Overview
Challenge slots live in the same pool as main-pool cutscenes, but they do not play a cinematic. Picking a challenge slot from a Cutscene Block teleports you straight into the Challenge dimension with the arena set up for that route. Clear it and you earn the bead the same way a regular scene would.
Every successful clear awards the Challenge Steam achievement.
Routes
Six routes are wired into the shipped main scene. Each is an independent arena with its own room layout and block set; the cutscene pool randomly picks an unfilled slot the same way it picks regular scenes. Every route awards the same on a clear: a rosary bead, a Tiamana drop, and the Challenge achievement.
- Challenge Accelo
- Challenge Blasphemy
- Challenge Boulder
- Challenge Maria
- Challenge Menger
- Challenge Vertical
Attempts & lives
main.gd initialises challenge_attempts_remaining = 2 when a challenge starts and saves it with the qualia. On death inside a challenge, the game opens a status menu, decrements the counter, and revives you inside the arena. Burn through both extra lives and the third death ends the run — you are sent back to Naraka with no bead.
| Death | Outcome |
|---|---|
| 1st | Status cinematic ("2 attempts left"), revive in arena — 1 retry remaining |
| 2nd | Status cinematic ("1 attempt left"), revive in arena — 0 retries remaining |
| 3rd | Status cinematic ("0 attempts left"), run ends, returned to Naraka empty-handed |
Challenge attempt lost cinematic
Plays after each death inside a challenge, counting down the remaining attempts. A cross cracks and fades for the attempt you just spent.