Flarebound

About the Game

Flarebound is a tense roguelite digging adventure where players descend into dangerous volcanic caverns to recover ancient treasures. Armed only with flares, time slows down when you stop moving — letting you plan your next risky step.

Every run is unique, every artifact brings the museum closer to survival, and the lava never stops chasing you down the caverns.

Volcano

The volcano is about to erupt, threatening to bury a lifetime of treasures. You play as a daring explorer who partners with Elena, a museum curator desperate to preserve history before it’s lost forever.

Once you start digging, the volcano erupts and from here on there is only one way - down.

Runs

In each run, you:

• Throw flares to light your path through pitch darkness.

• Draw routes through collapsing tunnels and monster-infested chambers.

• Collect artifacts, fossils, coins, and rare items.

• Reach the escape pod to take your loot back to the museum

• Complete collections and unlock upgrades

• Balance risk and reward — deeper treasures are more valuable, but one mistake loses everything.

Monsters

Drawing a path into the darkness is dangerous - you never know what might lurk in the shadows...

...better throw flares to light up the dark before planning your path.

Upgrades

Every section ends with a gate that provides random temporary upgrades.

Museum

The home base, the Museum, serves as a display of your collections. Once you unlock the Upgrade Cellar you can also purchase permanent upgrades down there!

Helm-lamp upgrades, brighter bouncing flares, and path-length boosts become vital as you dig toward harsher biomes filled with snakes, skittering spiders, and stranger predators the deeper you go.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I am making Flarebound in my spare time after kids’ bedtime, so every update is a labour of late-night love of game development.

Wishlist if you’d like to follow the journey down into the dark.

Key Features

Draw-and-Go Movement
Trace tiles in darkness to plan the way and then watch how it plays out.

Dynamic Flares
Upgrade burn time, radius, stickiness, bounces, pulses, infrared vision, and more.

Dripping Lava Pressure
Constant time limit keeps every choice tense.

Upgrade Gates
Upgrade your archaeologist after each section; pick one of three run-defining perks.

Vault Rooms
Optional side gates with riches unlocked by scarce keys: extra loot vs. valuable seconds.

Treasure Chests
Mid-segment rewards: flares, coins for meta-progression, or keys for vaults.

Pixelated Atmosphere
Retro 2D pixel art, dynamic lighting, and reactive soundscape.

One-More-Run Loop
Permanent upgrades, collectible fossils and more. Just one more dig!

Roadmap to Release

Demo & Next Fest
I will participate in the upcoming "Steam Next Fest" if I manage to get a stable and fun demo together until then.

Early Access
Flarebound will be released at the end of 2025 in Early Access for community-driven balancing and to start the development of new biomes/volcanoes.

1.0 Launch
Date unclear, depends how early access goes and how much time I have, but some time in 2026. When launching the full version you will be able to complete the descent in many volcanoes and have proper Steam integration for achievements and trading cards etc.

Follow my blog for updates: 42bytes.rocks