

   Sites

   Sunken Shrine, Witch's Hollow, Lily Mere

   Elite

   Bog Croaker

   Boss

   Morrowgast, the Mire Physician

3. Tier 3

   Glassroot Depths

   Lobed caverns where crystal roots catch the light below ground.

   Sites

   Crystal Heart, Geode Hall, Miners' Camp

   Elite

   Glassweb Matriarch

   Boss

   Vex'thal, Mind of the Glassroot

4. Tier 4

   Frostvein Pass

   A narrow mountain passage cut through ice and wind-scoured stone.

   Sites

   Frozen Lake, Ice Spires, Yeti Den

   Elite

   Rime Mauler

   Boss

   Rimeback, the Frostvein Troll

5. Tier 5

   The Saffron Expanse

   Open saffron dunes broken by caravan tracks and hidden oases.

   Sites

   Oasis, Caravan Rest, Obelisk Ring

   Elite

   Saffron Lion

   Boss

   Khan Asharak of the Saffron Sands

6. Tier 6

   Bellgrave Crypt

   Branching burial halls and tombs beneath a long-silent bell chamber.

   Sites

   Ossuary, Pillared Nave, Chapel of Bells

   Elite

   Grave Colossus

   Boss

   The Bellgrave Reaper

7. Tier 7

   Cinderhammer Halls

   Industrial halls divided by furnaces, foundries and cooling lanes.

   Sites

   Great Foundry, Slag Pit, Anvil Hall

   Elite

   Warbreed Berserker

   Boss

   Old Cinderhammer, the Anvil Giant

8. Tier 8

   The Verdant Sepulchre

   Temple clearings swallowed by dense and watchful jungle.

   Sites

   Serpent Temple, Idol Clearing, River Ford

   Elite

   Alpha Creeper

   Boss

   Thornback, Idol-Beast of the Sepulchre

9. Tier 9

   Crown of Ash

   Fractured lava crossings between ash fields and volcanic chambers.

   Sites

   Altar of Ash, Lava Crossing, Demon Gate

   Elite

   Ash Abomination

   Boss

   Malzeth of the Ashen Crown

Weapons, passives and upgrades

You aim your hero's own attack and skill. Everything else you pick up on the way fires by itself. You can carry up to four weapons and four passives, each with five levels, and every expedition starts a fresh build.

Weapons

Spin Cycle

Blades orbit you and cut anything they touch.

Chop Chop

Hurls heavy axes in high arcs. Each axe pierces.

Pew Pew

Fires homing bolts at the nearest foe.

Chain Pain

Chains lightning through two to six distinct foes, losing 20% damage per jump. Walls stop each link. A lone foe takes one hit.

Holy Moly

A holy aura burns and repels foes close to you.

Brrr

A frost nova that damages and slows nearby foes.

Bad Soup

Lobs flasks that leave poison pools behind.

U-Turn

Flies out through foes, then turns and cuts its way back.

Sky Oops

Marks dense groups of foes before meteors strike the area.

Trip Tax

Leaves explosive snares behind you. Rank three adds four shards at 25% damage each. Shards cannot hit foes already caught in their own blast.

Tiny Boss

A small animal companion fires bolts. Every third volley adds two bolts, with all bolts in that burst dealing 65% damage each.

Passives

Each level of a passive adds:

Big Mad

+10% damage.

Second Plate

+15 maximum health.

Leg Day

+7% movement speed.

Bean Juice

-6% cooldowns.

Big Deal

+10% area.

Sticky Fingers

+40% pickup range.

Thick Skin

-1 damage taken.

Leftovers

+0.25 health per second.

Lucky Duck

+12% gold and better offers.

Class talents, signature upgrades and treasure chests

Signature upgrades improve your hero's attack and skill: more damage, plus class effects such as wider arcs, extra arrows or bolts, piercing, larger blasts or extra healing. Treasure chests from elites upgrade items you already carry.

Each hero also has one three-rank talent outside the weapon and passive slots. Bonk empowers every fourth Fighter Cleave. Rebound gives Ranger arrows a ricochet. Floor Food lets Wizard fireballs leave burning ground. Holy Heck adds radial bolts to the Cleric's Holy Nova.

Hearthmere, gold and permanent boons

Hearthmere is your walled hub town, with a market square, guild halls, a smithy, gardens, a farm and a temple. Townsfolk go about their day and stop to chat, you can pet the cats and dogs, and a few easter eggs are waiting to be found. The tavern is open for cooking and service. The market, smithy and farm are scenery for now: trading, equipment crafting and farming are planned.

Clears bank all gold and gathered ingredients. Defeat keeps half the gold, rounded down, and no ingredients. Abandoning keeps no run rewards or career XP. Spend it at the Hearth Shrine in the temple on permanent boons. There are eight, each with five ranks, and they apply to every hero:

Hearthfire

+4% damage per rank.

Stout Heart

+8 maximum health per rank.

Tempered Mail

-0.5 damage taken per rank.

Road Legs

+3% movement speed per rank.

Warm Hearth

+0.1 health per second per rank.

Keen Eye

+12% pickup range per rank.

Guild Share

+8% gold per rank.

Wayfarer's Wit

+5% experience per rank.

The game also keeps your records: runs, clears, kills and best level for each hero, and your fastest clear of each expedition.

Fishing

Every water in Hearthmere can be fished, and there is no rod to buy. Walk to a bank, a bridge, the fountain or the well and press E to cast. A few fish shadows swim in each water, and their size hints at the species. A fish only notices a bobber just ahead of its nose, and one dropped on its head sends it bolting. It nibbles the bobber one to four times, then bites: press E, click or tap straight away to hook it. Strike on a nibble and it bolts; wait too long and it gets away; strike late and it may wriggle free. Some fish nibble, then lose interest and swim off.

Now and then the catch is junk: a soggy boot, a cart wheel, an unpaid tavern tab, a participation trophy. Junk never goes in the pantry: it waits in the Catch Book's Junk Drawer, where each piece sells for a few gold.

Sixty-four species live in the brook, the deep pools around the market bridges, the salt pond, the fountain and the well. Each bites at its own hours, and some only in rain, storms, fog or clear skies. Every catch adds a whole fish to the pantry, and the Catch Book (B) records each species, its count and its record size.

The Hearthmere Tavern

Monsters and expedition sites yield regional ingredients. Elites and bosses bring larger harvests and recipe slips. Your satchel is banked only when you clear the run. A defeat keeps half your gold, rounded down, and no gathered ingredients, while recipe slips still come home. Abandonment keeps no gold, ingredients, recipe slips or career XP. The kitchen gives you a one-time starter pantry and recipe.

Cook a known recipe, or experiment with two ingredients and an optional spice. An exact combination discovers its recipe. Other combinations still make a modest soup. Prepared portions go onto the menu automatically, and you can pause or resume each dish.

Tavern visitors arrive about every twenty seconds and buy listed food or drinks. Their preferences can earn a small bonus. Service continues for up to thirty minutes while the page is away, and the next visit shows a receipt for those sales.

Hero careers and harder hunts

Each hero has a separate career, from level 1 to 20. Fighting and clearing expeditions earns career XP, with a bonus for the first clear of each region with that hero. Every career level adds 2 health and 0.5% damage, up to +38 health and +9.5% damage. Your expedition build still starts fresh.

All nine Normal regions stay open and repeatable. Clear a region to unlock its Veteran hunt, then clear Veteran to unlock Mythic. These optional hunts increase enemy strength and champion harvests. Enemy difficulty does not automatically rise with your hero level.

Champions also yield a class specialty: Fighter gathers Iron Marrow, Ranger gathers Trail Berry, Wizard gathers Aether Curd, and Cleric gathers Blessed Culture. Every hero still collects the ordinary regional ingredients. These four specialties each have a recipe to discover.

Pack one cooked portion from the tavern menu for your next expedition. Meals offer health, pickup range, regeneration or area. The reserved portion cannot be sold to customers. A meal lasts one expedition, including a defeat or abandonment, and cannot stack with another meal.

Shape your expedition build

Start with one reroll and earn another from each miniboss, up to three. Rerolls replace the choices without spending a level. After two sets without an eligible owned-weapon upgrade, the next set includes one. Trip Tax leaves traps behind you; Tiny Boss follows your aim and attacks, or targets nearby foes with auto attack.

A rank-five U-Turn with Thick Skin, Brrr with Big Deal, Holy Moly with Leftovers, or Trip Tax with Bean Juice can become a mastery at a miniboss chest. Masteries add a returning ward, frost shatters, healing pulses, or six trap shards instead of four. At most 36 trap shards launch at once. You can gain one per expedition, replacing one chest reward. The upgrade menu lists the requirements.

The last twelve seconds of waves two, four and six slow new arrivals and favor weak prey. Gather the spoils before the next champion or final boss. Existing enemies remain in the field.

Controls

Keyboard and mouse

Touch screens

• The left stick moves your hero.
• The right stick aims and attacks.
• Touch anywhere on the field to fire your class skill toward your finger; buttons dodge and drink a healing potion.
• A context button appears near the gate, the shrine, townsfolk and the gate home. Combat controls hide in the peaceful town.
• Portrait and landscape both work.

Your attack fires by itself at the nearest foe, so you can focus on moving and on aiming your skill.

Tips for your first runs

• Start with Alderwake Wilds and the Mire of Whispers. Their hordes are gentler and thinner while you learn.
• Keep moving. Your automatic weapons do much of the killing, so spend your attention on dodging and positioning.
• Grab automatic weapons early. Your first level-up always offers one, and the next offers lean toward a second.
• Break torches, braziers and campfires. They hold gold, food, experience, magnets that pull in every gem, and holy relics that smite nearby foes.
• You enter each expedition with three healing potions. Save one for the boss.
• Kill the elites in waves three and five. Their chests upgrade what you already carry, and their recipe slips expand the tavern menu.
• Bring harvested ingredients back to the tavern. Cooked portions sell over time, including a short period while the page is away.
• Bosses and brutes wind up before they strike. Dodge as the blow lands: a dodge makes you briefly untouchable.
• A defeated run keeps half its gold. Spend it at the Hearth Shrine, and every hero gets stronger.

Roadmap: what is planned

~dvngeon is in early development. Everything in this list is planned, not in the game yet, and plans can change.

• Planned: online accounts, so your progress can follow you between devices.
• Planned: a fantasy economy with player auctions.
• Planned: farming and crafting.