9 Till Void

9 Till Void is a turn-based tactical roguelike set in a corrupted fantasy realm, where players act as a Spellsword battling through procedurally generated locations. Featuring a unique positional spell-casting system on a 9×9 grid, the game forgoes traditional decks and cards, instead focusing on assembling and strategically placing spells to overcome diverse enemies and reach the source of darkness.

9 Till Void: A Singular Synthesis of Positional Tactics and Deckbuilding Ingenuity

Introduction: The Spellsword’s Conundrum

In the bustling landscape of the roguelike and deckbuilder genres, where mechanics are often iterated upon with incremental twists, 9 Till Void emerges as a defiantly peculiar outlier. Released in May 2020 by solo developer Ben Allen, the game’s foundational promise—”a turn-based deckbuilding roguelike that features neither deck nor cards”—is not mere marketing whimsy but a declaration of war on conventional design. It replaces the hand-management of a card-based system with a spatial, grid-based constraint that makes your character’s physical position the ultimate resource. This review argues that 9 Till Void is a masterclass in focused, systemic design, trading narrative grandeur and visual spectacle for a purity of tactical puzzle-solving. Its legacy is that of a cult classic for the thinking player, a game that proves profound depth can arise from a single, ruthlessly enforced rule.

Development History & Context: The Solo Developer’s Grimoire

9 Till Void is the product of Ben Allen, an independent developer operating under his own name. Conceived almost immediately after playing the Witch class in Dicey Dungeons (2020), Allen’s devlog from January 2020 reveals a design journey focused on distilling a “loose note” into a tight mechanical core. Built using GameMaker: Studio, the game benefits from the engine’s accessibility for solo developers but also bears its aesthetic hallmarks: a functional, pixel-art presentation that prioritizes clarity over graphical fidelity.

The game’s release in May 2020 placed it in a fertile period for indie roguelikes and deckbuilders, following the monumental success of Slay the Spire (2019) and alongside other “decker-likes” like Monster Train (2020). However, Allen’s project carved a distinct niche by rejecting the literal deck metaphor entirely. Its development was characterized by a responsive, community-engaged approach through itch.io devlogs and Steam discussions, with post-launch patches addressing balance (notably nerfing the “Rocklands” area) and clarity (rewording ambiguous spells). The price point, initially $8.99, was later permanently reduced to $4.99, reflecting a pragmatic approach to reaching its niche audience. The technological constraints were not limiting but defining; the simple 9×9 grid and sparse visuals ensure the game’s complex interactions remain legible, a crucial factor for a title where a single row’s position determines your entire available toolkit.

Narrative & Thematic Deep Dive: Corruption in Fourteen Lines

If 9 Till Void possesses a narrative, it is skeletal, conveyed through the barest of frameworks: you are the “newly-appointed Spellsword” tasked with fighting “the corruption” to “destroy it from within.” The five locations—or “areas”—are named generically (Sandlands, Snowfields, etc.), and enemies are functional archetypes (Skeleton Knights, Cultists). There is no character dialogue, no world-building text dumps, no cutscenes. This absence is not a failure but a thematic choice. The game’s story is one of existential, almost geological, struggle. The “corruption” is an abstract force, and your journey is a methodical, solitary march across a devastated landscape.

Thematically, the game is about specialization versus versatility. Your nine-row spell slots are a metaphor for a limited, rigid skill set. Each spell you acquire permanently occupies a row, irrevocably replacing what came before. This creates a constant tension between building a narrow, incredibly powerful toolkit for the current biome and maintaining enough versatility to handle the unpredictable procedural generation and the infamous late-game “Cultist” enemies, which require specific counter-strategies (like area-of-effect or silence spells). You are not a hero collecting a versatile arsenal; you are an engineer optimizing a single, static machine for an unknown series of problems. The “Spellsword” title itself hints at this fusion: you are defined by your spell and your sword (your positioned movement), never one without the other. The void you are moving toward is both the end of the path and the potential emptiness of a poorly constructed spell matrix.

Gameplay Mechanics & Systems: The Grid is Your Hand

The genius of 9 Till Void lies in its core loop, which can be explained in a single sentence: You may only cast a spell if your character is on the same row of the 9×9 grid as that spell’s assigned slot. This deceptively simple rule generates staggering tactical depth.

Core Loop & Positioning: Each turn, you move your character one space orthogonally (up, down, left, or right) on the grid. Simultaneously, you can cast any spell whose row you currently occupy. The grid’s nine rows correspond directly to your nine permanent spell slots (rows 1-9 from top to bottom). After each combat encounter, you are offered a choice of 2-3 new spells to replace one of your existing ones. This is the primary “deckbuilding” moment. The decision is agonizing: Do I replace the powerful but situational fire spell in row 5, or the reliable basic attack in row 2? If I take this new row-wide shielding spell, where do I put it to maximize my current position?

Spell Design & Synergy: The 72 spells are a masterclass in systemic design. They are not just damage dealers but positional and conditional tools:
* Row Effects: Spells that affect the entire row you stand on (e.g., “Row of Strength” boosts attack for all spells on that row).
* Positional Attacks: Spells that hit specific columns or patterns relative to you.
* Self-Buffs: Spells that modify your movement (teleport) or stats for the turn.
* Enemy Manipulation: Spells that push, pull, or silence enemies.
* Passive Traps: Spells that place persistent effects on the grid.

True brilliance emerges from combination. A “Row of Sacrifice” (damage all enemies on your row but hurt you) placed in a row with a “Row of Healing” can create a risky sustain loop. A spell that adds additional actions per turn allows for devastating multi-cast turns if your position aligns perfectly. The “Cultist” enemy type, frequently cited by players as a run-ender, epitomizes the system’s challenge. Cultists are high-HP, fast, and can lock you down. They force you to have prepared for them—having an area-of-effect spell in a row you can reliably access, or a silence effect, or a spell that grants extra movement to kite them. Their presence tests the holistic wisdom of your entire run’s spell placement.

Progression & Characters: Progression is purely meta. You unlock five characters (e.g., the default Spellsword, the Explorer) by achieving certain in-run goals. Each has a unique starting spell and ability—the Explorer, for instance, might start with a reveal spell or have cheaper spell replacements. This provides a crucial “new game plus” feel, letting you approach the same brutal systems with different initial conditions. There are no permanent upgrades between runs; every run is a fresh puzzle. Custom Mode, a post-launch addition, is a godsend for experimentation, allowing players to choose their starting area and pre-select spells, which is essential for learning the intricate spell interactions without the frustration of bad RNG.

UI & Accessibility: The interface is clean and functional, a necessity given the cognitive load. The 9×9 grid is always visible, with your character, enemies, and spell icons clearly marked. The turn-based, “one movement, one cast (if possible)” structure is unambiguous. However, the game’s difficulty is notorious. The “Sandlands” (area 2) is a noted difficulty spike in the demo, and many player comments express frustration at reaching the later areas. This is not a flaw in the system but a feature of its rigor—it demands not just optimization but predictive planning. The “Spell Locker” (Cultist) enemy, as one player notes, can feel like an “unfair” run-ender if your spell matrix lacks a counter, but this highlights the game’s uncompromising design philosophy: preparation is everything.

World-Building, Art & Sound: Minimalism as Aesthetic

9 Till Void’s presentation is deliberately austere. The visual style is simple pixel art. The 9×9 grid is the entire world; backgrounds change per biome (desert tan, snow white, rock gray), and enemy sprites are small but distinct. This minimalism is a strength: it eliminates all visual noise, ensuring the player’s attention is solely on positional relationships. There is no risk of misreading a complex sprite or being distracted by spectacle. The “weird” tag on its store page is apt—the aesthetic has a raw, almost prototype-like feel that complements its unique mechanics.

Sound design is sparse but effective. Sound effects for spell casting, enemy attacks, and movement are clear and satisfying. The soundtrack, if present, is likely understated ambient loops that fade into the background, again prioritizing the player’s auditory focus on the tactical beats of combat. The atmosphere is not one of epic fantasy but of cold, abstract problem-solving. You are not in a world; you are in a system. The “void” is not just a narrative destination but the literal empty spaces on the grid you must navigate.

Reception & Legacy: The Hidden Gem in the Deck

9 Till Void exists in a curious reception space. It has zero professional critic reviews on aggregators like Metacritic and MobyGames (which lists it with an “n/a” Moby Score). Its critical reception is entirely word-of-mouth and community-driven. On Steam, as of early 2026, it holds a “Very Positive” rating with a 100% Player Score from 9 reviews—a perfect but miniscule sample. On itch.io, it maintains a 4.2/5 star rating from 30 ratings. The total playtime analysis suggests a focused audience, with an estimated playthrough time of ~13 hours but a “Most Players” range of 1.7-43.5 hours, indicating a game that either clicks quickly for some or is an impenetrable wall for others.

Player testimonials are revealing. Toma on itch.io calls it “an unassuming small gem” that “offers some seriously clever strategical gameplay decisions,” praising how “your positioning on the board decides the attack you are able to use.” Conversely, “Round2Gaming” bluntly states, “It’s WAY too hard, even on Novice,” a sentiment that echoes the game’s high barrier to entry. Developer Ben Allen actively engages in these discussions, offering strategic advice against tough enemies like the Cultists, demonstrating his role as both creator and chief evangelist for the game’s difficult but fair design.

Its legacy is not one of commercial blockbuster status but of conceptual purity. It stands in a lineage of games that ask “what if?” questions: What if your deck was a fixed board? (Antecedent: the row-based systems in some Final Fantasy jobs, but with no deck). It shares DNA with tactical roguelikes like Fights in Tight Spaces or Into the Breach, but replaces the predetermined action points with the positional constraint. It is a direct descendant of the “puzzle roguelike” subgenre, where run success hinges on understanding a complex interaction web more than on resource accumulation. It has likely influenced few, if any, major studios, but it is a sacred text for a small cadre of players who cherish systemic, no-luck strategy games. Its most significant impact may be as a blueprint for how to build immense depth from a single, elegant constraint—a lesson in design parsimony.

Conclusion: A Triumph of Constrained Design

9 Till Void is not for everyone. It lacks the narrative sweep, the flashy visuals, and the gradual power fantasy of its contemporaries. It is a difficult, sometimes frustrating, and perpetually demanding tactical puzzle. Yet, within its 9×9 grid and nine permanent spell slots, it achieves something remarkable: a pure, unadulterated expression of a single brilliant idea. The decision of which spell to take is inseparable from the decision of where to place it, and both are inseparable from the question of where to move your character next turn. This creates a strategic depth that belies its simple presentation.

For the historian of game design, 9 Till Void is a vital case study in constraint-driven development. It is a game that knows its core mechanic so intimately that it builds 72 spells, five characters, and five biomes not to add features, but to interrogate that core from every conceivable angle. Its legacy is secure in the annals of the indie “weird” genre—a challenging, rewarding, and utterly unique experience that asks the player not to manage a hand of cards, but to become a living part of the board itself. To “reach the source of darkness and destroy it from within” is not to conquer a narrative evil, but to master the void of options, row by row, until the final boss is a mere pattern to be solved. It is a quiet, profound masterpiece of tactical design.

Final Verdict: 4.5/5 – A singular, brilliant, and brutally challenging tactical roguelike. Its lack of conventional appeal is the price of its uncompromising genius.