The Fog Below is an arcade dungeon-crawler using a minesweeper-inspired exploration mechanic. Tiles hide enemies, spells, recipes, armor, weapons and more . Click to reveal them — a flood-fill reveal cascades outward but stops once it is near an enemy. The dungeon uses a heat map to visually alert the player of enemies in close proximity: yellow glows when danger is close, orange glows when very close and finally red when an enemy is one tile away. The player can decide to continue revealing tiles and eventually engage the enemy or try to tactically avoid the enemy and continue to explore the dungeon before exiting the portal to the next level.
Every tile you reveal increases the Threat Meter. When it fills, an elite enemy spawns and you enter combat. You are given the opportunity, via a load out screen, to examine the enemies stats and resistances and load up on buffs and spells that can work in your favor, if you have them available. Once you have defeated 5 consecutive elite enemies a boss will spawn, defeat the boss and the Threat Meter resets and the cycle repeats but will become noticeably harder.
Arcade Combat
Your cursor is your melee attack. Enemy targets consist of Drifters that move across the arena. Pylons are stationary but need five hits before they detonate and damage the player. Hydras split on death and spawn 2 Drifters. Wraithlings will move towards your cursor and die on contact and damage the player. Phase targets fade in and out as they move across the arena. You can click to melee damage enemy targets or use up to four loaded spells for increased damage. Choosing the right spell can have a dramatic effect on the outcome, you can mix single target, damage over time, stuns, shields, self heals and area of effect spells to take advantage of enemy weakness or resistances.
Between fights: spend Skill Points on skill trees, 3 combat focused and 3 crafting focused, craft potions and food, enchant your gear, and recruit companions that provide buffs to your character. Each level offers a quest that rewards you with potions, upgrades, etc.
Revealing tiles can also trigger Fibonacci sequences, Prime clusters, Perfect Squares and more that can reward achievements and bonuses.
Features:
Minesweeper-inspired exploration with a dynamic heat-map proximity radar
Real-time arcade combat — melee cursor attack with an additional 4 spells available
Game loop — Defeat 5 elites, then the Main Boss, rinse and repeat as the difficulty increases
Three lives, you can earn extra lives from loot, pickups, etc. When all lives are lost the game ends
Full RPG layer: skill trees, alchemy, cooking, rune-weaving, enchanting, companions, quests, and bestiary
ASCII-style art
Steam leaderboards for depth, speed runs, and achievements