Undercrown

Mission briefing

Undercrown is a top-down 3D dungeon brawler with a nasty little twist: getting to the treasure is only half the run. Pick one of 8 heroes and cut your way down three floors - 18 rooms, each with its own colours - past the Gravewarden and the Maw Mother to the Underking himself. Every hero fights differently: the Vanguard swings a greatsword, the Paladin holds the line with sword and shield, Kachujin uses nothing but fists, the Ninja works twin daggers, Erika picks enemies off with a crossbow, Medea casts from a staff, the Captain brawls with a cutlass, and Heraklios brings a greataxe to every argument. Then the twist. Beat the Underking, take his crown, and the whole mountain starts coming down - because that crown was the only thing holding it up. Now you have to run all the way back to the mine lift through collapsing rooms, falling rock, doors on timers and monsters flooding back in. You are not done until you are standing in daylight with the crown still on your head. - 8 heroes, each unlocked with coins you bank between runs - Level up mid-run and pick one of three upgrades - no two runs build the same - Normal, Hard and Nightmare - A full run is 6-8 minutes, if you survive it

Field manual

Get down, take the crown, get back out alive. Desktop: WASD or the arrow keys to move, left-click or Space to attack, Shift to roll, P to pause, M for music. Touch: left thumb stick to move, attack and roll buttons on the right. Smash crates and barrels for coins and potions, watch for spike traps on a timer, and roll through anything you cannot out-trade. Kill enough to level up and pick an upgrade. Each new floor heals you and hands you a free one. When the Underking falls, run - the way out is the real fight.

Launch orders: press Launch mission above and the game loads on this page itself — nothing downloads and no form stands between you and the first move. It is designed for a flexible screen and takes its orders from mouse, keyboard or touch, depending on the mission. It adapts to both upright and wide screens, so phones, tablets and desktops all frame it sensibly. If it offers a fullscreen control, use it — a fight this size deserves the whole screen.

Field notes for action operations

• First run is reconnaissance. Spend it learning where the danger actually spawns from instead of chasing a score — most action games announce their patterns honestly in the opening minute, then repeat them with worse manners.
• Movement is a defensive stat. A moving target at half health outlives a stationary one at full health in nearly every game on this board, so keep relocating between shots, strikes and reloads.
• Learn the exit before the entrance closes. In arena and chase games alike, the players who survive longest are the ones who noticed the second doorway while everyone else was watching the first.

Undercrown — questions from the ranks

What does it cost to play Undercrown?

Nothing at all. The mission is free from the first order to the last — no sign-up, no download, no paid tier guarding the good levels. The advertising around this page is what keeps the board free.

What sort of mission is Undercrown?

Undercrown is filed in our Action theatre. Like every operation on this board, it is a browser game — read the briefing above for the publisher's own account of what you are deploying into.

Can I run Undercrown on a phone or tablet?

Yes. It plays in the browser on phones and tablets exactly as it does on a computer. It adapts to both upright and wide screens, so phones, tablets and desktops all frame it sensibly.

Do I have to install anything before playing?

No installation of any kind. Undercrown is an HTML5 game: press the launch button and it loads on this page, and closing the tab leaves nothing behind.

After-action

Mission complete, or still pinned down? The full Action theatre is one click away — The main hall of the board: 469 operations where something is always moving, exploding, escaping or being chased. If a game has a pulse and a problem, it is probably filed here.