Enter the Gungeon

What if you could annihilate the past? Kill it with a gun that you can only reach by descending into a bullet-filled hell dungeon. In 2014, the 4 members of Dodge Roll spawned this idea and brought it to Devolver Digital’s tent in a rented LA parking lot. Their pitch initiated a partnership that produced a 2D procedurally generated dungeon crawler where players chose from a band of misfits to shoot, loot, dodge, and table-flip their way through the legendary Gungeon.

It takes a lot of ammunition and cunning to reach the Gun that Kills the Past, but in return you gain ultimate personal absolution and gaming credentials.

Enter the Gungeon launched on April 5th, 2016 to critical acclaim and high demand. All production costs were covered in the first 8 hours of release, and in the next 72 hours, 200,000 more copies were sold. The game took inspiration from Ikaruga, Dark Souls, The Binding of Isaac, Metal Gear Solid, Nuclear Throne, Spelunky, Dan Simmons’ Hyperion, and the Gun Godz soundtrack. But the Gungeon soon carved out its own place in gaming history as a challenging shoot out that elicits the creativeness of players and indie game makers.

As of January 2020, Enter the Gungeon sold more than 3 million copies across all platforms and expanded play with 3 free DLCs: Supply Drop, Advanced Gungeons and Draguns, and A Farewell to Arms. Dodge Roll has announced that it will no longer update its first game, yet the Gungeon’s legacy remains as its universe expands.