UNCLASSIFIED | PUBLIC RELEASE AUTHORIZED

ALWAYS NEVER LIVE

A spoofishly serious spy roguelike where every run is a story.

You are an agent. Your missions are procedurally generated. Your villain is unique — with a psychology, a scheme, and a name you'll remember. When the mission ends, an AI writes your classified briefing. Not a summary. A story. In the voice of the woman who files every report about agents who didn't come back.

Share it. Compare it. Find out what kind of operative you really are.

HOW IT WORKS

01

CREATE YOUR AGENT

Name. Appearance. Personality. The agency gives you a designation and a silenced pistol. Everything else, you earn.

02

RUN THE MISSION

Turn-based tactical stealth on a procedurally generated map. Enemies show intent. Every move matters. Ghost it, blast through it, or talk your way out. The game tracks everything.

03

FACE THE VILLAIN

Every arc has a villain with a generated personality, a scheme, associates, and fears. They adapt to your playstyle. They remember your predecessors. They are the story.

04

READ YOUR CASE FILE

AI writes your classified mission brief — a narrative account of what you did, filed by Margaritte, the agency archivist who notices everything. Every hesitation. Every kill. Every item you carried and never used.

05

SHARE YOUR STORY

Your case file gets its own page. A URL. A classified document that someone else can read and think: what kind of agent does that?

THE VILLAIN IS THE STORY

Bond films aren't called James Bond. They're called Goldfinger. Dr. No. GoldenEye.

In Always Never Live, every arc revolves around a generated villain with:

  • A codename and real identity
  • An 8-axis personality — boldness, cruelty, obsession, pride...
  • A grand scheme you're trying to stop
  • A scar, a tell, a fear, a quirk
  • Associates with names, roles, and loyalties
  • A unique musical theme generated just for them

When they kill your agent, they become a nemesis. The next agent inherits the fight. The villain gets stronger. The agency remembers.

THE AGENT IS THE RUN. THE AGENCY IS THE SAVE FILE.

Agents are disposable. 007 is just a number.

When your agent dies, the agency persists. Research unlocked. Relationships built. Gear developed. Case files archived. The next agent walks into a better building — because of everyone who came before.

HQ Walk around headquarters. Talk to NPCs who remember what you've done.
Q-LAB Research new gadgets. Unlock toys that change how you play.
ARMORY Weapons that earn respect. The Armorer notices your kill count.
THE WALL A memorial for fallen agents. Their names. Their portraits. The agency endures.
MARGARITTE The archivist. She writes your case files. She remembers everyone. She calls you "cher."

EVERY PLAYSTYLE IS A PERSONALITY

GHOST
You were never there.
Zero alerts. Zero kills. The perfect operation.
CLEANER
No witnesses. No loose ends.
Every hostile eliminated. Thorough.
DIPLOMAT
The pen proved mightier.
Zero combat. Pure fieldcraft and guile.
CHAOS AGENT
Technically, that counts as success.
High alerts. High kills. Barely made it out.
BLITZ
In and out. No questions.
Completed in under 20 turns.
SURVIVOR
Against all odds.
Survived near-death. Kept going.

BUILT DIFFERENT

ENGINE
Love2D (Lua)
GRAPHICS
All procedural primitives. Zero sprites.
MUSIC
Procedural synthesis. Every villain has a unique theme.
VILLAINS
10 archetypes. 8 personality axes. Millions of combinations.
CASE FILES
Claude AI writes your mission brief from gameplay data.
PLATFORM
Desktop (Windows, Mac, Linux)

EVERY MISSION IS A STORY WORTH TELLING

Coming soon. Wishlist on Steam. Follow for updates.

Browse Case Files