You Cannot Go Back
You Cannot Go Back! is a quick-to-play adventure game which will test your memory, skill, and reflexes.
Can you make it through all three levels of the dungeon alive, and escape with the treasure? Or will a nasty fate befall you?
Just remember dungeoneer - the only way is onwards; you cannot go back!
For more, see the game's page on Catalog or itch.io. You Cannot Go Back! is an open-source project under the MIT licence.
Version 1 was released in May of 2022 on itch under the "Name your own price" payment model. Version 2 was released in September 2023 on Catalog for $3 (or any donation amount on itch).
Version 2 has a High scores table which is based on dungeon clear time. High scores are only available with the Catalog release.
Walkthrough
In You Cannot Go Back you must traverse all three levels of the dungeon in order to escape with the treasure. Your progress is tracked by the line across the bottom of the screen. You will need to survive passage through many different types of chamber, these are described below.
Failure in some chambers will result in the loss of a life (assuming you obtained any), other chambers contain critical failures, these are instant game-overs.
Some chambers are only available in Version 2, these are marked.
Action Chambers
| The Bomb Room |
A simple chamber - use the Up, Right or Down arrow keys to choose an exit. Just make sure not to choose the exit behind the bomb, as running into it (or waiting for it to explode) is a critical failure! Difficulty The amount of time you have to select one of the two non-bombed exits reduces to around 0.5 seconds by difficulty level 3. In Version 2, two bombs appear at difficulty level three. |
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| The Dark Pit |
This chamber starts off in darkness, three ripples of light and corresponding high, medium or low tones spell out the safe path across the stones. Use the Up (high), Right (medium) or Down (low) arrow keys to choose the correct stone to move to next, based on the pattern from when you entered. Stepping on a wrong stone is a critical failure! Difficulty The speed at which the pattern is shown gets faster in higher levels. |
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| The Corridor of Blades |
You are in a long corridor with circular saw blades hurtling towards you, use the Up, Right and Down arrow keys to position yourself such that the blades don't slice you. Pay close attention as getting hit by a blade is a critical failure! Difficulty Each level of difficulty adds on an extra blade, and makes them faster. |
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| The Chamber of Spikes |
Three sets of spikes piece out of the floor. You must press the Right arrow key at the correct moment to avoid getting impaled. Getting stabbed here is a critical failure! Difficulty The pattern of the spikes changes on each level, and time time between thrusts decreases to no pause at all at difficulty level 3. |
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| The Chamber of Falling Spiky Balls (Version 2) |
Spiked balls are falling from the celling causing holes in the ground. Quickly move to a safe space in the first and then second columns to escape the chamber. Having a ball fall on you or walking into a hole are both critical failures! Difficulty The number of spiked balls which drop at the same time increases with difficulty, and the time between drops decreases. |
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Puzzle Chambers
| The Maze |
A maze of lines connects three starting points to the three exits. The Dungeoneer will walk to one of the starting points, follow the line to the correct exit and choose this with the Up, Right or Down arrow keys. Choosing the wrong exit will loose a life! Difficulty The maze line gets thinner, and more boxes and pots obscure the route at higher levels. |
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| The Maths Challenge |
Choose with the Up, Right or Down arrow keys the door which continues the number sequence on the floor. For example if the sequence is 5, 10, 15 then the answer would be 20. For 2, 4, 6 the answer would be 8. Choosing the wrong exit will loose a life! Difficulty In the higher levels the numbers grow larger. |
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| The Shapes Puzzle |
Four patterns of diamonds and circles are laid out on the floor. Three of the patterns are next to the three exit doors, and one is under the Dungeoneer. The correct exit is the one whose pattern matches the central pattern under the Dungeoneer. Choose this with the Up, Right or Down arrow keys. Choosing the wrong exit will loose a life! Difficulty At difficulty level 2, the patterns may be randomly rotated. At level 3, the patterns may be both randomly rotated and mirror-reflected in either axis. |
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| The Pattern Matching Puzzle (Version 2) |
An arrangement of shapes is shown at the top of the screen. Match the foreground shape, then the background shape, and finally the orientation of the line to complete the pattern. Making a mistake here is a critical failure! Difficulty It gets harder to choose the correct line orientation as the difficulty increases. |
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| The Maze of Arrows (Version 2) |
A grid of arrows spin around on the floor before freezing into a maze, follow the path they lay out to find the correct exit. Choosing the wrong exit will loose a life! Difficulty Solve a 3x3 grid at difficulty 1, with the arrows pointing in four directions. Solve a 5x7 grid at difficulty 2, with the arrows pointing in four directions. Solve a 5x7 grid at difficulty 3+, with the arrows pointing in eight directions. |
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Memory Recall Chambers
To pass a memory chamber, you must recall a clue which was presented to you in a previous chamber in your current dungeon run.
Clues
| Clue Word |
A five-letter clue word may show up on a tapestry on the top wall of a dungeon chamber. |
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| Clue Crest |
A clue crest of either a Shield, Scull, Target or Crossed Swords may show up on either the top or bottom walls of a dungeon chamber. |
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| Clue Shield |
A wide shield may show up on the top wall of a dungeon chamber. It displays a sequence of three circles, one white, one grey, and one black. |
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| Clue Number |
A one or two digit clue number may show up in a crate on the floor of any dungeon chamber. |
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| Clue Symbol |
A Greek letter clue may show up in a crate on the floor of any dungeon chamber. |
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| The Final Clue |
One of three symbols is suspended above the entry door of the dungeon, an S, a cross or a sideways ÷. Remember this symbol well, for it is required to unlock the treasure at The End. |
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Recall Chambers
| The Wall |
Password? The Wall demands that you speak a Clue Word or Clue Number displayed in a previous chamber in the dungeon. Use the Up, Right or Down arrow keys to select the correct response. Choosing incorrectly is a critical failure which will see your Dungeoneer gobbled up whole. |
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| The Stepping Stones |
You must navigate over three columns of three stepping stones, each column has one white, one grey and one black stone. Use the Up, Right and Down arrow keys to traverse one at a time the stones in the same order as you saw on the Clue Shield in a prior room of the dungeon. Failure to follow the correct pattern is a critical failure and will see your Dungeoneer burnt to a crisp. |
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| The Chamber of Boxes |
Nine boxes are laid out on the chamber floor in a rough grid pattern. Each horizontal row of three boxes lines up with one of the exit doors with the tops of the boxes spelling out a pattern of white, grey and black. You need to identify the set of three boxes whose pattern corresponds to the Clue Shield you saw earlier in the dungeon, and use the Up, Right or Down arrow key to choose that exit. Choosing the wrong exit will cost you a life. |
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| The Bridge |
Three bridges leading to the three exit doors are extend over a long drop, above each door will be a clue - it may be a Clue Symbol or Clue Crest, either way it will be a symbol you have seen before in the current dungeon. Use the Up, Right or Down arrow keys to select the bridge corresponding to the symbol from earlier in the dungeon. Two of the bridges will break when you are half way across, if you chose incorrectly but still have a life left then you will leap to safety and loose a life. If you have no lives left then a long fail awaits you. |
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| The Parchments (Version 2) |
The Greek letter Clue is hidden among other Greek letters on three parchments. Choose the parchment which contains the Greek letter Clue to proceed. Failure will result in the loss of a life. Difficulty The correct letter is hidden among 2, 4 or 6 letters at difficulties 1, 2, 3+ respectively. |
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| The End |
The final chamber of the dungeon! Here presented to the Dungeoneer is an impassable chasm, with riches of gold lying nearby on the other side. Three symbols are on the floor - those of the Final Clue. You must remember all the way back to the very first room of your adventure and use the Up, Right or Down arrow keys to stand on the correct symbol. Choosing wisely will miraculously extend a path over the chasm, choosing poorly is a critical failure and will lead to a fiery end. |
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Other Chambers
| The Stairs |
The stairs take you down to the second and third levels of the dungeon. The evil bell tolls upon stepping foot in each deeper level, increasing the difficulty level. |
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| The Chamber of Chests |
Three chests are in the centre of the room. Pick one with the Up, Right or Down arrow keys. You may be given an extra life by a faerie, or given a reminder about one of the clues you have to remember. Be careful of the sad chest however, as this will strip a life away from you (but only if you had at least one life entering the chamber). Difficulty In Version 2, the sad chest is more camouflaged at higher difficulty. It won't be frowning all of the time. |
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| The Wheel of Fate (Version 2) |
Choose to spin the wheel or to ignore it. Spinning the wheel can have a number of outcomes. An evil wind: loose a life (but this won't take you below zero lives). An evil bell: the difficulty increases. Skull: instant death. A good omen: gain a life. Clue: be reminded of the password. Shortcut: lets you skip over a chamber later on in the dungeon. Difficulty There are three wheel designs, the chance of getting each one is affected by the current difficulty. |
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| The Empty Chamber |
A free pass, no puzzles to solve here. You might still be shown a Clue, however. |
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| The Shortcut (Version 2) |
The shortcut can only be found by spinning the Wheel of Fate, it replaces some other chamber - making the Dungeoneer's trip faster and safer. |
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| The Pit |
Should you run out of lives, you will find that The Pit is your next destination. There is no strategy here, just an endless fall, followed by a new game. |
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| The Start |
The starting room for every attempt, make note of any Clue shown to you here - and pay particular attention to The Final Clue as this is the only time you'll see it. |
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Gallery
