Hey everyone, I'm ian, Seattle-based indie artist and game designer trying to make roguelikey and skeletony stuff off and on for over 10 years now. But firstly, thank you for checking out my game! This is my first real pixel art game/project, so I'm happy to hear any feedback. I've mostly done 3d in the past, and plan to return to it for an n64 game I think soon. All art is my own.
I’m excited to share the playable demo for Mara's Abyss, an 8-bit open-world Mystery Labyrinth / traditional turn-based roguelike engineered natively for the Game Boy Color. I love how traditional roguelikes can be great on basically any hardware, but am sad at how few there are (especially in English) for the Game Boy and Game Boy Color platform.
Whether you play on original hardware via flashcart, an Analogue Pocket, or through an emulator, Mara's Abyss brings deep dungeon crawling, procedural exploration, and classic dark fantasy 8-bit atmosphere right to your handheld.
👉 Check out the demo: https://ianatherton.itch.io/maras-abyss-demo
📜 The Story
Thirty years ago, Her first Aspect tore through dimensional seams and broke into your realm. Brave heroes repelled it, but used a piece of Her Spitestone to forge a relic-weapon—vowing only to draw it against Her. They broke that vow, and hate began growing again...
Now, six of Her Aspects have emerged beneath your homeland, and the door to Her Abyss has appeared. But heroes draw scarce...
🗡️Key Features
Native Game Boy Color Build: Runs on original GBC hardware, handheld FPGA mods, or standard emulators.
👉 Play in Browser: Jump right in with embedded emulator support directly on the itch page! https://ianatherton.itch.io/maras-abyss-demo
Traditional Turn-Based Roguelike: Grid/Diagonal movement, procedural overworld, dungeons, True permadeath (with seed system so you can go back and try again), and tactical resource management.
Massive Variety + Exciting Combinations: 4 classes with 6 unique spells each, and a 5th class with a random loadout from those. Equipment you find is often enchanted, allowing some a chance to trigger spells (armor when hit, weapons when used). A pool of 30+ types of monsters (including the 9 types of bosses) many with unique abilities like Ghosts walking through walls, Spiders webbing you, Slimes splitting into duplicates. The 24+ spells also available to be found in scrolls/books and triggered by weapons or armor. Enemies can also roll as Elites - offering them new abilities and stats. I love moduarlity!
Quality of Life Features: Recall to explored towns and back to dungeons. Integrated Auto-Explore (Explores, picks up items on ground, and halts when enemies are near, and walks you to the exit when fully explored). (but doesn't fight or open chests for you - not much hand holding). Quest tracking in menus and with waypoints in game.
Music: Work in progress, but mostly created by Philadelpha based artist Dirt Haven
Spell & Belt System: Fast-cycle through combat magic, consumables, and gear on the fly.
🎮 Controls Quick-Sheet
Explore & Combat:
D-Pad: Move / Attack
(A): Interact / Auto-Explore (if HP > 50%)
(Select): Cycle Spells & Belt Items (Hold to choose Spell 1)
(B): Cast Selected Spell / Use Item
(Start): Open / Close Menu | within menus (Select): cycle submenus (Dpad): Select items/stat/spell/port (A/B): Contextual
🔗 Play & Share Your Thoughts
I'd love to hear your thoughts on how it plays, the difficulty balance, or any feedback you'd like to give. Thank you for checking it out! More posts here: https://bsky.app/profile/ianatherton.bsky.social https://www.indiedb.com/games/maras-abyss https://www.youtube.com/@Larkstead
👉 Check out the demo: https://ianatherton.itch.io/maras-abyss-demo