Press Kit: Davy Jones’ Deckhand

Cass Bay Games’ debut title, Davy Jones’ Deckhand is a roguelike deckbuilder that stands out from the crowd with its genuinely fresh combat, built around an exciting counter-attack system. It is also capturing the attention of players from outside the core deckbuilding crowd with its nostalgic, adventure tone, stunning hand-drawn art, and rich narrative elements.

Players take on the role of a deceased deckhand. Thomas Essex is a young, wide-eyed cabin boy, whose first voyage ends tragically. He finds himself in Davy Jones’ locker after being murdered by pirates during the tutorial.

But Davy offers a choice: join the other lost souls dragging his ship along the seabed for all eternity, or do Davy’s bidding and receive resurrection.

An epic adventure awaits. Davy needs someone on the surface where he can no longer go. He sends the player island-hopping from Madagascar to the Red Sea. First to face a sea witch and claim a one-of-a-kind compass. Then to a moving island that’s never in the same place twice. And finally to face off with Davy’s rival and the love of his life, the immortal Mary Read.

Five core voyages must be completed on behalf of Davy Jones. Each one is a difficult roguelike that must be completed in a single life by utilising the stance system and mastering counter-attacks.

Counter-attacks… in a deckbuilder? An innovative new combat system, centered around stances and perfect-parries, builds on established tropes to create a completely fresh experience. It’s so intuitive that players “click” by the end of their first run and are already excited about mastery and exploring the depths of the system. It is a true embodiment of “easy to learn, hard to master”, and immediately stands out to players as fresh, original and exciting.

Freely explore an open-ocean by surviving voyages. Players “pick their roguelike” by choosing a destination from the world map. A procedural voyage is then generated based on factors like distance, biome and narrative state. Either the player reaches their destination in one piece or dies trying! Failure means starting afresh and building a new deck from scratch, forcing players to adapt their strategy on each new attempt. Because of procedural randomisation, no voyage is ever the same twice. A successful voyage means arriving at a new location to explore with simple point-and-click controls.

Making landfall on islands affords the player an opportunity to meet traders, unlock items and discover new voyage destinations, and to strategically rearrange their cargo for the next voyage. These upgrades will give the player an edge, but only true mastery will see them through to the end of their quest and achieve ultimate freedom from Davy’s grasp.