RCDR

Choose a deceased detective, enter a corrupted tape, and descend through procedural floors filled with hostile specimens, limited resources, and escalating threats.

RCDR, short for Recorder, is a VHS-style survival-horror FPS roguelite where each run is a corrupted recording.

A series of missing persons cases leads back to one scientist: the man behind the test subjects, specimens, and experiments buried inside the tapes. The detectives who followed the evidence never returned. What remains are their recordings.

Every floor pushes you deeper into the experiment, with randomized skill choices shaping each run.

Find the boss, survive the encounter, recover the elevator key, and descend further into the recording. Each run brings you closer to the truth behind the scientist and the horrors he left behind.

RCDR is currently in development. This build is an early version of the game, with balancing, content, bug fixing, and polish still in progress. A full release is planned for the future.

Features

• First-person survival-horror combat
• Procedural floor progression
• Roguelite skill choices during each run
• VHS / PS1-inspired visual style
• Boss encounters every few floors
• Detective traits and case-file presentation
• Sanity pressure and limited resources
• VHS Player upgrades through the Service Manual

Service Manual

The Service Manual lets you tinker with the VHS Player and alter how each run behaves. These upgrades can improve your chances of survival, change how skills affect the run, or strengthen parts of the recording system itself.

Rewind! Unlock the Rewind Buffer through the Service Manual and cheat death once per run. When the tape breaks, your body snaps back to an earlier moment in the recording and restores health from that point, buying you one last chance to escape. But the rewind is imperfect: ammo, sanity, resources, and world state keep their scars, and stronger rewinds can bring you back with less health.

Every modification comes with a drawback. Upgrading the VHS Player may improve one part of the run while corrupting another, creating side effects that can make future floors more dangerous. Some upgrades may increase your power, but also raise the pressure on your health, sanity, resources, enemies, or the tape itself.

Choose carefully. The Service Manual is not a simple upgrade tree. It is a risk-and-reward system where every improvement can leave a permanent scar on the recording.

Development Roadmap

The current build focuses on the core gameplay loop: entering the tape, surviving procedural floors, fighting bosses, collecting the elevator key, and descending deeper.

Planned additions include

• More enemy types
• Additional floor themes and locations
• More boss encounters
• 1-2 additional weapons
• More skill options and balancing
• Expanded Service Manual upgrades and side effects
• Improved sound design, visual polish, and game feel
• Bug fixes and performance improvements

Plans may change during development based on testing, balancing, and player feedback.

Controls

WASD	Move
Mouse	Look
Shift	Sprint
C	Crouch
Q / E	Lean
Left Mouse	Shoot
Right Mouse	Aim
R	Reload
1	Revolver
2	Shotgun
F	Knife
T	Skill Menu
Esc	Pause

Controls are currently designed for keyboard and mouse. Controller support is limited.

Developer Note

RCDR is a passion project built around a game concept I have wanted to create for a long time. The game is developed in Godot and will continue to expand throughout development.