White Knuckle is a roguelike climbing simulation game taking place in the depths of a gigantic ever-changing structure. Read our review to see what it does well, what it doesn’t well, and if it's worth buying while in early access.

Everything We Know About White Knuckle

White Knuckle Plot

In the pit of the bowels of the neverending layout that composes SUB-STRUCTURE 17, the unfortunate are tested and forced to escape death from a rising sea of decomposed liquid remains of those trapped before. They must utilize all that they can to make it out of the subterranean concrete structure miles below the surface, and make it through the Silos, the Sewers, and the Habitation.

White Knuckle Gameplay

White Knuckle is a first-person speed-climbing roguelike where players must grab onto any ledge they find – or make– and escape death by climbing a seemingly infinite tower filled with lethal obstacles and traps. Players individually control their left and right in-game hands by the left and right mouse buttons respectively, and they must alternate between the two in order to ascend. However, hanging on too long or climbing too far without resting in between will cause the hands to individually and steadily lose stamina.

Luckily, supplies can be found throughout the journey that can replenish stamina, as well as pitons, rebars, and rope that players can fashion into handholds and make their own routes upward.

Upon death, players must restart their climbs with an all-new different layout of ‘rooms’ and ‘obstacles’ that keep the player experience fresh and unique.

White Knuckle Release Date

White Knuckle is set to be released under early access on April 17, 2025, available exclusively on PC via Steam. Its price has yet to be determined.

Digital Storefronts
Steam
Price		Wishlist Only

White Knuckle Review (Early Access)

Conquering the Tower of Babel

White Knuckle’s early access build further improves from its free demo and beyond, solidifying its unique gameplay of combining speed-climbing and parkour with the horrific survival-horror element aesthetic. It knows its identity and cements its own direction with speed, action, and quick reflexes, setting it apart from past climbing games that choose to be slow, controlled, and realistic in their nature. Though still in early access, White Knuckle has tons and tons of content that can be unlocked over repeated runs, and by achieving certain conditions within them. The ‘obstacles’ and ‘rooms’ may be predetermined, but their order of appearances are random and their variety seems to be endless, allowing for vastly different playthroughs from run to run, from person to person. There doesn’t seem to be an end to the replayability of scouring the neverending structure, similar to how it’s difficult to not keep praising the game as it stands. It hits all marks exceptionally, from gameplay, art direction, atmosphere, and sound design, making it highly addicting to go for one more run – or climb – just as you plummet to your death just moments before.

Gameplay is Easy to Learn, Very Satisfying to Master

White Knuckle’s core gameplay mechanics rely on the players’ reflexes and their abilities to problem solve at a glance, making it mandatory to be quick on their feet and hands to survive. Different hurdles are placed at every surrounding for players to go over and find a way to progress, be it from a pre-determined way, or to make their own using the tools they find.

The stamina system for each hand is a unique resource/meter management skill that requires players to pay attention at all times as they perform long-duration climbs. Lose focus, and they’ll find themselves tumbling down into liquid death. The addition of the innovative inventory system allows players to quickly select, use, drop, and pick up items that can be used in times of trouble. While one hand is hanging on a hold, use your other hand to open your inventory, grab a can, and eat to restore your stamina. Other stylish maneuvers can also be executed, such as hammering down a piton while hanging on the side of a massive silo, where one must quickly switch between hands while pinning the piton down.

From the game’s demo to its early access build, not much has changed for its gameplay, and that’s perfectly fine. The base mechanics were already in place, and all developers had to do was to hash out a few bugs, refine and tweak some obstacles, furbish some environments, and include more variety and challenges. With the latest early access build, White Knuckle now has given players more trials to experience with the intense, fast-paced gameplay.

Music is its Weakest Point

There is plenty to praise of White Knuckle as it stands, but its weakest point at the moment of its early access build is the music. Its sound design is great and fulfills its ambience, with the eerie and echoey groaning of metal, random creaking, and the announcer warnings and the like. However, it leads the charge alone sonically, where music is practically nonexistent during runs. Though the sound design and lack of music serves to make it realistic and ‘alone,’ driving home the solitary feeling of the game, the addition of music at select points in certain conditions could serve to enhance the experience. Not overpopulating, but rather carefully choosing specifics rooms or scenarios for thrilling or intense music to be played is a feature that should be considered by the developers to make certain moments more memorable, instead of focusing on the colossal loneliness of the substructure, and giving players a bit of hope that they CAN get out.

So Much Content and Replayability, With More Still to Come

White Knuckle in its early access state has tons of replayability in store for curious players. The substructure peaks at 2000 meters, but getting to the top is easier said than done. For each 500 meters climbed, a different biome/region takes shape, each filled with countless different lethal traps, platforming puzzles, and obstructions. A long extended run feels similar to climbing yourself, wherein it gets exhausting but at the same time exhilarating as you get farther and farther up. If and when you finally plummet to your death, you don’t feel cheated, as it was a mistake of your own accord. Restarting back from the bottom lets you go through another different route that engages and motivates you to return to your highest point, in hopes of exceeding your record. White Knuckle lives and breathes trial and error, and doing so will help you upskills over the course of several climbs in order to get better and reach higher levels.

Getting through the different regions in the main campaign also unlocks their individual endless modes, allowing players to hop onto their favorite region and go on an endless run, where they can only be stopped by their mistakes. Hard Mode can also be unlocked which is said to give more challenges.

White Knuckle’s content and replayability rivals the endless heights of its horrifying substructure, enticing players to keep flocking back for one more climb.

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White Knuckle Product Information

Title	WHITE KNUCKLE
Release Date	April 17, 2025(Early Access)
Developer	Dark Machine Games
Publisher	DreadXP
Supported Platforms	PC(Steam)
Genre	Platformer, Roguelike, Horror, Simulation
Number of Players	1
ESRB Rating	RP
Official Website	White Knuckle Official Website

Clark Jason Kong

Growing up playing all sorts of games, they love playing a little bit of everything, all of the time. Favorites include Counter-Strike, Life is Strange, Final Fantasy, Spiritfarer, and Devil May Cry.