Cartridges

CartMenu — Console menu with all carts collected

Cartridges are a type of collectible. Each area in the game contains one, rarely multiple cartridges. Collected cartridges can be accessed from Ash's gaming console in The End 1 or Anguish 1. Interacting with the console shows a list of all available cartridges. Those can be played at any time, serving as additional platforming challenges. Cartridges often feature mechanics and design choices which were deemed to be too janky for the main game.

Most cartridges also feature a lives system, giving the player a set amount of lives to complete the cartridge. Running out of lives shows the cartridge's game over screen and returns the player back to the console menu, from where the cartridge can be launched again.

There are three different types of cartridges, detailed below. Each type can be found in a specific set of areas.

There are 22 cartridges in total.

Completion goals[]

AWinnerIsYou — Victory screen that shows up when you beat a cart

Each cartridge has multiple methods of completion, which also have Steam achievements tied to them. Those methods are:

The Bare Minimum - getting to the end goal of the cartridge in its final level. Applicable to all cartridges. Indicated by the digit 1 next to to the cartridge's name in the console.
Half Empty - collecting half of the rings. Applicable only to regular cartridges and the Super Mega Cart. Indicated by the digit 2 next to to the cartridge's name in the console.
Discontinued - beating the cartridge without using a Continue. Applicable only to regular cartridges and the Super Mega Cart. Indicated by the digit 3 next to to the cartridge's name in the console.
100% of Nothing! - collecting all rings in the cartridge. Applicable only to regular cartridges and the Super Mega Cart. Indicated by the digit 4 next to to the cartridge's name in the console.
Unbreakable - completing the cartridge without dying once. Applicable to all cartridges. Since Iron cartridges always have to be completed deathless, this goal is achieved at the same time as The Bare Minimum for them. Indicated by the ! symbol placed after all other goal indicators.

Cartridge goals do not have to be achieved on the same playthrough of the cartridge. You can work towards them one at a time.

With the exception of Unbreakable, achieving any of these goals for the first time on any cartridge will give Ash a bonus tumor. Getting 100% completion on every cartridge results in Ash growing 52 bonus tumors.

Regular cartridges[]

Regular cartridges (or ring cartridges) are the first cartridge type Ash can access. One can be found in each of the 9 areas of the Past (not counting The Split). Collecting all 9 regular cartridges unlocks the Super Mega Cart.

Collectible rings found in these cartridges are there to provide extra challenge for those who choose to complete all cartridge goals. Unlike tumors found in real areas, rings don't require crossing a level transition to be collected. This means you can throw away some of your extra lives to collect the hardest rings and then move on to the next level. That being said, every regular cartridge can be completed with all rings without dying a single time.

Every regular cartridge consists of 10 levels and contains 100 rings to collect. The player starts each cartridge with 9 lives and 1 Continue in stock. Using a Continue after spending the current set of lives grants the player 9 more lives.

Super Mega Cart features all levels of regular cartridges, plus a bonus tenth world at the end, which cannot be accessed any other way. This special cartridge contains 1000 rings (100 in each world) and grants more lives than a normal cartridge (9 lives to start with + 3 Continues).


Name	Found in	Reference to
Mortaman	The End	Megaman
Blaster Massacre	Arid Flats	Blaster Master
River City Rancid	Overflow	River City Ransom
Catastrovania	The Hollows	Castlevania
Dig Dead	Golgotha	Dig Dug
Ash Climber	Wall of Sorrow	Ice Climber
Fallen Fantasy	SS Exodus	Final Fantasy
Rubble Bobble	Retrograde	Bubble Bobble
Morbid Gear	The Machine	Metal Gear
Super Mega Cart	Unlocked by collecting all of the regular cartridges.	Super Mario All-Stars

Iron cartridges[]

Iron cartridges are a type of cartridge found exclusively in the The Future, which is a set of small challenge areas accessed by talking to Stevens. One can be found in each of the 4 challenge areas. Collecting all 4 Iron cartridges unlocks the Acceptance cartridge, also known as the Tower of Ascension. The name and the overall theme of Iron cartridges are a reference to the five stages of grief model.

These cartridges offer no additional lives and have to be beaten without dying. Dying at any point in the cartridge sends the player back to the first level.

The number of levels in each Iron cartridge varies. The number of levels in each one is listed in the table below.

The Tower of Ascension features all levels of the first 4 Iron cartridges, plus a bonus fifth world at the end, which cannot be accessed any other way. The final world is 5 levels long. The entire special cartridge also has to be completed without dying.

Name	Accessed through	Number of levels
Denial	Steven I	8
Anger	Steven II	7
Bargaining	Steven III	6
Depression	Steven IV	6
Acceptance	Unlocked by collecting all of the Iron cartridges.	32 (27 + 5)

Glitch cartridges[]

Glitch cartridges are the Future equivalent of standard cartridges. All Future areas contain at least one Glitch cartridge. This is the only cartridge type that does not feature a special cartridge, unlocked by collecting the full set.

Glitch cartridges give the player infinite lives, with the lives counter at the top constantly changing to random digits and symbols. However, the difficulty of Glitch cartridges is quite high compared to the other types.

All Glitch cartridges consist of 10 levels.

The End is Nigh cartridge can be accessed for the first time as part of the game's intro sequence. It is possible to beat the cartridge in the intro. See the cartridge's page for more information.

Name	Found in	Reference to
Spike Tales	Anguish	Duck Tales
Scab or Die!	Anguish	Skate or Die!
Tombs & Torture	Gloom	Tombs and Treasure
Pus-Man	Blight	Pac Man
Ghosts N Grieving	Ruin	Ghosts 'n Goblins
Dead Racer	Acceptance (Ruin's escape sequence)	Rad Racer
The End is Nigh	The game's intro, Nevermore	The End is Nigh

Trivia[]

The standard cartridge sprite is an NES cartridge.
The Iron Cart sprite is an SNES cartridge.