Altair Alpha Games

VIGIL: Keep of Vesper. A nocturne in five seals.

Once a century the keep rises from the moor. Climb it, quiet the Hollow King, and try to come home.

Download on itch.io

Windows 10/11, 64-bit · Name your own price, free is fine

The keep

Year 1797. Once each century the Keep of Vesper rises out of the moor, and a Vigilant must climb it to quiet the Hollow King. The Vigilants of 1597 and 1697 never came home.

VIGIL is a 2D action-exploration platformer in the classic gothic style: one large interconnected keep, bosses that guard the abilities you need to go deeper, and secrets in the walls for anyone who looks.

It is a compact metroidvania you can finish in an evening, with more to find if you go back.

Gameplay: the Vigilant dodges and strikes the Iron Warden, an armoured, horned boss, in a stone hall.
The Iron Warden, first of the six.

What's inside

  • Six areas and the hidden halls between them: the Outer Ward, the Catacombs, the Drowned Chapel, the Royal Archive, the Bell Spire and the Throne of Vesper.
  • Six bosses. Five of them guard relics, and each relic (dash, double jump, slide, wall jump, a charged high leap) opens the keep up a little further. The sixth waits on the throne.
  • 17 kinds of creatures, recorded in a bestiary with their lore and where they lurk.
  • Swords, axes, halberds, scythes and lances, armour and accessories, four throwing subweapons, and a merchant who has sold candles to every Vigilant before you.
  • Two endings. Whether morning comes to Vesper depends on what you carry into the throne room.
  • New Game+: keep your level and gear, and find stronger arms in a crueller keep, as many times as you like.
  • Boss Rush: once you've cleared the keep, fight all six bosses back to back against the clock.
  • Capes to earn: one for each ending, for finishing New Game+, for completing the bestiary and for finishing the Boss Rush.

Screenshots

Select a screenshot to open it at full size (1280×720).

  • The Iron Warden, a horned knight with a red shield, in a dark stone hall.
    Iron Warden
  • The Drowned Chapel: tall stained-glass windows above green stone.
    Drowned Chapel
  • The Bellwraith boss fight among wooden beams and gears.
    The Bellwraith
  • The Hollow King, crowned, facing the Vigilant before red curtains.
    The Hollow King
  • The Royal Archive: tall bookshelves, candles and a hooded enemy.
    Royal Archive
  • The Catacombs: rows of skulls in wall niches and a floor of spikes.
    Catacombs
  • The Bell Spire: wooden ledges and gears, with knights and a gargoyle.
    Bell Spire
  • The corridor to the throne: crimson curtains and armoured guards.
    Throne corridor
  • A low sun over the moor at dawn, with the title VIGIL: Keep of Vesper.
    Dawn

Controls

KeyboardGamepad
MoveArrows / WASDStick / D-pad
JumpZ / SpaceA
AttackXX
SubweaponCY
DashShiftRB / RT
Swap subweaponQ / ELB / LT
MapTabSelect
MenuEscStart

Down + Jump drops through ledges (or slides, once you can). Press Up to talk, read and use shrines. All controls can be remapped in Settings, and gamepads rumble.

Settings include screen-shake strength, a flash toggle, volume, window mode, vsync and a frame cap.

Install

Download the zip from itch.io, extract it anywhere, and run Vigil.exe.

Platform
Windows 10 or 11, 64-bit
Price
Name your own price (free allowed)
Input
Keyboard or gamepad
Saves
%USERPROFILE%\AppData\LocalLow\Altair Alpha Games\Vigil - Keep of Vesper
Download on itch.io

Credits

Made by Altair Alpha Games in Unity. Every sprite, room and tune is generated from code when the game runs. Its code, art, music and sound were produced with generative AI (Claude, by Anthropic), as disclosed on the itch.io page.

Feedback is welcome on the itch.io page.