Living reference

Docs

Snapshot of the game as it ships today. Older design notes in the repo may describe earlier prototypes (rising water, surge meters); this page tracks the current silk traversal build.

Fantasy

You play a spider climbing ruined vertical spaces with a silk tether. Attach to anchors, swing for momentum, climb or extend the line, and reach the nest. Death is fast; retries are immediate from the last checkpoint.

Controls

  • A / D or ← / →Move
  • MouseAim silk
  • Hold clickShoot / hold silk
  • W / ↑ (while attached)Climb silk
  • S / ↓ (while attached)Extend silk
  • SpaceJump
  • RRelease silk / restart run (on death or victory)
  • EscPause menu
  • HToggle control hints

Interfaces

  • Map select — choose a level, see map-best time when available, start a run.
  • Play HUD — level name, section, timer, checkpoints, deaths.
  • Pause (Esc) — resume, restart checkpoint/level, replays, controls, home.
  • Victory — run summary, personal / map best, restart or return to maps.
  • Editor (F12 in play builds that enable it) — layout draft stored in the browser; export JSON to ship a baseline.

Playable maps

  • Training Spire · Tutorial — Learn the core silk movement.
  • Fallen Spire · Standard — Original vertical climb prototype.
  • Rhythm Crossing · Flow — Wide anchor-chaining flow level.
  • High Drop · Desktop — How does a climb become a satisfying fall and catch?
  • Countercoil · Desktop — When does swinging backward make the next forward move feel better?
  • Needle Nest · Desktop — Can a fast approach become careful tether positioning without losing its flow?
  • Neverfly Grove · Desktop — Can a tiny living, musical Neverfly hold you, sing while you hang, and still play fair?

Systems (current)

  • Infinite silk tether with attach, release, climb, and extend.
  • Checkpoints and hazard / death volumes; silk-breaker hazards cut the line.
  • Optional shared map-best ghost during a run.
  • Local replays in the browser; optional anonymous playtest telemetry on web builds.

Deeper historical design text still lives in docs/design.md (partially outdated). Art kit notes: docs/ART_WORKFLOW.md. Workflow defaults: docs/DEFAULTS_AND_BACKLOG.md.