Going Under is a 2020 indie action role‑playing video game developed by the indie studio Aggro Crabbé and published by Devolver Digital. The game is presented from a top‑down perspective and combines elements of roguelike progression with satirical commentary on startup and corporate culture.
Development
- Developer: Aggro Crabbé, an independent development team.
- Publisher: Devolver Digital.
- Engine: Unity.
- Release dates:
- Windows (Microsoft Store, Steam, Epic Games Store): 12 March 2020.
- Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One: 6 August 2020.
Gameplay
Going Under places the player in the role of a recent graduate who has taken an internship at a fictional tech startup called F6, which is presented as a series of procedurally generated “dungeons” that correspond to office floors, meeting rooms, and other corporate environments.
Key gameplay features include:
- Exploration: Levels are randomly generated for each run, encouraging repeated playthroughs.
- Combat: Players can wield melee weapons (e.g., swords, hammers), ranged firearms, and a variety of “skill” abilities that reference typical startup jargon (e.g., “Pivot”, “Investor Pitch”).
- Progression: Defeating enemies yields “experience” and “currency” used to upgrade the character’s stats, unlock new weapons, and purchase perks.
- Narrative framing: Between runs, the game presents short dialogue scenes that mock startup tropes such as venture‑capital funding rounds, burnout, and office politics.
Reception
Critical response was generally positive, with reviewers highlighting the game’s witty writing and thematic cohesion. On Metacritic, the Windows version holds a score in the high‑70s (out of 100). Common points of praise included:
- Effective satire of modern tech‑industry culture.
- Engaging combat system and variety of weapon choices.
Criticisms often focused on:
- Repetitive level design after multiple runs.
- Some players found the roguelike difficulty spikes uneven.
Legacy
Going Under contributed to the broader trend of indie titles employing corporate or workplace settings for comedic effect. It remains part of Devolver Digital’s catalog of quirky, narrative‑driven games.
