Nikeverse: Deadwake

One fighter (Nike). One life. One long way down.

Nikeverse: Deadwake is a free 3D action game that plays in your browser, with no download. Use a keyboard and mouse, or a phone held sideways.

You guide one fighter (Nike) down through rooms of monsters. If your health reaches zero, the run ends and the next run starts from the first room.

Play free in your browser

Beat an enemy fighter (Nike), then play as it

Some doors lead to a Corrupted Nike: another playable fighter (Nike), turned against you.

1. The door shows its stats next to yours: health, speed, attack strength, damage taken. Weaker than you? Pick another door.
2. Aim at it and press SEND (right mouse button). It glows for four seconds.
3. Bring its health to zero while it glows. When the room is clear, you carry on the run as that fighter (Nike).

How to play

The first time you press Go down, a short practice lesson starts. You cannot die in it, and Skip tutorial is always on screen.

• W A S D: walk. Your fighter (Nike) faces the mouse pointer.
• Left mouse or J: attack. The fourth hit in a row is the strongest.
• K or middle mouse: big attack. Hold it and let go to throw small monsters into the air.
• Space: dodge. For a moment, nothing can hurt you.
• Watch the floor. Before a big enemy attack lands, the spot it will hit glows:
  • Orange (the game calls it amber): hold Shift as it lands. You take almost no damage, and an ember lights up in the row at the top left of the screen.
  • Dark purple: Shift won't stop it. Press Space to dodge, or walk out.
  • A murky pool: it hurts while you stand in it. Walk out.
  • Pale dust along a line: the floor strikes there next. Walk off the line.
• L: uses one lit ember. Your fighter (Nike) jumps and slams down, throwing nearby monsters into the air.
• SEND (right mouse, E or Q): big monsters wear a dark skin that your hits barely damage. SEND uses one lit ember: the monster glows for four seconds and takes full damage.
• R: a six-second power-up, such as harder hits or faster movement.
• Esc or P: pause.

On a phone: drag your left thumb in the lower left to walk. The buttons under your right thumb are Primary (attack), Secondary (big attack), Step (dodge), Plant (hold to block orange), Send, Finisher (L) and Stance (R).

With a game controller (Xbox or PlayStation style, plugged in or paired): left stick walks, right stick turns your fighter (Nike). A dodges, X attacks, Y is the big attack, B is the jump-and-slam, hold LB or LT to block orange, RB is SEND, RT is the power-up and Start pauses. On a PlayStation controller, A is ✕, B is ○, X is □ and Y is △. If the controller does nothing in this itch window, play on the full site instead.

Between rooms

Clear a room, walk through the archway on the far side and pick a door: a shelf (one of 35 bonuses for the rest of the run, such as Frost or Volt added to every hit), a hearth (get some health back) or a Corrupted Nike.

Reasons to come back

• A different route every run.
• Nearly 300 fighters (Nikes), each with its own attacks.
• Beat the final boss to unlock the next of eight harder levels, with rarer fighters (Nikes) behind the doors.
• The Daily Descent: everyone plays the same route with the same fighter (Nike) that day. Each week the ten who got deepest earn a title, and the top three get a crown.

Good to know

Free. The optional shop sells looks only, never anything that makes you stronger. An account is optional and keeps your progress on any device. Playing here keeps its own save, separate from deadwake.nikepig.com: sign in on both to carry it across.

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