Flesh Pit. Scavenger Hut. Slaughter House. Spirit Void. These are just some of the exciting locations you can excavate in The Deadly Path, a game about digging out a dungeon to appease an elder god while adventurers periodically appear to ruin your day.

In terms of vibes it’s half Dungeon Keeper and half Graveyard Keeper, as demonstrated in a trailer set to the version of In the Hall of the Mountain King from The Social Network. But unlike those games it plays on a grid of tiles representing the earth you’re carving out to form your unholy domain, which you flip to reveal what might be a handy vein of gold or an opening to the surface raiders will use to access your store of precious minerals and meat.

That’s why you need to balance expansion with building an army, recruiting skeletons from the Graveyard and stocking the Barracks with warrior ratfolk. Of course, those things cost resources too, which demand further expansion, and pretty soon you’re stuck in a vicious cycle that can only be escaped by making even more vicious soldiers.

You’ll also work your way up through the ages, progressing the tech tree from the era of darkness, up through ages of industry, until eventually you can manifest your dark lord and settle the caboose of those pesky heroes once and for all. 

“The Deadly Path is a compelling hybrid of resource and building management with intuitive roguelike strategy,” said Joe Goddard-Howell of Fireshine Games. “With its ‘one more go’ appeal and innovative approach to dungeon building, it’s easy to become mesmerised by its gameplay and lose hours to the game at a time. We’re very confident that The Deadly Path is a game that fans of deep strategic roguelikes will enjoy, and look forward to revealing more on the game in the months ahead.”

The Deadly Path is due out later this year, and you can wishlist it now on Steam.