hey i'm rior, a solo dev
nib lives in the corner of your screen with a handheld called the pocket. it plays a digging game called down below. you set nib's plan, tap to dig if you feel like it and go do your thing. when you come back nib holds up a report: dirt dug, stuff found, naps taken, a grade and a crayon drawing of you
for the first hour or so the reports are just cute. then they start to drift. a save file nib reset hours ago is somehow still digging
a real idle game
down below has 10 layers down to 1,000m, tool upgrades, four helpers (a mole, a worm crew, a lantern bug and an old robot) and new files that earn stars for upgrades that stick around. beat a layer's par time and it scores double
reports from your actual day
every report is built from what really happened while you were gone. a sticky note for a short break, a full report card for 30 minutes or more. they all go in a binder you can reread, and the curios nib digs up go on a museum shelf
a slow, unsettling story
the story only happens through the reports. 4 acts, about two weeks of desktop time, 4 endings. no jump scares and no loud sounds, it's more of a "huh, that's weird" kind of creepy. you can set the strangeness to gentle if you want
what it never does
it never touches your files, settings or wallpaper, never opens your browser, never uses the internet, webcam or mic, and never fakes a crash or a windows error. it only reads the time of your last input to know you stepped away, never which keys
good for streams
a one-sitting mode tells the whole story in about 3 hours, there's a streamer mode that hides your name, and a green background for capture
my inspirations for making this game were desktop pets and taskbar games like rusty's retirement
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