Crypt Custodian

Lore & Background

Crypt Custodian follows Pluto, a black house cat who dies and is sent to the afterlife, where a bullfrog named Kendra tasks him with cleaning the underworld. Using his broom, Pluto sweeps up trash, fights enemies and spirits, befriends creatures, and aims to escape by storming Kendra's castle. The game features collectible items such as photographs, Jukebox Discs, and Charms, as well as twenty-four passive upgrades and special attacks. Items and upgrades are obtained through exploration, defeating enemies, solving puzzles, rescuing cat spirits, or purchasing with garbage, the in-game currency. The map consists of many small islands forming more than ten themed areas, gradually unlocked as the player gains new movement abilities, typically from boss fights. Shrines in the form of wells allow saving, health restoration, and teleportation. Players can adjust difficulty by increasing health or disabling fall damage.

Reader's Guide

Crypt Custodian is significant as Kyle Thompson's third indie game and his first top-down Metroidvania, created after he found it difficult to envision new side-scrolling mechanics for another game. Thompson focused on improving exploration and customization, creating a more interconnected map and granting heightened freedom in exploration and build customization. The game's soundtrack was composed by his brother, Eric Thompson. Crypt Custodian received generally favorable reviews on Metacritic and strong approval on OpenCritic, with 89% of critics recommending it. Reviewers praised the charm, narrative, characters, artwork, music, and worldbuilding, but criticized the difficulty scaling and repetitive area design. Some critics noted that differences between areas were mostly cosmetic, though others felt areas were distinct enough in colors, enemy types, and themes. The game was released on 27 August 2024 for multiple platforms, with a physical edition for PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch released on 29 August 2025. It was added to Xbox Game Pass in June 2025.

Did You Know?

• Crypt Custodian is Kyle Thompson's third indie game, after Sheepo (2020) and Islets (2022).
• The game's soundtrack was composed by Thompson's brother, Eric Thompson.
• Initial concepts included a pachinko-like bullet hell idea and a ghost-vacuuming game, both rejected.
• A physical edition for PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch was released on 29 August 2025.

Gameplay & World Design

Crypt Custodian drops players into the paws of Pluto, a black house cat who, after dying, is assigned by a bullfrog named Kendra to clean up the underworld. Played from a top-down perspective, the title blends Metroidvania exploration with action-adventure combat, wielding a broom as both a sweeping tool and a weapon against spirits and enemies. The ultimate goal is to break into Kendra's castle and escape the afterlife, but the journey requires befriending a cast of creatures who range from casual passers-by to shopkeepers, each carrying a personal backstory the player uncovers through conversation.

The map is composed of numerous small islands forming more than ten themed zones, with locked regions opening as boss fights grant new movement abilities. Progression draws on twenty-four passive upgrades, special attacks, charms that reveal hidden paths or boost stats, and collectible photographs and Jukebox Discs. In-game currency, called garbage, funds power-ups and navigation hints. Well-shaped shrines serve as save points, healing stations, and teleport hubs. Three difficulty tiers, a Boss Rush mode, Shuffle Mode, and a Speedrun option add replayability, while optional toggles let players raise maximum health or disable fall damage.

Development & Creative Vision

Kyle Thompson, an Oregon-based developer, first touched game creation at age twelve using Game Maker, then moved on to flash games as a teenager. It was during that period he discovered the Metroidvania genre, falling for its exploratory spirit, with An Untitled Story and Knytt Stories standing out as early favorites. After a roughly ten-year hiatus and a stint as a creative freelancer, Thompson returned to full-time game development. Crypt Custodian marks his third indie title in four years, following Sheepo (2020) and Islets (2022).

Because both predecessors were side-scrollers, Thompson struggled to imagine fresh mechanics for another horizontal game and deliberately shifted to a top-down perspective. Early concepts included a pachinko-style bullet-hell system he ultimately rejected as too reliant on chance, and a vacuum-the-ghosts idea scrapped after a friend noted its resemblance to Luigi's Mansion and Ghostbusters. Post-Islets, he zeroed in on exploration and customization, designing a more interconnected map and deeper build freedom. He put in roughly forty hours per week on the project, and his brother Eric Thompson composed the soundtrack, as he has for all three of Kyle's games.

Release & Critical Reception

Top Hat Studios unveiled Crypt Custodian at the 2024 Summer Game Fest, and the title launched on 27 August 2024 across PC via Steam, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S, with Steam Deck compatibility included. A physical edition for PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch followed on 29 August 2025.

Critics generally responded favorably, singling out the game's charm, narrative depth, memorable characters, striking artwork, musical score, and thoughtful worldbuilding as standout strengths. The title was frequently described as an accessible on-ramp into the Metroidvania genre for newcomers. However, reviewers also flagged shortcomings: difficulty scaling was called uneven, and several areas of the map were criticized for feeling repetitive in their layout and enemy encounters. Despite these gripes, the consensus painted Crypt Custodian as a heartfelt, well-crafted indie adventure that rewards curiosity and patience, particularly for players drawn to its charm and the premise of a deceased cat tasked with sweeping the underworld with a broom.

Narrative & Character Web

At its heart, Crypt Custodian is a story about a black house cat named Pluto who dies and finds himself in the afterlife, where a bullfrog called Kendra tasks him with cleaning up the underworld. Armed with nothing but a broom, Pluto must sweep away trash, battle hostile spirits, and ultimately break into Kendra's castle to secure his escape. Along the way, he encounters a diverse cast of creatures whose roles span from mere passers-by to shopkeepers selling goods for garbage, the game's currency.

Through conversations and interactions, players peel back layers of each character's personal history, gathering photographs that illustrate their backstories. These relationships are not merely decorative: the creatures Pluto befriends eventually become essential allies recruited to help storm Kendra's castle. Trapped cat spirits sealed inside vases add a rescue element to exploration, while Jukebox Discs collected across the map let players curate their own in-game soundtrack. The result is a narrative that weaves worldbuilding, character development, and gameplay progression into a single, interconnected thread.