Thread Crawler

A Reddit-powered roguelike dungeon crawler built with Phaser.js. Threads become dungeons — comments become loot, floors, and community scaling. Every run is different. Every death makes you stronger.

Quick Start

# Local play (no Reddit needed)
python -m http.server 3000 --directory webroot
# Open: http://localhost:3000

# With community scaling (simulates 50 comments)
# Open: http://localhost:3000?comments=50

How It Works

1. A Reddit thread is posted as a Devvit Playtest app
2. The thread title + post body generate a procedural dungeon
3. Players explore floors, kill monsters, collect loot
4. Community engagement (comments) scales the dungeon
5. Die? Keep your gold. Buy permanent upgrades in The Vault. Try again.

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Core Pressure Systems

These three mechanics stack to create constant urgency. You can't just wander — the floor is fighting back.

Floor Timer

Every floor has a countdown. When it hits zero, the floor collapses.

Floor	Timer	Warning
1	90s	—
5	70s	—
10	50s	—
15+	45s (min)	—

• HUD shows ⏰ 67s — turns yellow at 50%, red at 20%
• At 20%: heartbeat sound + "HURRY!" toast
• When timer hits 0: FLOOR COLLAPSING — continuous damage every 0.5s
• Collapse damage: 5 + depth * 3 per tick
• Camera shake increases the longer you survive the collapse
• Kills give +2s back — rewards fighting, not running

Exit Lock

You can't leave a floor without proving you cleared it.

• Exit is LOCKED until you kill 70% of floor enemies
• Exit shows LOCKED (34%) in red, updates as you kill
• When 70% killed: EXIT UNLOCKED toast + green flash + green particles
• Exit text turns green, shows Press E
• Greed counter (☠ 5/12) doubles as exit progress tracker

Enemy Waves

The longer you stay, the worse it gets. New waves spawn automatically.

Time	Wave	Enemies	Strength Bonus
0s	0	—	—
15s	1	2-3	+15%
30s	2	3-4	+30%
45s	3	4-5	+45%
60s	4	5-6	+60%

• Wave interval: 15s (faster on deeper floors, min 8s)
• Each wave spawns 15% stronger enemies (HP + ATK scale)
• Enemies spawn 80-200px from the player with red flash
• HUD shows ☠ Wave 3 counter
• Toast + monster growl + red screen flash on each wave

The three systems stack: Timer pressures you to move fast. Exit lock forces you to fight. Waves keep escalating. Kills give +2s back. Risk tokens from refusing heals give gold/XP bonus. Every decision matters.

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Meta-Progression: The Vault

Die? Your gold persists. Spend it in The Vault between runs for permanent upgrades.

Upgrades

Upgrade	Effect	Base Cost	Cost Scaling
Max HP	+10 HP per level	30G	1.5x per level
Attack	+2 ATK per level	40G	1.5x per level
Defense	+1 DEF per level	35G	1.5x per level
Speed	+10% speed per level	50G	1.8x per level
Bag Size	+2 inventory slots per level	25G	1.3x per level

Accessing The Vault

• Title screen: "THE VAULT" button (gold)
• Game-over screen: "VAULT" button next to "RETRY"
• Shows total gold, current upgrade levels, best floor reached
• Buy upgrades, then press "ENTER THE DUNGEON"

Best Floor Tracking

• Highest floor reached is saved to localStorage
• Displayed in The Vault as "Best run: Floor X"

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Risk Tokens

Refuse healing to gain power. Hold SHIFT + interact on heal tiles to refuse the heal.

• Each refusal = +1 Risk Token = +15% gold/XP multiplier
• Stacks up to ~3.5x at 16 tokens
• Purple particles + notification on refusal
• HUD shows: ⚡ 3 Risk (45%)
• Risk applies to: kill gold, kill XP, chest gold

High risk, high reward. Die with 10 risk tokens? That's a 150% bonus to everything you earned.

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Floor Modifiers

Every floor gets a random modifier. Shows on floor splash + HUD.

Modifier	Effect
⚔ Glass Cannon	2x ATK, -30% Max HP
💰 Gold Rush	2x Gold drops
☠ Monster Surge	2x Enemies, +100% XP
💀 Cursed Floor	Healing items disabled
⚡ Speed Demon	+50% speed, +20% ATK
🛡 Iron Wall	+3 DEF, -20% speed
💎 Greed Floor	2x chest gold, +50% enemies
💔 Fragile	-40% Max HP, +40% ATK

Modifiers affect spawn counts, gold multipliers, XP multipliers, and player stats.

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Synergy System

Combine specific items/weapons for bonus effects. Synergies trigger automatically when both items are in your inventory.

Synergy	Requires	Effect
Inferno	Fire Staff + Bomb	Bombs leave fire trails
Frost Sprint	Ice Bow + Speed Boots	Leave ice trail that slows enemies
Shadow Step	Shadow Dagger + Compass	Teleport to exit (SHIFT+E)
Holy Guardian	Holy Lance + Shield	Shield regenerates 1 block per kill

HUD shows ⚡ 1 Synergy when active.

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Mid-Run Shop

Press K to open the Wandering Merchant. Merchants appear randomly after floor 2 (15% chance per floor).

Item	Cost	Effect
ATK Boost	30G	+5 ATK for 60s
DEF Boost	25G	+3 DEF for 60s
Speed Boost	20G	+30% speed for 45s
Crit Boost	35G	+15% crit for 60s
Full Heal	50G	Restore all HP
Max HP +20	80G	Permanent +20 Max HP
Bomb	40G	AoE damage item
Mega Potion	30G	Restore 80 HP item

Temporary buffs show on HUD with countdown timers.

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Combo System

Kill enemies quickly to build combos. Combos multiply XP and gold.

Combo	Multiplier	Crit Bonus
0-2	1x	—
3-4	1.5x	+5% crit
5-7	2x	+10% crit
8-11	3x	+15% crit
12-19	4x	+15% crit
20+	5x	+15% crit

• Combo resets after 2 seconds without a kill
• Combo resets when you take damage
• Milestone toasts at 3, 5, 8, 12, 20 kills
• Screen flash at 8+ (purple) and 12+ (gold)
• HUD shows 5x COMBO (2x) with pulse animation

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Greed System

Kill ALL enemies on a floor for a bonus.

• HUD shows ☠ 3/12 (killed/total) as you progress
• Color shifts: gray → purple (50%) → gold (80%)
• When 100% killed: 💰 GREED! in gold
• Greed Bonus: 50 + depth * 30 gold (scales with community multiplier)
• Bonus applied when you exit the floor

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Escalating Difficulty

Enemies get exponentially harder every floor.

Enemy Scaling Formula

HP = base_hp * (1.35 ^ depth)
ATK = base_damage * (1 + depth * 0.18)
Speed = base_speed + depth * 4

Floor	Shadow Crawler HP	Bone Horror HP
0	25	65
3	62	160
5	114	294
10	488	1,255

Chest Gold Scaling

gold = (15 + random(25) + depth * 8) * community_mult * risk_mult * (1 + depth * 0.1)

Kill Rewards Scaling

xp = (15 + depth * 8) * community_mult * risk_mult * floor_xp_mult
gold = (8 + depth * 5) * community_mult * risk_mult * floor_gold_mult * (1 + depth * 0.05)

Monster Types (by floor)

Floor	Monster	Behavior
0-1	Shadow Crawler	Flank (circle strafe)
2-3	Lost Soul	Phase (walks through walls)
4-5	Flesh Golem	Charge (rushes at player)
6-7	Void Stalker	Teleport (blinks around)
8+	Bone Horror	Ranged (shoots projectiles)

Monster Count

count = min(floor((4 + depth * 1.5) * sqrt(community_mult) * floor_enemy_mult), 20)

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Bosses

Bosses appear on specific floors with scaled stats.

Floor	Boss	Base HP	Special
3	The Thread Wraith	150	3-projectile spread
5	Hydra of Forgotten Replies	250	Ring of projectiles + charge
7	The Original Poster	400	Spiral + summon + AoE

Boss HP scales: hp * (1.3 ^ depth) Boss ATK scales: damage * (1 + depth * 0.15)

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Boss Rush Mode

Unlocked after beating the game for the first time.

• Red "BOSS RUSH" button on title screen
• 3 floors, each with a scaled boss
• Bosses: Thread Wraith → Hydra → Original Poster
• Each boss is 1.5x stronger than the previous
• No floor timer or exit lock — pure boss combat
• No enemy waves — just you and the boss

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Visual Juice

Screen Effects

• Screen shake — on hits (4px), crits (12px), player damage (6-12px based on damage), boss spawn (15px)
• Screen flash — white on crits, red on damage, green on exit unlock, gold on level up
• Hit freeze — 0.04-0.08s pause on crits (hit-stop)
• Camera follow — smooth 0.1 lerp following player

Particles

• Kill particles — 25 death + 10 gold sparkles + 8 white flash per kill
• Crit particles — 12 hit + 8 blood splatter
• Level up — 20 gold particles in ring pattern
• Boss spawn — 30 dramatic red particles
• Risk refusal — 10 purple particles
• Wave spawn — 6 red flash particles per enemy
• Exit unlock — 15 green particles around exit

Damage Numbers

• Floating text on damage dealt/received
• Color-coded: white (normal), gold (crit), purple (combo), red (player damage), green (heal)
• Gold earned shown on kill: +12G

HUD Elements

• Combo counter with pulse animation + multiplier
• Greed counter with color progression
• Floor modifier display
• Risk token counter
• Synergy indicator
• Temp buff timers
• Floor timer with color states
• Exit lock status
• Wave counter

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Controls

Key	Action
WASD / Arrows	Move
Space	Attack (melee)
E	Interact (chests, exit, shops)
I	Open inventory
K	Open mid-run shop
M	Toggle minimap
P	Pause
1-4	Use ability (Fireball, Heal, Dash, Shield)
Shift	Dodge roll (3 charges, regenerates)
Shift + interact on heal	Refuse heal (gain Risk Token)

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Abilities

Key	Ability	Cooldown	Effect
1	Fireball	3s	Piercing fire projectile, 2x ATK damage
2	Heal	8s	Restore 30% max HP
3	Dash Strike	4s	Dash forward, damage nearby enemies (1.5x ATK)
4	Shield	12s	Block next 3 hits

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Items & Equipment

Weapons

Name	ATK	Special
Rusty Sword	+3	None
Iron Blade	+6	None
Fire Staff	+8	30% burn chance
Ice Bow	+5	30% slow chance
Shadow Dagger	+10	+15% crit chance
Holy Lance	+12	+5 HP on kill

Loot Rarity

Rarity	Drop Chance	ATK Mult
Common	50%	1.0x
Uncommon	25%	1.3x
Rare	15%	1.6x
Epic	8%	2.0x
Legendary	2%	2.5x

Consumables

Name	Effect
Health Potion	Restore 40 HP
Mega Potion	Restore 80 HP
Bomb	50 damage to all nearby enemies
Shield	Block next 3 hits
Speed Boots	+30% movement speed
Attack Gem	+5 ATK permanently
Defense Gem	+3 DEF permanently
Compass	Reveal exit on minimap

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Status Effects

Effect	Duration	Effect
Poison	5s	2 damage per tick
Freeze	3s	-50% speed
Burn	4s	3 damage per tick
Shield	Until broken	Block 3 hits
Haste	5s	+50% speed
Regen	8s	+2 HP per tick

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Achievements

ID	Name	Condition
first_blood	First Blood	Kill your first monster
combo_5	Combo King	Reach 5x combo
floor_3	Deep Diver	Reach floor 3
floor_7	Thread Master	Clear all floors
kills_50	Monster Slayer	Kill 50 monsters total
gold_500	Gold Hoarder	Collect 500 gold
level_10	Veteran	Reach level 10
no_damage_floor	Untouchable	Clear a floor without taking damage

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Random Events

Events trigger randomly during exploration (0.3% chance per frame):

Event	Effect
Mysterious Merchant	-20G for +3 ATK, or free 5-15G
Healing Fountain	+50% max HP heal
Cursed Altar	50% chance: +8 ATK or -30 HP
Ancient Shrine	+20 Max HP
Trapped Chest	60%: +50G, 40%: -20 HP
Whispers in the Dark	Creepy flavor text
Blood Pool	70%: +5 ATK, 30%: -15 HP
Shadow Figure	+2 DEF from fear
Creaking Door	+15G + depth*5
Ghostly Touch	50%: +30 HP, 50%: -25 HP

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Community Scaling System

Every thread starts with 10 base floors. Community comments change everything.

Floor Count

Comments	Floors	Effect
0	10	Base dungeon
20	11	+1 floor
50	12	+2 floors
100	15	+5 floors
200	20	10 bonus floors

Formula: totalFloors = 10 + floor(comments / 20)

Community Multiplier

multiplier = 1 + (comments / 20) * 0.2

Comments	Multiplier
0	1.0x
20	1.2x
40	1.4x
100	2.0x
200	3.0x

What it scales: XP, gold, item drops, heal/power spawns, chest gold, enemy count.

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Tile Types

Tile	ID	Description
Floor	0	Walkable ground
Wall	1	Impassable
Exit	2	Next floor (locked until 70% kills)
Spawn	3	Player start
Trap	4	Damage on step + status effect
Heal	5	Restore HP (SHIFT to refuse for Risk Token)
Power	6	Random buff (ATK/DEF/Gold/HP)
Water	7	-50% speed
Tall Grass	8	Random monster encounter
Path	9	Corridor between rooms
Fence	10	Impassable
Tree	11	Impassable
Floor Alt	12	Visual variation
Carpet	13	Visual variation
Stairs	14	Save point
Chest	15	Random loot + gold
Lava	16	Damage on step
Ice	17	+40% speed
Sand	18	Visual variation
Bridge	19	Over water
Flower	20	Visual decoration
Poison	21	Poison status on step
Spikes	22	Damage on step
Locked Chest	23	Community-locked (20+ comments)
Bonus	24	Community bonus room

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Architecture

webroot/
  game.js      — Main game (~4800 lines): Phaser scenes, dungeon gen, combat, UI, systems
  index.html   — Gameboy shell UI, overlays, HUD, CSS animations
src/
  main.tsx     — Devvit server: Reddit API, thread→dungeon conversion
  server/
    index.js   — Minimal Express health check (unused by Devvit)
package.json   — Devvit dependencies

Game Systems in game.js

• Sound Engine — Procedural music (7 themes), SFX, ambient sounds
• Dungeon Generator — Cellular automata + Perlin noise + room carving
• Tile Renderer — Pokemon-style pixel art tiles
• Combat System — Melee, abilities, status effects, crits
• Enemy AI — 5 behaviors (chase, flank, phase, charge, teleport, ranged)
• Boss AI — 3 unique boss patterns
• Particle Pool — Object-pooled particles for performance
• Screen Effects — Shake, flash, freeze, chromatic aberration
• Combo System — Kill streaks with multiplier
• Floor Pressure — Timer, collapse, exit lock, enemy waves
• Risk Token System — Refuse heals for gold/XP multiplier
• Floor Modifiers — Random per-floor buffs/debuffs
• Synergy System — Item combo bonuses
• Mid-Run Shop — Spend gold on temp buffs during dungeon
• Meta-Progression — The Vault, persistent gold, permanent upgrades
• Boss Rush Mode — Post-game boss gauntlet
• Toast Notifications — Styled popups for events
• Loading Screen — Tips + progress bar

Devvit Integration

The game runs as a Reddit Devvit app:

1. Receives thread data via getPostContent
2. Extracts title, body, author, comment count
3. Generates dungeon seed from thread hash
4. Passes data to client via postMessage

Communication is one-directional (server → webview). Game state is client-side only (localStorage).

Dungeon Generation

1. Cellular automata (6 passes) → organic cave shape
2. Room carving (random rectangles) → 8-12+ rooms per floor
3. Corridor pathfinding → connects all rooms
4. Feature placement → spawn, exit, chests, traps
5. Room decoration → grass, flowers, fences, water features
6. Water pools (Perlin-based) → natural water features
7. Secret rooms → hidden treasure rooms (60% chance)
8. Community bonus rooms → 1 per 20 comments
9. Border walls → ensure edges are solid
10. Exit + spawn placement → safety fallbacks

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Running Locally

# No dependencies needed — just static files
python -m http.server 3000 --directory webroot
# Open http://localhost:3000

# With simulated community engagement
# Open http://localhost:3000?comments=100

# Devvit mode (requires Reddit dev account)
npm install
npm run dev

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License

MIT