Cave Debt

You arrived in Deepwell with one small lantern, one enormous dream, and no money at all.

To become the town’s first licensed glowling keeper, you accepted a 500-coin expedition loan and entered a secret cave beneath the mountain. Catch its colorful inhabitants, bring them safely to Pip’s spark exchange, and pay off the debt before mounting interest reaches 1,500 coins.

## Explore, collect, and survive

Glowlings harmlessly shed valuable sparks when they feel safe. Each species has its own appearance, movement, value, and capture difficulty:

- Mosskins are slow and require one capture mark.

- Embermoths flutter away and require two quick marks.

- Glimmerfins are fast and require three.

Higher-level capture permits can be financed through Pip—but every purchase increases your debt.

Debt crawlers hunt anything that glows. Temporary binding charms let you capture these dangerous creatures for a valuable bounty. If you are injured, Pip can restore your hearts by adding the cost to your loan.

Build a valuable pack, survive the journey back to Pip’s sanctuary, and climb out of the cave owing nothing.

## Controls

- Move: WASD or arrow keys

- Catch creatures and sell your pack: Space

- Open Pip’s shop or inspect the wall ledger: E

- Choose shop options: 1 or 2

- Close menus: Escape

## One Game A Week Jam #10

Cave Debt was created for One Game A Week Jam #10.

- Genre: Creature Collector

- Theme: Secret Cave

- Wildcard: A menu that is part of the world

- Ingredient: Debt

The wall ledger and Pip’s counter place the game’s menus directly inside the cave. Debt drives progression, upgrades, healing, difficulty, and the win condition.