Grimsorrow Academy

An idle RPG of dark academia and spellcasting dread. You signed the indenture, the page is still warm. Scry the mirror, stoke the umbra, attend your disciplines, and survive ten years. Do not feed the staircase.

Early Access on Steam · Windows · macOS · Linux

IThe Mirror
Scry the mirror

Scry the Obsidian Mirror to unlock your Disciplines and advance through the school year. Spells can be cast to move faster, but the ledger balances, and everything is paid for.

IIBy hand
Draw your spells

Spells are not bought. They are learned and trained by hand - trace a spell's mark on the glass to cast it: instant Maledictions, sustained Litanies, and Bindings that scry in your place. Only the strongest learn to cheat their own examinations and idle them.

IIIThe Academy
Attend your Disciplines

Discover the fields of study: gravebotany, cryptmining, blackforging, hexweaving, and more. Master each action for permanent perks; craft the gear and potions that see you through the Night Errands. Bank enough Attunement and the darkest crafts of the Academy open to you.

IVAfter curfew
Work the Night Errands

After curfew, the Professors keep a list, and the lists have teeth. Fight across 23 zones, 12 dungeons and over 90 monsters. Harness their unique drops and sets, then take them to the Anvil that reforges gear +N until it sings (or shatters).

VPrestige
Sign the Black Covenant

When the umbra runs deep enough, sign a new Indenture. It shatters the mirror and voids your contract - and pays you for both: Seals that bless every life after this one, and Oaths spent down a permanent tree. You keep the power. You keep signing.

Signing the Black Covenant
VIThe descent
It only goes down

Earn Tenure and raise your ceiling across 120 levels. A second realm opens beneath the Winding Stair - the Undercroft; and below that the Maw; and below that, what the lore will not decipher. All stairs here go down.

The Winding Stair map
VII
What waits in the school

In Early Access, the school is already complete and stable - playable from first scry to endgame. The deepest doors, the Cave and Hellplore, open across Early Access, tuned against real save files.

  • 8Umbra Sources
  • 12Draw-to-cast Spells
  • 68Mirror Upgrades
  • 15Disciplines
  • 90+Monsters
  • 23Zones
  • 12Dungeons
  • 120Level Cap
Deeds (Achievements)

Ninety-four deeds to earn.

Some are named. Some are hidden until you commit them.

  • First Drop of Night
  • A Modest Gloaming
  • The Long Dark
  • Sea of Ink
  • Night Incarnate
  • Smudged Glass
  • Mirror-Worn
  • The Glass Knows You
  • Quartermaster of Shadows
  • Keeper of the Dark Stores
  • The Academy Provides
  • Hoard of the Hollow
  • Cantrip Habit
  • Fluent in Hush
  • The Walls Recite You
  • Signed Again
  • Career Apprentice
  • The Headmaster Smiles
  • A Pocketful of Seals
  • Sealed in Triplicate
  • More Wax Than Wizard
  • After Curfew
  • The Professors Approve
  • Curfew Is For Others
  • Overdue
  • Down the Stair
  • Bursar-Approved
  • Quietly Wealthy
  • Richer Than The School
  • First Friend
  • Crowded Pockets
  • The Menagerie
  • One Thing, Perfectly
  • Ten Things, Perfectly
  • The Curriculum Bows
  • Journeyman of Gravebotany
  • Dark Master of Gravebotany
  • Journeyman of Cryptmining
  • Dark Master of Cryptmining
  • Journeyman of Murkfishing
  • Dark Master of Murkfishing
  • Journeyman of Refectory
  • Dark Master of Refectory
  • Journeyman of Venefice
  • Dark Master of Venefice
  • Journeyman of Blackforging
  • Dark Master of Blackforging
  • Journeyman of Hexweaving
  • Dark Master of Hexweaving
  • Errant of the Vale
  • The Night Fears Schedules
  • Ten Years Served
  • Journeyman: Husbandry
  • Dark Master: Husbandry
  • Journeyman: Pyrelighting
  • Dark Master: Pyrelighting
  • Journeyman: Sextonry
  • Dark Master: Sextonry
  • Journeyman: Scrivening
  • Dark Master: Scrivening
  • Journeyman: Bonebinding
  • Dark Master: Bonebinding
  • Journeyman: Catechism
  • Dark Master: Catechism
  • Journeyman: Umbromancy
  • Dark Master: Umbromancy
  • Journeyman: Cloister
  • Dark Master: Cloister
  • Adept: Bladecraft
  • Master: Bladecraft
  • Adept: Quillcraft
  • Master: Quillcraft
  • Adept: Hexcraft
  • Master: Hexcraft
  • Adept: Wardscraft
  • Master: Wardscraft
  • Adept: Proctorcraft
  • Master: Proctorcraft
  • Proctor-Approved
  • The Proctor Nods
  • Stargazer
  • Cartographer of the Dark
  • Caught a Falling Star
  • Devout
  • Bound and Determined
  • Green of Thumb
  • The Long Vigil
  • Reliquary
  • The Whole Crown
  • The Black Tenure
  • Down the Staircase
  • A Quarter Known
  • Half a Soul
  • The Unnamed Named

Early Access · Wishlist now

The page is still warm.

Wishlist on Steam

Do not feed the staircase.