DALLAS — Nov. 17, 2023 — Below the Stone, a dwarf-themed mining roguelike by developer Strollart and publisher Apogee Entertainment, unearths a treasure trove of loot today as the TooManyGames 2023 indie favorite launches on Steam Early Access and GOG ahead of its 2024 arrival on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox Series X|S.
Drill to the depths in this all-or-nothing roguelike tour de force where fame and fortune lie beneath ruins. Design a dwarf to match the latest underground styles with customization options for beards and haircuts, then pick up a pickaxe and provide for the kin back home. Make wise decisions while scouring the unknown for shimmering rewards, or risk becoming another lost soul buried beneath the rubble.
A gauntlet of procedurally generated dungeons and caves awaits enterprising explorers. Hack through dozens of unique biomes including fluorescent fungi fields, magma-marred mazes, and gorged caverns. Scrabble to survive amidst the blows of club-wielding trolls, lumbering Yetis, and stinging scorpions.
Crack open treasure chests brimming with untouched bounties like gold, silver, and platinum, and light the path to prosperity with dungeon and ore-detecting devices. Haul plundered resources and precious gems to the benevolent blacksmith in exchange for weapon and gear upgrades. Craft items to prolong each journey, from near-impervious armor to healing potions fresh from the alchemist’s cauldron.
When axes and swords aren’t quite cutting it, shake down darkness-dwelling bandits with copper-laced crossbows, cave sweeping shotguns, and booming blunderbusses. Toss massive area-of-effect explosives like dynamite that both blast enemies backwards and destroy chunks of rock with ease.
Chat up cave-dwelling moles and other NPCs willing to do business…for a price. Take on side quests from fellow cave-diving contemporaries. Brave the twists and turns of the undiscovered while carefully calculating the cost of moving onward. Return to the surface with the day’s loot in tow, or succumb to greed in search for greater rewards. But beware, as death sends miners back up to the start, all possessions lost to the earth below.
“Below the Stone combines a retro presentation with surprisingly deep gameplay, pun intended!” said Scott Miller, founder of Apogee Entertainment. “We’re very thankful for the feedback given by those who played the demo which led to various community-requested changes. The journey to 1.0 continues with even more surprises on the way, and we look forward to sharing even more in the near-future.”
Check out gameplay footage of Below the Stone here. For more information on Strollart’s underground tale of dwarven expedition, check out the official website, and follow their Twitter, and Discord.
For more on Apogee Entertainment, please visit the Apogee website and follow @Apogee_Ent on Twitter.
About Strollart
Founded as a place for a group of friends to come together and express their love of indie games, Stollart looks to break the formula that’s pervasive within the AAA space and build something that can only be found within indie development. Michael Strollart, director, producer, and artist, is joined by Andrew, Karam, Eric, Dean, and Matt in the development of their debut game, Below the Stone, with an eye set on showing what a few friends in a metaphorical basement can build together.
About Apogee Entertainment
Apogee is featured in John Romero’s new book, Doom Guy, along with Masters of Doom, the new FPS documentary, the book Shareware Heroes (2022 release), and many others – because Apogee was a critical player in the rise of the PC gaming, essentially creating the indie scene.
Apogee also funded, produced and published Id Software’s Wolfenstein 3D, the first ever FPS game, and also created pioneering games like Duke Nukem 3D, numerous Duke console games, Prey, Shadow Warrior, Rise of the Triad, and co-owned/co-created Max Payne 1 & 2. These games all earned over $1.5 billion commercially. (Apogee used the “3D Realms” label for many of these releases, but the company was always Apogee.)
The recently renamed Apogee Entertainment, with original founder Scott Miller still at the helm, continues to empower today’s incredibly talented indie developers. Current hit releases include Turbo Overkill and Bread & Fred, along with 10 other games currently in development.
