Beetlejuice is summoned only when you take his name three times. Jeoseung Saja, the grim reaper in Seolhwa Dungeon, works the other way round. He calls your name once for every turn he can see you, and on the third call, you’re the one who disappears.

That’s a fair taste of how Seolhwa Dungeon, a turn-based roguelike RPG, goes about things. Seolhwa means folktale in Korean, and solo devel Sungki Soft has built the whole dungeon out of them, so the stories aren’t just set dressing. They’re the rules.

The Imugi serpent turns into a dragon if a fight drags on too long and floods the entire floor when it does. Cross paths with a funeral procession and you can step aside and bow, or stand in its way, with very different results. You can wrestle a dokkaebi or accept a meal from the snail maiden too, and every one of those choices comes with a price attached.

Permadeath is in, naturally, and the dungeon redraws itself every run. You’re working down through a silver mine haunted by goblin fire, a royal tomb whose coffins are already open, a fog-bound marsh, and a gumiho’s den, before the underworld opens up to anyone who’s gathered enough orbs. Seven extra dungeons branch off along the way, each drawn from a specific tale.

There’s plenty to build around, as well. You pick from 14 species and 12 classes, and can serve one of eight gods, each with a taboo you really don’t want to break.

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