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julez_

5 karma · joined September 5, 2025

Creator of A Dark Cave - a free text-based survival & settlement game. Make a fire, gather resources, build a village, craft, upgrade and explore the darkness im the cave below. Play in your browser on desktop or mobile: https://a-dark-cave.com
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julez_··on Ask HN: Indie Game Recommendations?
I made https://a-dark-cave.com/

It's an homage to old text-based games, but more story-driven and with a few modern twists.

julez_··on Evolve: An incremental game about evolving a civilization
If you like Paperclips / Kittens / A Dark Room, I also built a game in that niche.

A dark incremental settlement builder with a story and decisions with impact on the game. It is playable in the browser at https://a-dark-cave.com, desktop and mobile. There is a Steam demo too.

julez_··on Show HN: A Dark Cave – minimalist survival/settlement building game
I hope it will be more than 20 minutes! :D

Funny anecdote: when I first started making the game, it had almost no visuals at all, just text on a black background. Many players commented that it was perfect for playing at work because it barely looked like a game. Employers hate me.

julez_··on Show HN: A Dark Cave – Minimalistic Graphics in the Age of AI Slop
Thanks a lot for your comment! There's still a lot for me to improve, and some of your points really make sense to me.
julez_··on Show HN: A Dark Cave – Minimalistic Graphics in the Age of AI Slop
Yes! Really big fan of ADR.
julez_··on Show HN: A Dark Cave – Minimalistic Graphics in the Age of AI Slop
I'll bite.

You only copied half the comment:

"Dude puts A Dark Room through an AI filter and called it his game /s

Joking aside, it worked for A Dark Room so I don't see the needs for graphics in your game"

The creator of A Dark Room played my game and publicly said he likes A Dark Cave -> https://www.reddit.com/r/ADarkRoom/comments/1ou4kch/comment/...

I have said many times publicly that ADR is a big part of the inspiration for my game.

A Dark Cave is also open-source.

If you played ADR, please play A Dark Cave and see for yourself that I did not copy it.

julez_··on Show HN: A Dark Cave – Minimalistic Graphics in the Age of AI Slop
Thank you very much for that thoughtful feedback! Enjoy the game :)
julez_··on Show HN: A Dark Cave – Minimalistic Graphics in the Age of AI Slop
Thanks a lot for the nice feedback!

I would be interested ot hear from you once you have progressed a bit more.

Have fun playing!