Pitfeed

The idea

Most dungeon crawlers leave the drama to the dungeon. Pitfeed makes every run an episode of a show broadcast on the World Dungeon Network. There’s a host, staged boss entrances, live viewer counts and leaderboards. You don’t fight as a hero. You’re the Handler, the person off-screen deciding who goes in, how far they push and when to pull them out.

The game runs itself. New Weekly Trials appear automatically, so there’s always a fresh challenge and a fresh leaderboard to climb.

How it plays

Every run starts with your crew. Each fighter has their own health, skills and level, and losing one has a real cost. Floors are built from maps of rooms, and every level down is more dangerous than the last. Combat is turn-based: attack, use skills, guard, use items, or cut your losses and flee.

Bosses don’t just appear. They get a proper broadcast introduction with a title card, a backstory and a warning about what’s coming. One example is The Producer, a co-main event who built the show and now edits the fight while he’s in it.

Four ways to play

• StoryA guided run through the Undercroft, with a set number of floors and a clear ending.
• HardcoreFull-length floors with no second chances.
• EndlessKeep going until your crew falls.
• Weekly TrialOne shared challenge each week, the same for everyone, ranked on its own leaderboard.

Meet P.I.T.T.

New players are greeted by P.I.T.T. (Programme Interface and Tournament Transmission), a robot host with a TV for a head. P.I.T.T. talks you through your first run in character, so the tutorial feels like part of the show. Experienced players can switch P.I.T.T. off.

Pitfeed

What we built

• A crew of fighters to manage, each with their own health, skills and level
• Floors built from maps of rooms, getting deeper and more dangerous as you go
• Turn-based combat with skills, guarding, items and fleeing
• Four ways to play: Story, Hardcore, Endless and a Weekly Trial
• Bosses with their own broadcast-style introductions
• P.I.T.T., an in-game host who guides new players through their first run
• Leaderboards for every mode
• Weekly content that updates itself, with no manual releases needed
• Accounts, saved progress and payments through Firebase and Stripe

Under the hood

Pitfeed is written in plain HTML, CSS and JavaScript, with no game engine, so it loads quickly and runs in any modern browser with nothing to install. Firebase handles accounts, saved progress and leaderboards, and Stripe handles payments. The broadcast look comes from layered UI: on-air badges, viewer counters, lower-thirds and title cards. It’s designed to look like a late-night cable show that’s gone badly wrong.

Status

Pitfeed is live now, with new trials every week and more maps on the way.