A kitten in a dark cloak awakens in the rain on a bench at the end of the world. Something has split the moon in two. It hangs in the sky angry and red and shattered. Meteors fall from the sky. The other animals have already gone underground. The kitten has a note from her mother. The note is simple, sparse; her mother can’t explain what’s going on, but if her mother isn’t back the moment the kitten wakes up, she is to meet her mother in “the usual place.” With no other direction, the kitten soon stumbles across a frog named Ribbert. Like the kitten, he is looking for someone. Ribbert plans to wait a little longer, but the surface is no longer safe. He gives the kitten his drill and tells her that her mother is surely waiting for her in one of the underground shelters below. He will come and help her if she calls for him, but he cannot stay with her. With nowhere else to go, the kitten begins to drill. Down, down, down toward the Everdeep. Hoping to find her mother. Hoping not to be alone. The kitten’s name is Shell. So begins Everdeep Aurora, a game unlike any I have ever played. It looks like it was designed for the 16-bit machines of yesteryear with a UI that recalls the Game Boy. A game that could not have run on that hardware, but clearly inspired by it. A game designed for machines that never were and never will be, but exist in our memory all the same. Everdeep Aurora is genuinely stunning in a way only pixel art can be. Its world is sad and broken, but it invites you in all the same. There is no combat in Everdeep Aurora. You are an explorer, not a fighter. Your goal, and Shell’s, is simple: to find your mother. But in the process, you will chart the underground world, meet its inhabitants, and face your fears. You will descend into the unknown with only your wits and drill to light the way. Everdeep Aurora’s world is tile-based. Your drill can break any tile, at least initially, but you have to manage its energy. Even if you run out, your drill will still work; it will just take longer. The beauty of Everdeep Aurora is that your path is yours to chart. There is no right answer, for you or for Shell. Your goal is simply down. That’s not to say there are no guides. Certain rocks contain red crystals that function as currency and allow you to recharge your drill, while others hold ore that can be used to upgrade your drill to make it faster and more efficient. It’s easy and faster to go straight down, but you never know when you might need to go back up. Let the rocks be your guide. Build a snaking path. Leave an island for Shell to jump to. Build a road carved between two rows of rocks for Shell to walk down. By navigating the underground world, you shape it, both now, and for future journeys. As you descend, you’ll meet the underground’s inhabitants. A blacksmith who sees poorly but can sharpen your feeble drill into one of great power. An owl telling stories around a campfire. A bar full of the dispossessed, hidden away. A group of children hiding in a run-down, abandoned mansion. A girl hiding in a beautiful flower garden she is determined to keep secret. An otter who simply wants to fish, even if it costs him a person he dearly loves. A thief who steals for a purpose hard to divine. And through it all, Ribbert, still searching, like you. The Everdeep is full of stories, of lives displaced by what’s happening above. Some will help you. Some want to hurt you. Some need your help. Many will ignore you. How you interact with them, and what you do, will shape their stories, and yours. Shell is fearless and kind. When a “monster” and another child are trapped, she fetches their friends to help. When they are scared, she uses fireflies to light their way. When a girl needs water for the flowers in her hidden garden, Shell fetches it, and when asked to keep the location of the garden secret from the girl’s godmother, she agrees — even when it costs her. She fetches a lost glove for the blacksmith. She brings a missing dog home. She helps wherever she is needed. Many (though not all) of these stories are optional, off the beaten path; you don’t have to complete them to proceed. But Everdeep Aurora is richer for doing them. I like Shell. Even though she communicates only in meows and through her body, you know exactly who she is. In a world where she’s lost and alone, she spends much of her time helping others. And in turn, the world is better. An old woman comes to terms with her jealousy and the loss of her father. An outcast learns once again to be kind. Not everyone is kind in Everdeep Aurora the way Shell is. But her impact almost always makes them better. The world may be ending, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t worth fighting for, and small moments can often move the needle of a life in a way we don’t expect. As you go farther and advance Everdeep Aurora’s story (which will take you between 4-6 hours, though it will take you over a dozen to unlock every ending), Shell gains equipment that upgrades her abilities. Old boots allow her to bounce off of walls and ascend to greater heights; her drill is upgraded; and so on, opening the path to new areas and former places once out of reach. Reaching a new place is part puzzle, part decision-making. Occasionally, you'll find platforming challenges hidden away that ask you to move blocks, navigate unsteady platforms, and solve puzzles. They are optional, a reward for your work in uncovering them with a reward of their own at their end, and a nice break from navigating the underground. There are also several small minigames, like a claw machine, dice, fishing, and so on that help ensure nothing gets stale. Make no mistake, though the underground is where Everdeep Aurora is at its best; the moment-to-moment play feels wonderful wherever you are, but each decision you make there literally shapes the world around you. The Everdeep is changed by your presence. Exploration nets drill upgrades, red crystals, photographs, drawings, stories, adorable little hats for Shell, music from the game’s stunning soundtrack. The piano work is haunting and beautiful and sad and tranquil, and it changes from place to place. So do the backgrounds, the color of the world. Every part of Everdeep Aurora tells a story. Pay attention, and you’ll understand the stuff that isn’t spelled out, though the actual writing is often quite good (though sometimes you’ll see many of the same phrases pop up again in a way that can be distracting), and the use of moving, colorful, and sometimes different-sized text does a wonderful job of conveying tone. It is satisfying to see the world change around you because of things you did, to uncover its secrets, to learn more about these characters. Even something as simple as calling Ribbert to bring you back to his camp, or listening to him play a song on his guitar, tells a story, a bit about the world, about who these people are. Everything is intentional. Nothing is separate from everything else. One story is a part of every story. Everdeep Aurora intrigued me. It moved me. It made me explore. Guided me often without me knowing it. It forced me to learn where things were (there is a map, but it does not mark everything), to backtrack, to explore, to remember, to find what was asked of me and solve what wasn’t, to carve my path in a way that acknowledged I would be back here, wherever that was, again. It took me through a world that felt old and lived in and like it could have been made twenty years ago but is probably only possible today. It introduced me to Shell, who reminded me of the value of being kind and helping others. It told me a story made up of stories, restored my belief in the idea that the things we do, even when we are directionless and alone and afraid and all seems lost, can have profound impacts on other people. That we are all in this together. No story is forged alone, no community made by ourselves. We are our choices, and the things we do cast ripples that stretch farther than we can see. I found a kitten sleeping on a bench in the rain at the end of the world, and she helped me remember how to live. This review was based on a PC key provided by the publisher. Everdeep Aurora releases on PC and Nintendo Switch on July 10, 2025.