:30 Exit

Welcome to :30 Exit - the Core Systems' longest-running hit. Every broadcast, the Underbelly hands over another prisoner, wires them for the feed, and gives them thirty seconds to live. The rules never change: the clock only refills when you're worth watching. Every kill, every cracked crate, every cleared room feeds the broadcast and buys back a few seconds of airtime. Reach the exit and the show sends you up to the next floor. Freedom is the advertised prize. Nobody's collected it yet - but the ratings have never cared about that.

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The Loop

• Drop in - Procedural generated floor. Timer starts draining immediately.
• Fight for time - Kills, loot crates, and cleared rooms all add seconds back.
• Reach the exit - Beat the clock or the run ends. Bosses and lockdowns raise the stakes.
• Escalate - Next floor is harder.  XP, skills, and gear persist between runs.

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Tonight's Broadcast

Arsenal - 20+ weapons. Sidearms, rifles, launchers, and more exotic tech — 20+ weapons currently in rotation, each with its own feel and skill synergies. And many more to come!

Buffs - a new build every run. Every 5 floors, pick from a pool of run buffs - each pick reshapes how you play.  Stall the clock for a breather. Turn damage dealt into health. Chains kills into more kills. Or get pointers straight to the exit. No two runs solve the clock the same way.

The Cast - a boss every 5 floors. Cyber thugs, combat drones, and reptilian guards fill the rank and file - every fifth floor ends in a named boss fight. Beat one and it becomes a checkpoint: an optional start point for future runs.

Special Segments - the show writes itself in. Lockdowns seal the room for a wave gauntlet you can't walk away from. Sponsor Challenges offer a one-room skill test for a rare box and hype bonus - leave to forfeit, finish for the payout.

Hype Meter - max hype pays out gear. Kills and multi-kills fill the Hype meter live on the broadcast. Cross a threshold and the crowd's excitement becomes your buff - max it out and the payoff is guaranteed gear.

The Hideout - progress outlives the clone. Between broadcasts you get a rare moment offstage - gear up, spend skill points, prep the next bio-clone. Die on the floor and it all carries over; only the run itself resets.

Challenges - replay value.  250+ long-term challenges, split into bronze/silver/gold tiers. Giving players a reason to keep pushing floors long after the first clear.

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The Skill Tree

60 branching skills - each unlock opens multiple next steps, so two runners in the same line rarely path through it the same way. Free respec every 5 levels if a build isn't working.

Survivor - live through anything. Health, armor, and resistances built to turn a bad floor into a survivable one - grant armor when you add time to the clock, boost every resistance during a lockdown, or turn dashing into bonus health regen.

Warrior - turn one gun into a storm. Crit chance, fire rate, penetration, and damage multipliers that compound into raw offense - fire extra bullets with every shot, deal bonus damage to weakened enemies, or turn crits into free ammo.

Chronomancer - bend the clock itself. Slow the timer's drain, supercharge every time pickup, or stop the clock outright - slow nearby enemies on every kill, convert movement speed into armor, or take reduced damage whenever the timer is paused.

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Gear & Modifiers

Weapons & Armor - every drop rolls modifiers. Armor rolls modifiers from a shared pool - health, regen, damage shields, resistances, timer speed. Weapons roll modifiers themed to their type: projectile weapons can come Incendiary (burning) or Toxic (poisoned), shotguns can roll Dragon's Breath, explosives can roll Thermite. The same gun plays differently depending on what it rolled.

Modifier Recipes - upgrade what you already like. A modifier recipe adds a new roll to any weapon or armor piece sitting below its 3-modifier cap - so a favorite drop keeps growing instead of getting replaced by the next upgrade.

Nanomods - make a buff permanent. The same buffs offered between floors can be slotted as nanomods - four slots that lock a buff in for good instead of for one run. Turn a lucky Bloodlust or Wayfinder pick into a permanent part of the build.

Dyes - look the part. Dye vials recolor any piece of armor - pure cosmetic, for runners who want their broadcast look to match their build.

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Read This Before You Play

"Ratings didn't come in on the last few floors, viewers - we're pulling the feed for retooling." In plain terms: this build is an early, free work-in-progress, up on itch specifically to get it in front of players before anything is locked in. Balance, pacing, and content are all still moving.

• Tell us where the run felt unfair vs. where it felt earned - that distinction is the whole design.
• Missing polish (menus, transitions, some art) is expected at this stage; But all bug reports and feedback welcome on the discussion boards.
• Save data may reset between major updates while systems are still being tuned.

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Controls & Platforms

Input: Keyboard + mouse or gamepad. Fully rebindable. Twin-stick control scheme on keyboard and mouse or gamepad.

Platform: Windows, Linux (including Steam Deck), macOS and Browser.

Disclaimer

This game has been developed using AI code assistance and uses AI for music, video, some icons and the occasional graphic. While plenty of paid asset packs are used where possible, and many of the graphical tweaks and work is done by myself;  I'm a one man team with very limited art skills and without the budget or investment that's behind many large studios. I strongly believe AI gives indie solo developers like myself a chance to finally make the things we've always wanted to make without having to spend 7yrs on a project. That said I'm open to assistance from anyone wanting to get involved in the project, just reach out to me and we can talk :)