Chromedrift

Free alpha. One full run, three acts, 1.5 to 3 hours. Play it, break it, tell me what killed you.

CHROMEDRIFT is a cyberpunk roguelike deckbuilder. You are Kira, a runner from the flooded lower city of Neo-Kessel, climbing toward ARGUS, the AI that runs the place and no longer answers to anyone.

Two layers, one fight

Every enemy has a body and a firewall. Guns and fists hit the Flesh. Hacks and daemons hit the Net. Break an enemy's ICE and it is compromised: it skips its next move and takes 50 % more damage. Hack a gang pilot and his scrap mech stops mid-swing.

Body versus machine

Implants go into real body slots: eyes, arms, neural port, nerves, skin. Each one costs Humanity. Stay human and your Instinct lines fire. Go machine and your Protocols take over. Both paths are strong, neither is free, and the story and the endings react to what you became.

Risk is power

The strongest cards overheat your chrome. Push the Heat and hit harder, or cool down and live through the next turn.

Nothing hidden

Every enemy shows its next move. Pick a card, point at a target, and the game shows the result before you commit. A forecast tells you what the end of the turn will cost you.

In this build (v0.3.5 Alpha)

• A complete run: 3 acts, 40 enemies, a boss in every act and a final boss
• Over 100 cards, 46 implants and pieces of gear, six of them "rule breakers" that change how a core rule works
• 36 street events that play differently depending on how human you still are, 20 jobs from a fixer, 3 endings
• Black market, back-alley clinic, card patches
• English and German. Mouse, keyboard or controller
• Text size, colorblind mode, photosensitive mode, reduced effects

The look

Cel anime of the late 80s and early 90s: flat cels over painted backgrounds, hard shadows, a lot of black, one scene color per act. Figures hold a pose and snap to the next one. Hits get an impact frame. Rain and still water rather than neon on everything.

What I want to know

• Where did your run end, and what killed you?
• When did Flesh and Net click? Or did it never?
• Did you install implants? Did Humanity matter to you?
• Any moment where you did not know what to do, or why something happened
• Bugs, typos, bad translations

Leave a comment below or write to contact@stitchworkgames.com. The download includes a short questionnaire. The game can also save a small report file (your run, your choices, time per room). It holds no personal data and nothing is sent anywhere unless you send it.

Honest notes

• AI was used. Illustrations, music and sound effects were generated with AI tools and reworked by hand, and I code with AI assistance. Design, rules, balancing, story and art direction are mine. Nothing is generated while you play.
• It is an alpha. Numbers are not final and there are rough edges.
• Windows 10/11 (64-bit), a graphics card with Vulkan, about 2 GB of free space. No installer: unzip and start Chromedrift.exe.
• The build is not signed. Windows shows "unknown publisher" on the first start: click "More info", then "Run anyway". The itch app installs and updates it for you.

Made by one person in Germany as Stitchwork Games. Thank you for playing. I read everything.

Deutsch

Kostenlose Alpha. Ein kompletter Run, drei Akte, 1,5 bis 3 Stunden. Spiel es, mach es kaputt, und sag mir, woran du gestorben bist.

CHROMEDRIFT ist ein Cyberpunk-Roguelike-Deckbuilder. Du bist Kira, Runnerin aus der gefluteten Unterstadt von Neo-Kessel, auf dem Weg nach oben zu ARGUS, der KI, die die Stadt verwaltet und niemandem mehr antwortet.

• Zwei Ebenen, ein Kampf. Jeder Gegner hat einen Körper und eine Firewall. Waffen und Fäuste treffen das Fleisch, Hacks das Netz. Brich das ICE, und der Gegner ist kompromittiert: Er setzt aus und nimmt 50 % mehr Schaden.
• Körper gegen Maschine. Implantate sitzen in echten Körperstellen und kosten Menschlichkeit. Bleib Mensch, und dein Instinkt trägt dich. Werde Maschine, und deine Protokolle übernehmen. Geschichte und Enden reagieren darauf.
• Risiko ist Macht. Die stärksten Karten heizen dein Chrom auf.
• Nichts ist versteckt. Jeder Gegner zeigt seinen nächsten Zug, und das Spiel zeigt das Ergebnis, bevor du eine Karte spielst.

Im Build: 3 Akte, 40 Gegner, über 100 Karten, 46 Implantate und Ausrüstung, 36 Straßen-Events, 20 Aufträge, 3 Enden. Deutsch und Englisch, Maus, Tastatur oder Controller.

Rückmeldung: als Kommentar unten oder an contact@stitchworkgames.com. Im Download liegt ein kurzer Fragebogen.

Offen gesagt: Bilder, Musik und Ton sind mit KI erzeugt und von Hand überarbeitet, beim Code hilft KI. Design, Regeln, Balancing, Geschichte und Art Direction stammen von mir. Es ist eine Alpha, nur für Windows 10/11 (64-bit), und der Build ist nicht signiert (Windows-Warnung: „Weitere Informationen“, dann „Trotzdem ausführen“).