Wednesday night, gaming blogger “Purple Cauliflower” was scrolling through videos out of boredom. There hadn’t been any fun games recently, and he hadn’t posted on Weibo for half a month.

Just then, a video titled “Streamer Creative Deaths Compilation” made its way to his Weibo homepage. Originating from an A-Site uploader’s edit, it had been forwarded to Weibo by people watching the drama.

Purple Cauliflower clicked on it and immediately laughed so hard he hit the table. “What kind of game is this? It’s too psychopathic!”

Out of curiosity, he downloaded Underworld Maze, selected Normal Mode, and started playing casually.

But as he played, something felt off…

He was cursing non-stop, yet he couldn’t help but continue.

Before he knew it, he had ground for eight hours, drawn a huge pile of map drafts, and when he rubbed his eyes and looked up, it was actually morning??

Time flew by.

He hadn’t played a game this addictive in a long time.

The man turned around and went to sleep. Waking up the next day, he opened the game again…

After the Ice Hell came the Oil Cauldron Hell. Giant cauldrons of boiling oil were connected together, and players had to walk across a “single-plank bridge” above them. This required excellent balance; one wrong step and you’d fall in and be deep-fried.

In the Ox Pit Hell, a herd of wild oxen charged crazily. The player could only pass by using serpentine movements and rapid dodging.

In the Stone Crushing Hell, giant boulders rolled around the corridors. You had to time your turns to dodge the boulders; if you missed the beat, you’d be crushed into a meat patty.

The Mortar and Pestle Hell was even more ridiculous—it even brought out the five grains! Corn, soybeans, peanuts… giant granaries were everywhere, and the player could be drowned by suddenly collapsing piles of grain?

Drowning in peanuts and soybeans—how did the designer come up with such a death!

…

Two days later, sporting heavy dark circles, Purple Cauliflower cleared Normal difficulty.

He stared at the game clear screen, unable to calm down for a long time.

Single-player games usually had an ending cinematic after clearing, and some even had ending theme songs. The budget for Underworld Maze was clearly not high, so the animation was skipped entirely, showing only a message of gratitude.

“This is the first game from Sailboat Studio.

When initially designing ‘Underworld Maze’, I also felt apprehensive, worrying that this game would be scolded or lose money. After all, its style is unique, and not everyone might accept it.

But I still worked hard to create it, because this is the game design I’ve always wanted to complete.

There are many maze games out there. I wanted to innovate the gameplay, so I added various high-difficulty challenges.

Horror is merely the surface of this game.

The rich and challenging gameplay is its core.

I hope you experienced the joy of gaming through the different challenges; this is my greatest gratification as a game producer.

After clearing the game, the achievement system will be unlocked, and many treasure chests and easter eggs will appear in the maze.

Interested players can continue on to a second playthrough.

Thank you to all friends for your support of ‘Underworld Maze’. For any comments or suggestions, please email yfstudio@xxx.

Sailboat Studio.”

At the end was a small sailboat, standing on the vast sea, gently swaying to the music.

It was very cute.

Looking at this small sailboat, Purple Cauliflower suddenly felt a sting in his nose.

Sailboat Studio, an unheard-of newcomer team, and this is their very first game?

In an era rampant with “cash grab games,” where most mobile games were shoddily made with copied-and-pasted mechanics and zero innovation, players logged on every day just to repetitively grind dungeons or AFK…

It had been a long, long time since such a well-made, innovative work, filled with sincerity in every aspect, had appeared!

Even if the visible budget of this game wasn’t high, every penny had been spent where it counted.

After a player cleared a game, it was usually over. But the designer actually unlocked an extra achievement system, treasure chests, and easter egg gameplay, giving players a reason to play the maze again.

The second playthrough offered more surprises and rewards, which was essentially providing players with a wave of free “after-sales service”!

Who understands this!

He was somewhat moved by the designer’s sincerity.

For many games, let alone a second playthrough, he didn’t even bother finishing the first. But for this game, he was very willing to play it a second or third time to see the newly unlocked achievement system and treasure chest easter eggs.

An 18-floor maze designed with 18 different ways to clear it—the gameplay was extremely rich. Ignoring the horror elements, at its core, this was actually an innovative and fun “challenge game.”

As a veteran gamer with over ten years of experience, he was well-known in player communities and gaming forums. He frequently wrote various game guides and was affectionately called “God of Veggies” (Cai Shen) by players.

This time, he suddenly felt a strong urge to recommend a good game.

If the designer had simply made it a “scary horror game,” it could only use momentary gimmicks to attract thrill-seeking players.

But this game was not just a “horror game.”

As the designer said, horror was the skin; the gameplay was the core.

The most important aspect of a game is being “fun”—and innovation in gameplay is the most precious thing of all.

He was very glad the designer had grasped the essence of gaming.

Such a newcomer studio truly made one’s eyes light up!

Excitedly, the man opened his computer and began typing up a Weibo post at top speed.

Having not posted for half a month, he couldn’t resist acting as an organic promoter this time, pulling an all-nighter to write a recommendation.

He hoped this newcomer studio could maintain its passion and original intention of “making games seriously,” refusing to be coerced by capital, and going further in the long run!

…

Weibo #UnderworldMaze# Super Topic.

This Super Topic had been created by players themselves and currently had no moderators. Most of the posts in the Super Topic were casual complaints like “This game is so hard” or “Scared the living daylights out of me.”

On Friday at 10:00 PM, a blogger named “Purple Cauliflower” suddenly posted a recommendation.

“I’ve been playing ‘Underworld Maze’ lately, and I’d like to recommend this new single-player game to everyone. Horror-style mazes are rare, and the designer’s imagination breaks through the sky. The clearing method for each floor is different. Although playing it makes you tremble with fear, clearing a level gives a massive sense of accomplishment.

I ground for two and a half days and just finished Normal Mode. I plan to play Nightmare Mode for my second playthrough.

I have to praise @SailboatStudio. You can feel the producer’s dedication; they didn’t fool the players. Various details are handled very well, and the after-sales addition of easter egg gameplay is full of sincerity.

Underworld Maze is absolutely a premium masterpiece among single-player games.

The above is a purely organic recommendation. If you like single-player games, you must play it.

Download link: Mobile Games Hub.”

Attached was a screenshot of his 9.5/10 rating on the “Mobile Games Hub.”

Purple Cauliflower, abbreviated as God of Veggies, was a well-known gaming blogger with millions of followers.

An organic recommendation—how rare!

The number of reposts and comments on this Weibo quickly broke 100,000. Some suspected it was a paid promotion, but more fans stated, “God of Veggies even scolds Dream Wings, I don’t believe he’d take money to promote garbage!”

“Taking God of Veggies’ recommendation, going to download it now.”

“This game has been really popular lately, I’ve seen quite a few streamers playing it.”

“The game that bathed A-Site in blood these past few days, I didn’t expect even my God of Veggies to fall into the pit.”

“I’ve reached the 8th floor on Normal difficulty, it really is both torturous and addictive!”

“Everyone says it’s fun, so I’ll go try it too.”

The blogger’s recommendation effect was excellent, especially someone with a great reputation like God of Veggies.

Seeing the hot post in the Super Topic, Xie Yunfan immediately logged into the official account and left a comment under Purple Cauliflower’s post: “Thank you for the recommendation, Blogger. We are a newly established small studio, thank you everyone for your support~”

Purple Cauliflower replied: “Little Sailboat is too polite. Underworld Maze is really fun, keep it up, I have high hopes for you!”

This comment instantly caused a sensation.

“Wow, a live official account!”

“Caught a live designer, hurry up and drop a follow!”

“Although I kept cursing the designer while playing, I still want to say, Designer, you’re truly ‘six’ (amazing)!”

“A new studio? Will there be other games in the future?”

“A little worried if you guys will go bankrupt…”

“I’m too scared to play horror games, looking forward to the next game.”

The reposts and comments on this Weibo post surged in a short period, actually launching it onto the trending searches for the Weibo gaming section!

The hashtag #UnderworldMaze# parachuted into the trending searches for the first time.

Many casual users following the gaming section clicked in and saw God of Veggies’ recommendation post trending, with the official account’s interaction below it.

These users casually followed “Sailboat Studio.”

As a result, they saw the fresh Weibo post published this afternoon.

Sailboat Studio: To all player friends of “Underworld Maze,” thank you for your attention ^^ The official account will gradually unlock the profile settings for the Underworld NPCs. First up is the setting for Black and White Impermanence. Interested friends can learn about their background stories.

White Impermanence, original name Xie Bian, also known as Seventh Lord.

Black Impermanence, original name Fan Wujiu, also known as Eighth Lord.

The two became sworn brothers as children, as close as biological siblings.

Legend has it that one day, the two walked under a bridge together. Seeing that it was about to rain, White Impermanence asked his younger brother to wait a moment while he went back to get an umbrella. Unexpectedly, after he left, a torrential downpour caused the river to flood. Unwilling to break his promise, Black Impermanence waited on the spot, but due to his short stature, he was drowned by the river.

Not long after, White Impermanence returned with the umbrella and found his brother dead. Out of self-blame and grief, he hanged himself on a bridge pillar, which is why his ghost has a long tongue sticking out.

After the two arrived in the Underworld, Yama (King of Hell) believed their brotherhood was deep and righteous, so he appointed them as “Black and White Impermanence,” known as the “Soul Reapers,” responsible for guiding ghosts to report to the Underworld.

…

The Weibo post was accompanied by two posters, one black and one white. On the left was the original NPC artwork, and on the right was the background story, written clearly and concisely.

Players who clicked in from the trending search were all shocked—

“So Black and White Impermanence are brothers?”

“Black Impermanence drowned, White Impermanence hanged himself… 666!”

“Actually, I don’t hate Little Black, his mocking is very addictive to me.”

“Looking at it this way, Little Black is quite tragic. In order to wait for his brother in place, he didn’t leave even during a heavy rainstorm and drowned… I can’t understand it, but I express my respect.”

“The older brother hanged himself, so that’s why he sticks his tongue out? Suddenly I feel like he isn’t scary anymore!”

“I kind of like Black and White Impermanence now, they’re very cute!”

“This is called cute? Alright, after reading the background info, they really aren’t that hateful anymore~”

“Playing this game, I’m constantly switching freely between mental breakdowns and passionate addiction. Over the past few days, I’ve grown fond of looking at them. If Black Impermanence doesn’t mock me a few times, I feel uncomfortable all over.”

“Haha, the players of Underworld Maze are all a bit mentally abnormal~”

As more and more casual users flooded into the official account, in just one night, the follower count of “Sailboat Studio” skyrocketed from less than 500 at the start to 200,000.

Many people were urging for updates: “I want Meng Po’s profile, Little Sailboat, hurry up and post it.”

Others asked: “Who is Yama? I haven’t seen him in Normal Mode, will he appear in Nightmare Mode?”

As the Weibo trending search continued to ferment, more casual users learned about the game Underworld Maze and were attracted by the background settings posted on the official account.

The fermentation of the Weibo trending search, the video edits on A-Site, the live stream recommendations from streamers… the accumulation of popularity over several consecutive days led to an explosive surge in downloads for Underworld Maze on Friday night.

Friday night, midnight, downloads broke 500,000.

Saturday night, midnight, broke 800,000.

Early Sunday morning, the download count finally broke the one million mark!

A single-player game with a million downloads was already a popular game. Although it was still a bit short of being a “blockbuster game,” Underworld Maze had only been on the market for a week.

In one week, revenue broke 15 million.

This momentum… was too fierce!

__

Author’s Note:

The profile settings for Black and White Impermanence are derived from folklore.