Routekeeper

What is Routekeeper?

Routekeeper is a planning tool for game level design, built around how progression-gated worlds are structured: rooms connected by requirements such as abilities, keys, or rewards from defeating a boss. While it grew out of Metroidvania design conventions, the same structure applies to any game that gates progress behind unlocks. RPGs, soulslikes, roguelikes, and adventure games included.

What it does

You start by setting two parameters: Number of Biomes and Rooms per biome. The tool then generates a first draft of a connected room map based on those numbers.

Each room in the generated map includes:

• A name and a short description
• A room type (combat, puzzle, save point, boss)
• Any requirement needed to reach it (ability, key none)
• Its connections to neighboring rooms, including which connections are locked and by what

Boss rooms always include a reward on defeat.

Editing after generation

The generated map is a  starting point. You can move rooms, rename them, change their type or description, add or remove connections and requirements, add or delete rooms and biomes, change room icons, and manage locks and gates. Renaming updates every place that ability or key appears.

There´s also a "Player Simulation" mode for checking your own design. Select which abilites/keys the player currently has, and the map shows which rooms are and aren´t reachable yet, so you can verify the progression works before you build it.

Saving and exporting

Maps can be saved to a file and loaded back in later to keep editing. You can also export the visible map as an image or PDF.

Requirements

Routekeeper runs entirely in the browser. Nothing is installed, no account is needed, and nothing you create is uploaded anywhere.

Left Click (Hold): Pan Map

Scroll Wheel: Zoom In/Out

Left Click (Room): Edit Room

Right Click (Hold) Drag Room: Move to new cell

Double Click (Empty): Create Room

Routekeeper is still a work in progress, so the look and features may change along the way. If you have any ideas or suggestions for how I could improve it further, feel free to leave a comment!