Punch Rock

One woman, one mountain, and a window you leave open. A lone climber wanders the mountain on the edge of your screen (or the full screen, I'm not your supervisor), a dog at her heel. She hunts, chops, climbs and...punches rocks as you direct. Every night she makes camp and lights a fire. No one knows why she's climbing. She knows. PUNCH ROCK is a casual idle survival game that lives in a small window beside whatever else you're doing. It isn't a game you sit down to play. It's one you leave running that you can pay as much or as little attention to as you want. You give her the day. She does the work. Each morning you have a handful of action slots, as many as her pack can carry. Spread them across five pursuits: forage, chop, mine, climb, and camp. That's the whole plan. Then she goes and does it, at her own pace, in real time, whether you're watching or not. You never steer her directly. The tray is your input. The mountain is the output. The whole mountain. Five bands stand between the first campfire and the last one, and each changes what a day costs. - Foothill forest. Green and generous. Where you learn the rhythm. - River valley. Autumn ground, wider country, further to walk for the same haul. - Highland scree. The swamp above the rope. Footing stops being free. - Snowline. Evergreens and real cold, and a still lakeshore that has no business being up this high. - Summit approach. Thin trees, thinner air, and the number you've been chasing. Gear opens the way up. Ropes, packs, better tools, and things you'll find lying in a cleared field with no explanation attached. Each one raises the height she can hold, and the mountain immediately asks for more. The mountain sets the burn rate. - Wood is warmth. The higher she climbs, the colder it gets, and the faster the fire eats. - Food is fuel. The further she ranges, the more she needs. - Ore and bone buy gear, and better gear raises the height she can hold. Push past what she can carry and you aren't punished. You fall but recover. Somewhere above camp is a line where her output meets the mountain's drain, and the whole game is moving that line upward until it reaches the top. You cannot lose this. No death. No lost saves. No confiscated materials. The worst day on the mountain is a hard one, and Nugget pulls her out of it. Come back after a meeting and she's further up than you left her, with a fire going. Attention is rewarded, never required. No timing bonuses. Nothing to click fast. A finite climb. The mountain is generated fresh for every run, but the journey isn't endless. The summit is forty to fifty days up and reaching it ends the game. Your score is how many days it took, and it's a number you want to get down. Then you can go again, on a mountain you've never seen, and try to get there faster. What's waiting at the top is small, and human, and said without a word. Along the way - Pixel art with dawns, firelight, and weather moving across the slope - Sun, cloud, rain: cloud is always the warning, so the storm never blindsides you - A resizable window: tall strip, square, or wide that sits on top of your other work - Trail signs, an altitude readout, and a journal you open only when you want it - A whole mountain of gear, gates, and things worth walking off the path for - A dog