A downloadable game for Windows, macOS, Linux, and Android

Buy Now
On Sale!
50% Off
$9.99 $4.99 USD or more

TRY THE FREE DEMO! / WISHLIST ON STEAM


A text-based open world fantasy roguelike adventure

Master the secrets of a changing fantasy world over the course of many 30-90 minute adventures. Explore the wilds around a single village as you track down magical treasures, aid or disrupt encroaching factions, and match wits with an enigmatic Magician.

Thousands of possible endings!

Complete player freedom! Interact with the people and places you encounter however you choose. Change the balance of power and the fates of everyone you meet! Or don't. You can stay in the tavern, go fishing, or ignore everyone and just do your own thing. The choice is completely up to you.


Gameplay

Watch gameplay footage from Upheaval:


Current Features

  • Incredibly replayable! Complete each adventure in 30-90 minutes. Play multiple times to learn more about the world and explore multiple endings.
  • Big world! Over 50 unique locations to explore and discover.
  • Dynamic! Non-player characters (both friends and enemies) are living, moving people for you to respond to and interact with, not just static encounters waiting for you to find them.
  • Treasure! Over 15 magical and mundane treasures and items for you to find and use, each of which can be used in multiple different ways.
  • So many endings! Over 5,000 unique endings, depending on your choices throughout the game. What mark will you leave on the world when your adventure is over?
  • Mobile-friendly! Made to be easily played on your phone. Play for a few minutes or a few hours.
  • Command line version! Play like it's 1980 with the command line version of Upheaval, no graphics required.
  • Accessible! The command-line version supports screen readers and keyboard navigation for blind and vision impaired players. Also includes separate volume sliders for ambient sound, music, sound effects, and master volume, windowed and fullscreen mode, dark and light mode, and adjustable difficulty.
  • Magic! In 30 days, the Magician will arrive. How will you spend your time until then?
  • Relaxed Mode! Turn off the default time limit and explore the world at your own pace.
  • Lore! A rich history surrounds your little village, its secrets hidden in the beautiful and treacherous landscape around it. Discover how magic has affected the land in generations past. How will your knowledge of the past influence your decisions today?
  • Fantasy! Goblins, bandits, spells, curses, undead spirits, fairies, visions, true love, and more!

Planned Features

  • Text-to-speech navigation support for the graphical version
  • Many brand new, replayable encounters
  • Expanded use of magic spells throughout the game
  • Configurable controls
  • New optional in-game lore dumps, for those of us who like reading a whole lot
  • New location: The mines, a procedurally generated maze that's different every time you play (can be bypassed with the right items if you don't like mazes)
  • Big new magic item for the end game

Special Thanks

Thank you much to all Upheaval's playtesters: Julia Leone, David Leone, Caleb Olson, Andrew Donders, Vito Sauro, Cece Leone, Cody, Jonathan, Patrick, George, and others!

Demo

Download the demo below to play the first half of the game for free. :)

Early Access - Alpha

While Upheaval is in alpha, new content is added with every release. Buy the alpha today at a discount and own all future releases of Upheaval as well!

If the "Buy" links on this page don't work for you, use this link to buy Upheaval.

Upheaval is coming to Steam when it's finished. Wishlist it on Steam to get an email when the full game releases. :)

Follow me here on itch.io to hear about future updates and progress.


Press

View Upheaval's presskit

Community

Join our Discord to chat with the developer, to discuss ways to make Upheaval better, and to share your experiences with other players!

Please share Upheaval with your friends! Getting the word out helps a ton. :)

Purchase

Buy Now
On Sale!
50% Off
$9.99 $4.99 USD or more

In order to download this game you must purchase it at or above the minimum price of $4.99 USD. You will get access to the following files:

Upheaval Alpha - Android 119 MB
Version 0.0.15
Upheaval Alpha - Windows 114 MB
Version 0.0.15
Upheaval Alpha - Windows Command Line 73 MB
Version 0.0.15
Upheaval Alpha - Mac 118 MB
Version 0.0.15
Upheaval Alpha - Mac Command Line 74 MB
Version 0.0.15
Upheaval Alpha - Linux 114 MB
Version 0.0.15
Upheaval Alpha - Linux Command Line 73 MB
Version 0.0.15

Also available on

Download demo

Download
Upheaval Demo - Android 119 MB
Version 0.0.15
Download
Upheaval Demo - Windows 114 MB
Version 0.0.15
Download
Upheaval Demo - Windows Command Line 73 MB
Version 0.0.15
Download
Upheaval Demo - Mac 117 MB
Version 0.0.15
Download
Upheaval Demo - Mac Command Line 74 MB
Version 0.0.15
Download
Upheaval Demo - Linux 114 MB
Version 0.0.15
Download
Upheaval Demo - Linux Command Line 73 MB
Version 0.0.15

Development log

View all posts

Comments

Log in with itch.io to leave a comment.

(+1)

sorry to be impatient, but this is still recieving updates right?

Yes, definitely! I’m still working on the next update. If you follow me here on itch.io, you’ll get an email as soon as it’s uploaded, so you don’t have to worry about when it will come out. :)

(+1)

will this be on gog later

I would love for Upheaval to be on GOG later! Closer to release, I’ll reach out to GOG to see if I can sell Upheaval through their platform. 🙂

(+1)

i am a little curious. i wanted to know how much of the game is finished?

btw, i just joined your discord!

I definitely don’t have an exact answer, but, if I had to use black magic to try and estimate, I’d say that the engine/polish is about 90% done, and the content is (hopefully) 50% done.

Thanks for joining the Discord! Please let me know if you have any other questions or ideas. 😄

hi.

you can check out the audiogames.net forum. they might be able to help you impliment accessibility in the gui version. after confirming your account, you'll have to go to the introductions topic and introduce yourself. Then, wait till an administrator unrestricts you.

(+1)

Hey, I’m already on the AudioGames forum on this thread! My username there is @AlexLeone. If you respond on that thread, I’ll see it! 🙂

(+2)

are your other games accessible?

(+1)

That’s a great question! I just checked my other games on itch.io for blind accessibility, and unfortunately none of the video games seem to work with a screen reader (I’m testing with NVDA). I do have some tabletop RPG supplements (mainly for Dungeon World) that should work fine, since they’re just PDFs. Let me know if you have any other questions! 🙂

(+2)

what about the game which requires a deck of 52 cards?

(+1)

If you have a blind-accessible way to deal out a 52 card deck and recognize face-up cards on a table, then yes, Cat and Mouse is blind-accessible! The only accessibility tweak I’d make to the rules is to make it so the Mouse has to announce when/if they switch or move traps. Although maybe there’s some way to avoid this tweak that I’m not seeing right now. If you know of or figure out some way to play it blind-accessibly, comment on the Cat and Mouse project page to let me know! 😄 Thanks!

(+2)

what's the difference between graphical and command line version? Also, will the final game also have command line? also, if this helps, if the graphical version is made in unity, there is an accessibility plugin for that ig.

(+1)

The graphical version has visual maps, background images for each region (forest, mountains, etc.), and limitations on how many options can be shown at once (it uses MORE OPTIONS and PREVIOUS OPTIONS buttons to cycle through all the options if there are more than six at a time). There may be some other differences I’m forgetting. The command line version plays kind of like a 1980s text adventure game, but has numbered options like in Warsim: The Realm of Aslona.

Yes, the final game will have a command line version! I’m not using Unity; Upheaval is made with MonoGame. If you know of any similar tools for MonoGame, I’d love to hear about them!

(+2)

does the command line version have music? sorry for so many questions? 

(+1)

Don’t be sorry, I love questions! 😄 Yes, the command line version has music. If you like, you can download the command line demo version and try it out and see if you like it. 🙂 I’m also very happy to answer any other questions you have! 😄

(+2)

thanks alot!. for help with the graphic version, you could ask the forum ig.

(+2)

is this game blind accessible?

(+1)

Yes, the command line version is currently blind accessible because it is screen reader compatible (I use NVDA to test, but others have reported that Narrator and JAWS also work)! I’m working on adding text-to-speech to the graphical version, but it’s not done yet (as of version 0.0.15).

Here’s an AudioGames forum thread for more history and context about Upheaval’s blind accessibility. 🙂

(+2)

ok, thanks! I use nvda. will the final version also support it?

(1 edit)

The command line version of Upheaval will always support NVDA, but the graphical version unfortunately will not support any screen reader programs, even in the final version (I can’t for the life of me figure out how to support screen readers in MonoGame).

(+1)

the people on the ag.net forum could help ig, but i don't know.

(+2)

i have some questions. does/will this game have music or sfx? also, will this be a paid game later?

(+1)

Hi darksand123, the current version of Upheaval (0.0.15) already has music and SFX! If you want, you can buy the early access alpha version right now here on itch.io, or you can wait until the game is fully released (I’ll increase the price after the full release). The free demo will always be available, and it should have more content the closer the game gets to release.

Let me know what other questions you have! 😄 Thanks!

(+2)

Hi there! I have a problem with the mac version of your game. My laptop says, that the app is damaged and it cant be opened. Any ideas how to fix this? Good luck further with your project. I can't wait to play the full version when comes out.

(+1)

😱 Thank you for the report! It looks like it’s a security issue that might have to do with how I’m signing the Mac application at the moment.

I found a workaround: you can open the Terminal and run this command on the .app file after you extract it:

xattr -d com.apple.quarantine "Upheaval.app"

I’ve tested this on my Mac computer and it seems to work for me (I found the same problem as you, actually). Let me know if this works for you, or if it doesn’t work (in which case we’ll try to find another workaround).

I would love to make a proper fix ASAP, but I’m also working on a number of other features right now, and I realistically won’t be able to work on the Mac signing until later this year, unfortunately. ☹️ Thank you so much for your patience, and please let me know if you notice any other issues! 😄

(+1)

Hello!

I am Jose Luis Benítez Díaz, a student in Translation and Interpreting at the Pablo de Olavide University, Seville (Spain). I am looking for a cool game to translate into Spanish for my thesis and I have come across your game "Upheaval". I have tried the demo and I think it is really cool and I wondered if you would find it interesting to translate it into Spanish. The whole localization process would be under the supervision of my tutor, a localization specialist. 

Thank you so much in advance,

Jose B.

(+1)

Thanks for the offer, Jose!

I already responded to you in the Discord, but for anyone else reading this and wondering: Upheaval is unfortunately either very very difficult or impossible to translate, and I think it will be years after the full release before I think about having any official translations. Of course, if anyone wants to attempt to translate it on their own, they’re more than welcome to! Thank you! 🙂

(1 edit) (+3)

I tried the demo and it's quite a fun game. Though, I find myself overwhelmed trying to figure out where my character currently is, but that's probably something that can be fixed by playing more; I also haven't looked at the map so maybe that would improve the experience as well.

(+2)

Thank you for playing! :D I agree, looking at the map will probably help, especially since it has an indicator showing where you are. Any suggestions for making it easier to look at the map, or do you think it’s fine as it is? Glad you had fun, at any rate! :D

(1 edit) (+3)

The demo download for all types isnt working for me, please help I want to try it to see if I like the game

(+1)

I’m so sorry! itch.io support has some posts about fixing downloading problems. See if one of these links helps, and let me know if they don’t?

(+2)

Thank you, seems to work now

(+2)

I like it, I enjoy the simplicity of the game and how it enables an incredible amount of freedom.

I hope an option to load community modules is on the to-do list.

(+1)

Thank you! Player freedom is one of my goals. :)

I would love to have community modules; at this point, I don’t have any idea what they would look like.

What sort of content are you thinking could be added with community modules? And, are you interested in making community modules, or in having them to install?

(+2)

I'm thinking mostly about added content and standalone adventures, just look at how much stuff people keep making for old games.

I personally don't expect I'll create much but I promise I'll try.

(+1)

Thanks, I’ll keep it in mind! :) If I get a few more people expressing interest in creating community content for Upheaval, I’d be happy to support them and add the ability to make and load community modules!

In the meantime, the save files are all actually in plain text already, so you can edit them to your heart’s content. Technically you can even add new content to the game by editing the save files! Although it’s much easier to do things like change characters’ names and let yourself out of prison. XD

(+2)

Hey Alex! Is the current version playable via console? If not, are you planning on making it so? I'm legally blind and prefer to play most text-only games via console/terminal if possible, but to me it looks like v0.0.4 can't be played that way as of yet.

(+2)

No (sorry about that), and Yes! :D I’m releasing version 0.0.5 on Console tomorrow (Dec 12); I’m just doing some last minute testing over the weekend to make sure it’s ready before it goes out. I’ll post a devlog tomorrow when it comes out–if you’ve downloaded the demo or bought the full game, you should get an email when it’s ready to play.

Thanks for your support, man!

(+1)

Awesome, thanks so much for the quick reply - and of course for being cool enough to make the game blind-accessible! Keep up the great work, I can't wait to see where this project'll go!

(+1)

The full Windows Console version is out now! :)