Off the AppStore: Shatter the dungeon floor of Shattered Pixel Dungeon

• The shattered dungeon is calling to you to pick up the pieces!
• Pick one of six heroes to delve, fight, and find, explore, and reach greater depths
• Use alchemy and arcane on the go to give your weapons, magic, or self some extra punch

Welcome to Off The AppStore, a weekly feature with a twist. Namely, that while these - as with all the games we cover here - are games that you can play on your phone, they're ones that operate outside of the realms of the big two ways to play: The Google Play Store and the Apple AppStore.

That means that there might be a bit of work required in downloading alternative AppStores or APKs, or that the games can simply be played in your phone browser. We'll make sure to detail that for each game though. Anyway, read on to find a new game or experience to play Off The AppStore.

Will we ever get to a point when we don't have the urge to go diving into caves or exploring ruins that could very well be the last thing that we ever do? Probably not, we're humans, and thus we're naturally curious. In almost every form of media, the moment an element of the unknown is introduced, we can't help but speculate on it. Dungeon designers count on this and want to surprise us with all the wonders and horrors that they hide within their constructs. Shattered Pixel has slapped their name on a construction conveniently titled Shattered Pixel Dungeon.

Returning to the world of medieval fantasy, where things aren't the worst, but they could be better. You are one of several down-on-your-luck adventurers who have nothing better to do than to start exploring the underground systems of your not-so-fair city. You'll begin in the sewers as you fight your way through the filth and scrounge up everything and anything that's even the slightest bit clean. You'll play the part of an exterminator to the various vermin as you make your way to the deeper levels. You may end up longing for the simpler and safer days of the sewers as a more brutal dungeon forms further below with greater monsters and treasures to boot.

As a lone warrior, you need to be cautious in your actions and explorations. You have a sizable inventory for all the items and gear you'll be collecting, as well as extra space for all your magic goodies. There will be chances to perform alchemy and arcane sorceries so that you can strengthen yourself, your equipment, or just deal with some pesky cursed items that may as well be decorative for all the harm they can cause. Each monster encounter can be fatal if you're too reckless, unless that's the kind of adventurer you're controlling. Over six different brave souls are willing to venture down from thieves to spellcasters, but you must earn them by mastering their related mechanics in a constantly changing dungeon.

Shattered Pixel Dungeon is a 2D pixel-art dungeon crawler about crawling deeper through a dungeon in hopes of getting stronger, richer, and eventually reaching some sort of end. Careful moves can get you killed just as much as careless ones, but there lies the excitement. You never know what's waiting for you in the darkness, behind closed doors, or just out of eyesight. Well, there's only one way to find out.

Shattered Pixel Dungeon is available to download and play on its itch.io page!