Deltarune

Deltarune logo

**Chapter 2**

* September 17, 2021 (Microsoft Windows and macOS)
* September 23, 2021 (Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4)

**Chapters 3-4**

* TBA

**Chapter 5**

* TBA

**Deltarune** (stylized as "**DELTARUNE**" and "***deltarune***") is the second game released by Toby Fox. Chapter 1 was released for free on October 31, 2018, and the soundtrack two days later. Chapter 2 was also released for free on September 17, 2021. The paid release of the game will add Chapters 3 and 4, although there is currently no release window. Chapter 5 is announced to come after launch, and additional chapters are expected in the future.

*Deltarune* serves as a follow-up to Toby Fox's successful game *Undertale*, and is intended for those who have finished it. While *Deltarune* has many returning characters from *Undertale*, the game is set in a different continuity.

*Deltarune* was released on 28 February, 2019 for the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4. Chapter 2 was released on September 23, 2021 as a free update.

The *Deltarune* demo does not have a native Linux version, but the Windows demo works on Linux using compatibility layers, and is verified on Steam for the Steam Deck.

Toby Fox has stated that official content releases for both *Deltarune* and *Undertale* will be released on their respective official accounts, as well as from his twitter and tumblr accounts. Content releases are also available through the mailing list on the official *Deltarune* and *Undertale* websites.

## Synopsis

> DELTARUNE's world is a different one.
> With different characters, that have lived different lives.
> A whole new story will happen...
>
>  Toby Fox
>
>
>

### Chapter 1

Chapter 1, titled **The Beginning** starts with the player creating a vessel that is abruptly discarded. Instead, they inhabit a vessel who they cannot choose: Kris. They are a quiet human teenager who lives with their mother Toriel and goes to the local school in Hometown. After being assigned a tall reptilian student, Susie, as a partner for a school project, she threatens to eat their face. They are forced to team up and go to get chalk from the school supply closet.

Upon opening it, the duo inadvertently discover the Dark World inside. There, they meet Ralsei, a kind hearted Boss Monster-like Dark Prince, who reveals that the three of them are the heroes of the Prophecy, destined to restore balance to light and dark. During their adventure, they meet Lancer, a goofy bad guy determined to stop them from reaching his kingdom's Dark Fountain. Feeling undervalued, Susie leaves Kris and Ralsei for a time and teams up with Lancer. Susie's friendship with Lancer helps her become more compassionate. The whole cast ends up uniting into a single team of four. In the end, Lancer helps the trio overthrow his cruel father, King. Afterward, Kris and Susie say their goodbyes to the Dark World, and, using the power of Kris's human SOUL, they seal the Eastern Fountain.

Kris and Susie return to their world together, appearing in a room filled with toys and board games, representing the Dark World and the characters they met. Kris and Susie agree to return to the Dark World the next day. Kris can leave the school and explore Hometown.

Kris goes to sleep after exploring the town. In the middle of the night, Kris shambles out of bed, seemingly fighting just to walk. They rip out their SOUL and throw it into a birdcage, where it becomes trapped. A knife materializes in Kris's hand, and they look at the camera with a menacing smile as their eye glows red. The screen then goes completely black for a few moments before the credits play.

### Chapter 2

The second chapter, titled **A Cyber's World**, begins with Toriel calling out to Kris. She then discovers a knife and acts shocked. However, it is almost immediately revealed that this is because Kris ate all of the pie she had baked the day before.

Kris wakes up, goes to school and enters the Dark World again with Susie. They meet Ralsei and explore the Castle Town, which has been significantly expanded by the addition of NPCs from Chapter 1. Eventually, Susie mentions they have homework to do, prompting Ralsei to banish them from the Dark World until their homework is done.

They go to the Library, where they find another Dark World, the Cyber World, awaiting them, and jump into it, this time after Noelle and Berdly, two of their classmates. They hear talk about a Queen, who acts as the main antagonist for this chapter, and meet her soon after. She captures Noelle, while Berdly switches to her side voluntarily. Eventually, Kris splits up with the other party members and teams up with Noelle. In Kris's company, Noelle learns to be less fearful, accentuating one of the game's themes of personal development. Later, after the entire party gets thrown into Queen's dungeon, Berdly learns to be less arrogant after failing to solve multiple puzzles, although he takes the lesson a bit too far. After fighting Queen in her normal form, the final boss fight begins with both parties fighting inside mechas, and then combat proceeds in the style of a *Punch-Out!!*-esque fighting game. Kris seals the Dark Fountain of this world, and the Lightners all return to the Light World.

After walking through town, Kris goes home and Toriel invites Susie to spend the night at her house. She sends the pair to wash their hands. When Kris goes to the bathroom, they rip out their SOUL again and escape through the window, leaving the player to listen to a chat between Toriel and Susie. Eventually, Kris returns to the bathroom and puts their SOUL back in their body.

After Susie and Kris fall asleep while watching TV, Toriel calls the police to inform them that she saw something outside the house and found her car tires slashed. After that, Toriel also falls asleep in the living room. Later, in the middle of the night, Kris wakes up, and, with their knife, creates a Dark Fountain that envelops the entire room in black mist. The last thing that can be seen is the static television screen and a ghoulish smile on it. Then, the screen goes completely black for a few moments before the credits play.

#### Snowgrave Route

If the player forces Noelle to freeze enemies with ice magic, an alternate story route (commonly referred to as the "Weird", "SnowGrave/Snowgrave", or "Genocide" route) occurs. The player emotionally manipulates Noelle to freeze enemies and solve puzzles by herself and makes a deal with Spamton to acquire a ring that improves her magic. She is eventually forced to freeze Berdly solid with the SnowGrave spell after he confronts the duo. She then leaves Kris, shaken by her own actions, and is too exhausted to participate in Queen's plans. Ralsei informs the latter of the Roaring preemptively, avoiding her battle. Kris goes to seal the Fountain alone but is stopped by Spamton, who upgraded himself into Spamton NEO while Queen was looking for Berdly. Fighting Spamton, Kris calls for help from Susie and Ralsei, who do not respond. The player then calls for help from Noelle, who freezes Spamton. Kris seals the fountain. In the Light World, Berdly is found unresponsive, and Noelle may question whether the Dark World really was a dream if visited at the Hospital. The route ends the same way as the normal route, with Kris opening a Dark Fountain.

### Future chapters

The third and subsequent chapters are still in development. Chapter 3 is nearly complete, but was held back to be bundled with Chapter 4 in the paid release of the game. Toby Fox has stated that the first 5 chapters would be priced more than *Undertale*, although Chapter 5 has since been cut from the initial release so that Chapters 3 and 4 come out sooner. There is no statement on whether Chapter 5 will be a free update or paid DLC.

Additionally, the existence of Chapters 6 and 7 is indicated on the main menu of the game when selecting between Chapters 1 and 2, though no information about these or any further chapters have been revealed.

## Differences from *Undertale*

* Unlike *Undertale*, *Deltarune* allows keeping 3 SAVE files at the same time, and does not offer a RESET option. However, SAVE files can be erased through the game itself.
* There is now the possibility to run by holding "[CANCEL]" button, or enabling Auto-Run in the Config menu.
* Enemies appear in the overworld as obstacles as opposed to Encounters being randomized.
* As of Chapter 2, it is not possible to flee from battle.
* The in-game menu is much more complex, with game settings, detailed Stats, various Equipment, and different types of items.

## Development

Toby Fox credits his 2012 inspiration for making an RPG, leading to both *Undertale* and *Deltarune*, to the unique art of kanotynes, who designed Lancer, Rudinn, Clover, Hathy, King, Jevil, and the uncredited King of Diamonds. While Fox's first RPG was *Undertale*, his original game idea associated with kanotynes's character designs would later become *Deltarune*. kanotynes's designs for Lancer, Rudinn, Clover, Hathy, and King were part of a set of 52 unique playing cards which she had devised as a project for a design class, with the full set being complete by March 29, 2012.

Temmie Chang, who previously worked on *Undertale*, also worked on *Deltarune's* first chapter, contributing more graphics than she had for *Undertale*. She is credited as "Main Artist, Animator, & Cleanup" on Background, Overworld, Battle, Sepia and Menu Art.

keiko\_fukuichi, a translator at 8-4 Ltd who also worked on *Undertale*, translated the game into Japanese.

Fox found Laura Shigihara, who sang and arranged the ending ballad *Don't Forget*, through Kan Gao's game, *To the Moon*.

With no prior warning, Chapter 1 of *Deltarune* was teased for one day on the Undertale Twitter before its release on October 31, 2018. On release, the game was disguised as a survey regarding "something new" Toby Fox had planned, saying it would "all start with [the players'] feedback." As such, the game's folders and shortcuts are named "SURVEY\_PROGRAM" by the installer, although the actual game executable is called "DELTARUNE." Toby Fox stated he really wanted players to believe the game was related to *Undertale*, so he tried to imitate *Undertale* at the beginning of *Deltarune*, even going as far to make two different choice menus.

Players were asked to refrain from discussing what was in the game, or even what it was, for twenty-four hours after the release. On November 1st, 2018, Fox made the chapter's soundtrack available on Bandcamp.

Unlike the first demo for *Undertale*, the creation of *Deltarune*'s first chapter took a few years, and a full version would likely take over 7 years for Fox to complete as "a single person (and Temmie)". He has therefore floated the idea of assembling a team to work on the game with him. Fox does not intend to make a Kickstarter campaign for *Deltarune*, and initially planned to release all potential remaining chapters simultaneously as a single-purchase game if it was completed. There is currently no projected timeline for the game's release or information about what platforms it will support in total, and some things about Chapter 1 may be changed prior to a full-game release, though the game is actively being worked on.

However, on September 15th, 2021 during a YouTube livestream celebrating *Undertale's* 6th Anniversary it was announced that Chapter 2 of *Deltarune* would release on September 17th, 2021 for PC and Mac.

Following the release of Chapter 2, Fox stated that the game's third, fourth, and fifth chapters would be released as a single paid title once completed with no details being provided of Chapters 6 and 7.

On May 2022, Toby made an additional comment to a *Deltarune* concept art tweet, stating that development for Chapters 3-5 was going well, and he had hired more people to help with the game's development.

On September 15th, 2022, Toby announced a development update, reaffirming the steady progress and showcased screenshot and music previews for Chapter 4. At the end of the post, he revealed the Spamton Sweepstakes event, a twenty-four hour charity/auction campaign that included *Deltarune*-related items, teasers, and pre-game anecdotes.

In the Halloween 2023 *Undertale*/*Deltarune* Newsletter, Toby announced that he intends to release *Deltarune* for purchase once Chapter 4 is completed. He also has hired a new producer that will help speed up the game development process for future chapters.

## Trivia

* *Deltarune* is an anagram of *Undertale*.
* The *deltarune* logo has no capitalized letters, in contrast to *UNDERTALE*, which is in all caps. Despite this, any in-game mention of the game's namesake is always in all caps.
* Toby Fox has stated that the events of *Deltarune* are separate from *Undertale*, being neither a sequel nor a prequel but rather taking place in an alternate world. Despite this, it has been suggested that there may be connections between the two games, with *Deltarune* being presented as part of the *UNDERTALE* series in store descriptions.
* The Delta Rune is an emblem found displayed across the worlds of *Deltarune* and *Undertale*. In *Undertale*, it represents the legend of the angel that will empty the underground while in *Deltarune*, it represents the heroes of Ralsei's prophecy.
* Toby Fox stated that the ending will be the same no matter what the player does, however this is followed by a question mark in the steam and Itch.io store pages for the *Deltarune* Chapter 1 and 2 demos, which suggests there could actually be more than one ending to the game.
* The user agreement that appears when running the installer for *Deltarune* only has a single, unexplained line that states that the player will "*ACCEPT EVERYTHING THAT WILL HAPPEN FROM NOW ON.*"
* The subdomain "real.deltarune.com" redirects to starmen.net, an EarthBound fan forum where Toby Fox was a regular in the late 2000s and early 2010s. It's unknown if this redirect was made by Toby himself or by Fangamer.

## References

1. ↑ UNDERTALE / DELTARUNE NEWSLETTER: Halloween 2023 - Toby Fox - fangamer.com
2. ↑ *This is intended for people who have completed UNDERTALE. -* https://deltarune.com
3. ↑ *DELTARUNE, the next game from the creator of #Undertale, is coming to #NintendoSwitch #eShop! Play DELTARUNE Chapter 1 for FREE on 2/28!* - @NintendoAmerica on Twitter, February 13, 2019.
4. ↑ *The first chapter of Deltarune, the next game from Undertale creator Toby Fox, is coming to PS4 on Feb. 28 — for free!* - @PlayStation on Twitter, February 21, 2019.
5. ↑ *DELTARUNE Chapter 2 will be available today on #NintendoSwitch as a free update to DELTARUNE Chapter 1!* - @IndieWorldNA on Twitter, September 23, 2021.
6. ↑ *Surprise! Deltarune Chapter 1&2 is also available on PS4 as a free update to Chapter 1!* - @UnderTale on Twitter, September 23, 2021.
7. ↑ *All DELTARUNE / UNDERTALE content that releases will be noted on official accounts and be credited to "Toby Fox". If you see a strange post or tweet that looks like it's from me, check the spelling of the username to make sure.* - fwugradiation on Tumblr, October 13, 2022.
8. ↑ *I'm going to be starting an UNDERTALE/DELTARUNE mailing list so you can get updates no matter where on the internet you are! I'll tweet about it here, or you can check http://undertale.com in around 24 hours.* - Toby Fox (@tobyfox) on Twitter, November 18, 2022.
9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 DELTARUNE Status Update - Sept 2021 - deltarune.com
10. ↑ *By the way, you may have seen in the credits of DELTARUNE, but without other people's help, I couldn't really have put the game into existence. So, let me name a few people.* - Toby Fox (@tobyfox) on Twitter, November 02, 2018.
11. ↑ *The reason I made them in the first place was for my design class though.* - kanotynes on Tumblr, March 29, 2012.
12. ↑ *UNDERTALE 6th Anniversary So We Play DELTARUNE Chapter 1 For Some Reason - LIVE!* - YouTube
13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 *Here are my thoughts on Ch 1 of Deltarune. This should answer some questions.* - Toby Fox (@tobyfox) on Twitter, November 02, 2018.
14. ↑ *If you ever wonder what I'm doing, I'm vibrating rapidly and working on my game. Every year it doesn't come out I shake more. I don't want it to take too long, but after a few more years I can clip into the floor while doing an ollie and earn tons of points, so it's not all bad* - Toby Fox (@tobyfox) on Twitter, February 26, 2020.
15. ↑ *By the way, the game development is going well I'm getting more and more people to help recently, I have good feelings about it* - Toby Fox (@tobyfox) on Twitter, May 17, 2022.
16. ↑ *But as a treat to those fans who got a little something burning in their spacious pockets, this year we're creating a specil event -- SPAMTON SWEEPSTAKES, a SUPER SPECIL prize sweepstakes / charity auction starting Saturday 12PM PDT and running for 24 hours right here on deltarune.com ! And don't worry -- it will have content for Spamton Lovers and Haters alike!* - DELTARUNE Status Update Sept 2022 (Fox, Toby, September 15, 2022.) *deltarune.com*.
17. ↑ *It's a different world that might even have different rules. That doesn't mean there will be no connections at all though.* - Deltarune FAQ
18. ↑ The next adventure in the **UNDERTALE** series has appeared! - https://tobyfox.itch.io/deltarune

## External Links

* *Deltarune* on Steam
* *Deltarune* on itch.io
* *Deltarune* on the Playstation Store
* *Deltarune* on the Nintendo eShop
* Undertale/Deltarune Newsletter Archive, hosted on Toby Fox's Fangamer page.
* Official Twitter
* Official merchandise, via Fangamer