Crypt Custodian is a charming 3D Metroidvania about a cat named Pluto who perishes and becomes a janitor in the afterlife.  You see, Pluto was a good cat and should have made it into the palace, but he got booted outside because, after your death, you made the mistake of breaking things with your broom in order to proceed.  Like any good video game character would.  And it seems plenty of other decent people are out here, too, like the frog Pebble, who has also been sentenced to janitorial work for all eternity.  Seems like Kendra, the one who judges all recently deceased ghosts, is a bit unfair if you ask me…

The demo lasted me roughly an hour, and during that time, I had fun exploring lovely environments (paired with some rather relaxing tunes), defeating enemies with your broom (and a few special attacks), and solving puzzles (namely knocking this cat ghost between these pedestals). There was also an optional curse that made enemies tougher and prevented health from regenerating until you defeat enough foes and a challenge where you must defeat all enemies without taking damage, though I didn’t exactly have the motivation to complete either of those.  And if you’d like to learn more about your fellow ghostly janitors, you can also collect photos, which give you characters’ backstories.

Crypt Custodian seems like it could be rather difficult, too, as I struggled to even defeat the first boss, a…pot full of spiders?  Okay…  Aside from that, the main thing I found tedious was the fact that you never seem to obtain health from your environment, forcing me to frequently return to a save point (luckily, you can warp back to these save points from anywhere, a feature more games should have).  Sure, that means I should have probably just played more skillfully, but…Hollow Knight is a very difficult game, as well, and I don’t recall having to trek back to benches constantly in that one.

Despite a few annoyances, I really enjoyed this demo and its quirky sense of humor, so there’s a decent chance I’ll be buying the full game once it goes on sale, as I always enjoy a good Metroidvania with a unique concept.  Crypt Custodian is available on PC and all modern consoles for $19.99, though keep in mind that it’s pretty short for a Metroidvania, taking only 10-15 hours to complete.