Illuminascii Demo

If you are not familiar with it, ASCII is a computer code that was introduced to serve as a method to differentiate characters between them down at the lowest level, such as the Assembly language, or binary. Hence, every letter and special character is represented by a specific binary value, and the CPU is able to distinguish between them using these values.

Illuminascii is a unique experiment, and it features some unique mechanics when it comes to gameplay and visual style. In essence, it is a first-person shooter with some role-playing mechanics, but there are some hidden elements in the works as well. Hence, the game plays like a roguelike too, in the sense that the levels are procedurally generated and you have to take it from the top when you die.

The story is obviously not to be taken seriously, given the fact that it tackles subjects like the Illuminati and many other related conspiracies. You can, however, choose from a few different characters in the beginning of the game, each one of which comes with a different set of special abilities. Otherwise, the stats are more or less the same and you can increase your constitution, luck or agility at the beginning of the adventure.

In order to advance, your purpose is to explore the rooms and try to find the secrets hidden in them. Doors can be unlocked or kicked down, although the gimmick doesn’t work every time. In fact, you are forced to search for specific keys and collect them, in the hopes that they open the desired door. The enemies are shaped like letters and they are hilariously named, so at least that part is funny.

Speaking of which, you can play around with a variety of guns, as long as you have ammunition for them. Hunger is a part of the gameplay as well, although it doesn’t affect you too much in the demo. In fact, the demo is a bit too empty to make an impression on you, but it is nonetheless pretty intriguing. The same can be said about the graphics, because some objects are entirely made out of actual ASCII text.

Although the roguelike part is barely present in the demo at hand, a first-person perspective might make the concept that much more intriguing. Thus, Illuminascii is on the right track as of right now, considering the fact that it’s programmed to be released on Steam soon enough.