Roving in the Dark (itch)
About
Roving in the Dark is a cave exploration platformer set in 1996. You play as a bearded caver (known as "Local Spelunker") who is tasked with rescuing ill-equipped treasure-seekers while finding treasure, hidden there by a medieval thief, for the local museum.
The focus is on the interaction with the cave system itself, meaning you are most likely to be killed by the cave itself. Think of slipping and falling into holes, getting hit by stones, getting supercooled, running out of batteries or being pushed by French cavers. Since you lost most of your climbing gear, navigating the caves will be quite a challenge. In the beginning you have to make due with just running, jumping and climbing up and down narrow passages. On your way you will find bits of your gear, opening up new areas. The game consists of 4 cave systems to explore, an overworld and several smaller locations like towns and lone houses.
Roving In The Dark is heavily influenced by the limitations of 8-bit era games, with tiny pixel art graphics, a low colour palette and a low resolution. It does not have music, but 8-bit ambient sounds instead.