Children of Morta

A run in Children of Morta puts you inside a procedurally generated dungeon of two to four floors, hacking through enemy hordes with one member of the Bergson family before surfacing to the family home between attempts. There is no permadeath; dying ends the run but not progress, and you can swap freely between the seven playable family members before diving back in. Each dungeon ends with a boss fight, and older dungeons remain accessible for additional experience and side quests.

Dead Mage built the progression around two simultaneous tracks. Individual characters level up and unlock skills specific to their playstyle, while a parallel family-wide system rewards shared advancement that benefits every member. The seven Bergsons cover a wide mechanical range: John is a sword-and-shield warrior built around protection, Linda an archer, Kevin a dagger fighter, Lucy a fire mage, Mark a martial artist, Joey a sledgehammer brawler, and Apan a character who combines healing with frontline defense. Ranged attacks, magic, blocks, stuns, evasions, and passive upgrades are distributed across these kits rather than shared between characters.

The game is built around a continuous narrative about the Bergson family confronting an encroaching Corruption, handling themes of loss and sacrifice through its story structure. The hand-painted pixel art is animated frame by frame and paired with dynamic lighting, giving the dungeons a distinct visual weight. Players who want pure mechanical challenge without narrative investment or who prefer a single customizable protagonist rather than a roster of fixed characters tend to find the game a poor fit.

Both local and online co-op are supported across all modes, including Story and the separate Family Trials mode, allowing two players to pair any combination of the seven characters.

Children of Morta released on September 3, 2019, and Dead Mage followed it with a publicly documented development roadmap that added new characters, items, and mechanics over time. The roadmap concluded with the Fellowship Sanctuary update, which delivered online co-op as its final milestone. A Paws and Claws charity update arrived in late 2022, raising over three hundred thousand dollars. The game was verified for Steam Deck in May 2022, and in October 2024 it launched on Android and iOS, marking its expansion beyond PC and consoles five years after its original release. A board game adaptation was announced in early 2024 and crowdfunded via Kickstarter later that year.