The Tome of All Tales
A Wolfenstein 3D-style shooter that generates one new story a day, the same for everyone.
Every day: A new generated shooter story every day, with its own levels, enemies and weapons, the same for every player, ranked on daily and monthly online leaderboards. New puzzle: Midnight UTC.
The Tome of All Tales is a minimalist old-school first-person shooter for Windows and Linux. Each day it builds a new story from hand-made pieces, with different levels, enemies and weapons, and everyone plays the same one. A story takes about fifteen minutes, and scores go on daily and monthly leaderboards.
About The Tome of All Tales
The Tome of All Tales, by Agar, was released on itch.io in June 2024. It is a love letter to very early shooters such as Wolfenstein 3D, Blake Stone, Catacomb 3D and Nitemare 3D, from the time when walls met at right angles and doors slid sideways. Its idea is a book that contains every story ever told.
Each day the game generates a new story: one day you are shooting aliens with a pulse rifle in a derelict spaceship, the next you might be throwing fireballs at skeletons in a dungeon or holding off zombies in a ruined city. Every asset is hand-designed, and a generator picks combinations from tables in the way a tabletop role-playing game picks encounters; no generative AI is used. The screen shows level, lives, score with a multiplier, health, ammo, inventory and the story's objective, and kill streaks and time bonuses add to the score.
The daily story is the same for everyone, so a shortcut or a hidden power-up you find will be there for your friends too. Stories change at midnight UTC, but not while the game is running, so you can finish the one you started. There are five difficulty levels, the game tracks your best victory streaks on each, and the best daily and monthly scores go on an online leaderboard.
It is a paid download for Windows and Linux (7 US dollars or more on itch.io), and a free demo story can be downloaded from the same page.
How to play The Tome of All Tales
- Buy and download the game from itch.io for Windows or Linux, or try the free demo story first.
- Start the game to load the day's story and choose one of five difficulty levels.
- Move through each level, shoot enemies and collect weapons, ammo and health.
- Complete each level's objective shown at the bottom of the screen to reach the exit.
- Finish the story for a score and see where you rank on the daily leaderboard.
Screenshots
Tips
- Chain kills without being hit for score bonuses.
- Move quickly: the time bonus shrinks as the clock runs.
- Share shortcuts and power-up locations with friends, since everyone has the same story that day.
- Start on a lower difficulty to learn a new story's enemies, then play again for a streak.
Questions
Is the daily story the same for everyone?
Yes. Everyone gets the same story each day, so routes and secrets can be shared.
When does a new story arrive?
At midnight UTC. A story does not change while the game is running, so you can finish it.
Is it free?
No. It costs 7 US dollars or more on itch.io, with a free demo story available.
Which platforms does it run on?
Windows and Linux.
Games like The Tome of All Tales
20XX
An action game with one seeded run a day for everyone.
Dead Cells
A timed daily level with the same layout and loot for all players.
Curved Space
A shooter with one shot a day at the Daily Run leaderboard.
Caveblazers
One daily cave, the same for everyone, scored on a leaderboard.
Crypt of the NecroDancer
One shot a day at the same dungeon as everyone else.
Daily Challenge (dailychallenge.click)
One retro arcade game a day, the same map and seed for everyone, and a single coin to play it.
Daily Grapple
Swing through the day's generated course on a grappling hook, as fast as you can.
Gibbon: Beyond the Trees
Swing, backflip and slide through the jungle as a gibbon, with a shared level every day.