illumine

[h1] Seriously? Wander around the labyrinth finding new letters along the way and reincarnating. Not much of a gameplay. [/h1]

https://youtube.com/watch?v=3HNSViwZjQo&pp=ygUJSGVyZSBWYXN0

_ - _ - _ - _ - _ - _ - _ - _ - _ - _ - _ - _ - _ - _ - _ - _ - _ - _ - _ - _ - _ - _ - _ - _ - _ “𝘐𝘭𝘭𝘶𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦” 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘨𝘦𝘮𝘴. 𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨, “𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘵,” 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘺, 𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘤𝘦 𝘣𝘺 𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘤𝘦, 𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘬. |ㅤㅤㅤ|ㅤㅤㅤ|ㅤㅤㅤ|ㅤㅤㅤ|ㅤㅤㅤ|ㅤㅤㅤ|ㅤㅤㅤ|ㅤㅤㅤ|ㅤㅤㅤ|ㅤㅤㅤ|ㅤㅤㅤ|ㅤㅤㅤ|ㅤㅤㅤ| 𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘯. 𝘐𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘭𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘢𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦’𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘢 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵. |ㅤㅤㅤ|ㅤㅤㅤ|ㅤㅤㅤ|ㅤㅤㅤ|ㅤㅤㅤ|ㅤㅤㅤ|ㅤㅤㅤ|ㅤㅤㅤ|ㅤㅤㅤ|ㅤㅤㅤ|ㅤㅤㅤ|ㅤㅤㅤ|ㅤㅤㅤ| 𝘏𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘭𝘺, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘰𝘤𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘱 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘵𝘺, 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯. _ - _ - _ - _ - _ - _ - _ - _ - _ - _ - _ - _ - _ - _ - _ - _ - …

This is the type of game thats best to go in blind; Theres no tutorial, no direction, it just allows you to explore this weird world and figure it out yourself There are some "goals" the game gives you, for you to get an idea what you can do in the game, but they are vague enough that you truly just need to explore to understand it (which i really like) The most fun part for me was [spoiler] finding out enemies produced specific sounds and visual effects [/spoiler], and its filled with little moments like that A bit unforgiving at times, but nothing too extreme considering its a rouguelike Its one of steams hidden gems imo

There's so little gameplay that less than 11% of players have gotten a single book. Literally your primary goal at the beginning is to get books because all other advancement is locked behind them.

illumine, developed and published by Dejima, is an experimental roguelike adventure that places transformation, interpretation, and player agency at the center of its design. Rather than guiding players through a clearly defined structure or traditional progression path, the game presents itself as a living system—one that reacts, reshapes itself, and evolves in response to how it is explored. From the very beginning, illumine makes it clear that it is less concerned with immediate gratification or mechanical spectacle and more interested in cultivating curiosity, patience, and reflection. At the heart of the experience is a world that is not merely procedurally generated but procedurally responsive. Environments shift based on player actions, interactions with objects, and encounters with AI-driven entities. Walls can change, paths can open or close, and the same area can feel entirely different depending on how it is approached. This design transforms exploration into an ongoing experiment, where movement, observation, and restraint are just as important as confrontation. Combat exists, but it is only one of many tools at the player’s disposal, often sitting alongside stealth, a…