ASCII graphics played a big role in the early days of gaming, allowing the developers of classic games like Rogue to create environments, players and monsters from simple text characters. One indie developer is now taking the idea to a new level, creating a first-person shooter in a 3D world made entirely from text – in the most literal way.
In Torizon Telecom, the retro graphics consist only of words that label each element on the screen. So objects in the environment are constructed from words like ‘Floor’, ‘Wall’ and ‘tree’ while enemies comprise bundles of words like ‘head’, ‘body’ and ‘arm’. Colour is the only other guide to help distinguish what you’re looking at.
무서운.#gamedev #GodotEngine #スーパーゲ制デー pic.twitter.com/CzhKIOprImMay 9, 2026
SkagoGames is developing Torizon Telecom in Godot, a free, open-source engine that gets a strong recommendation in our guide to the best game development software. It began as a project for a game jam and took on a life of its own, now serving as evidence that Godot is just fine for creating 3D games… kind of.
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The game is set in Telecom, a world where everything is text, although the blurb hints that other worlds may exist. Because everything is text, you can intuitively identify items and interactions just by reading them, the developer says. The game is being developed initially with text-based graphics using Hangul characters since the developer is from Korea, but there are plans to make an English version too.
(WIP) text word graphics first person shooter (changed a lot) from r/godot
(WIP) text word graphics first person shooter (changed a lot) from r/godot
You can wishlist Torizon Telecom on Steam .
In the meantime, if you like the sounds of a game where you have to type to destroy text, check out Dragon Ball Z-inspired Star Rune, a game designed to teach the touchscreen generation how to type.
