From Necromantic Catacomb to AGABOS: Why We Rebranded the Dungeon

Names create expectations before a player sees a title screen, places a room, or meets the first invading hero. Our public playtest began life as Necromantic Catacomb. The name described the setting accurately: a side-cutaway crypt, undead defenders, traps, specialized rooms, and a Heart that adventuring parties would very much like to steal. It was clear, searchable, and useful while the project was still proving its basic shape.

It also became less honest as the game found its voice.

The old name described the room, not the game

During development, the playtest grew into something stranger and more personal than its working title suggested. Dungeon management still mattered, but so did the dry administrative humor surrounding it. The dungeon AI judged your work. Achievements developed names such as THE FLOOR HAS ADMIN PRIVILEGES and LEADERSHIP IS CURRENTLY BUFFERING. Wave reports, failed defenses, skeleton job titles, and infernal paperwork became part of the experience rather than decoration around it.

Necromantic Catacomb sounded like a solemn dark-fantasy game. The thing we were actually making had bones, tactical decisions, terrible hospitality, and an alarming amount of management overhead. The title was technically correct and emotionally wrong.

That is why the game became A Game About Bones or Something, or AGABOS.

The new name makes a promise the game can keep. It tells players that the setting matters without pretending the game takes itself seriously every second. It leaves room for Creeping Crypt, Infernal Host, adaptive heroes, persistent Legacy progression, and whatever administrative disaster arrives next.

Rebranding meant more than changing a heading

Once we committed to AGABOS, every player-facing surface needed to tell the same story. The new identity uses chunky gold pixel lettering for the title, cyan as the main accent, and the dungeon itself as the frame. That treatment now carries across the title screen, public-playtest banner, cover art, screenshots, release files, and current marketing material.

We deliberately retired older promotional video renders that contained the former title instead of quietly circulating two identities. Those files remain in the project archive as production history, but they are no longer current advertising. A rebrand only becomes useful when visitors can recognize the same product from one page to the next.

The full name appears where context matters. AGABOS handles compact spaces, filenames, and later references. The genre line remains direct: dungeon-management defense roguelite. The tagline carries the personality: Build the dungeon. Break the heroes. Mind the bookkeeping.

What we refused to break

A cleaner brand is not worth deleting someone else's progress. Existing browser data, pre-rebrand save envelopes, and old imports remain supported intentionally. Some internal identifiers still use the former project language because changing a machine-facing migration contract for cosmetic purity would create risk without helping players.

That distinction became one of the most useful design rules in the process: player-facing language should be coherent, while technical compatibility should be boring and dependable.

The itch.io project URL also remains unchanged. Renaming a public product does not require throwing away every path that already works. Existing bookmarks still reach the playtest, while the page title, art, copy, and downloadable build establish AGABOS as the canonical name.

The product lesson we are keeping

Working titles are tools. They help a team discuss a project before the project has explained itself. Trouble starts when familiarity turns the temporary label into a permanent decision.

For this rebrand, we asked four practical questions:

• Does the name match the emotional tone of the current build?
• Can someone remember it after seeing it once?
• Does the visual identity still work on a narrow screen and a large store banner?
• Can we change the public brand without breaking saves, links, or player trust?

AGABOS gave us stronger answers than the old name. It is distinctive, a little unruly, and honest about the game players will actually meet.

The current build remains a release candidate and a free public playtest. Automated checks help us protect saves and systems, but they cannot decide whether combat reads clearly or a joke lands at the right moment. That still requires real players.

You can play AGABOS on itch.io, explore the rest of our AFK Artifact games, or contact the studio with feedback. If you enjoy the playtest, voluntary donations on the official itch page support continued development. They do not purchase or guarantee a future Steam key.