There’s a certain kind of magic that comes with starting a new game from Toby Fox. If you played Undertale, you know the feeling. It’s a mix of excitement, curiosity, and the quiet knowledge that things are never quite what they seem. Deltarune drops you right back into that familiar yet unfamiliar world, and it all begins on the most ordinary day imaginable.
You are Kris, a quiet kid in a quiet town. The sun is shining, your mom Toriel is her usual sweet self, and your biggest worry is being late for Alphys’s class. The day feels mundane, almost boring. You’re paired up with Susie, the school bully who looks like she eats chalk for breakfast, for a group project. Your task? Go get some chalk from the supply closet. Simple, right?
But the moment that closet door shuts behind you, the world falls away. The floor vanishes, and you and Susie are sent tumbling into an abyss of darkness. This is where your adventure truly begins. This isn’t just a walkthrough; think of it as a friend sitting next to you on the couch, guiding you through the strange, wonderful, and sometimes dangerous Dark World. Let’s take our first steps together.
What’s in our Deltarune Chapter 1 Walkthrough
First Steps into the Darkness
When you finally land, the air is thick with mystery. The world is bathed in shades of purple and blue, and everything feels alien. Susie, ever the tough one, quickly gets fed up and storms off on her own, leaving you to explore this strange new reality by yourself.
As you wander through the empty landscape, you’ll eventually meet a lonely figure in a green cloak and a pointed hat. This is Ralsei, the Prince of this forgotten kingdom. He’s a sweet, gentle soul who has been waiting his entire life for you to arrive. He explains that you, Kris, and the monster who ran off, Susie, are the Delta Warriors of legend. You are the heroes destined to seal the eastern Dark Fountain and restore balance to the world. It’s a lot to take in, but Ralsei’s kindness is a comforting light in the overwhelming darkness.
He’ll teach you the basics of how this world works. While you can FIGHT, just like in other games, Deltarune is all about choices. Ralsei introduces the power of ACTing. Instead of attacking, you can interact with your enemies. You can compliment them, warn them, or even hug them. If you can pacify them without fighting, Ralsei can cast his Pacify spell to put them to sleep, ending the battle peacefully.
Soon after, you’ll run into Lancer, a spade-faced troublemaker on a flaming bike who declares himself the “bad guy.” He’s determined to stop you, but his attempts are more silly than scary. Your first few encounters with him and other enemies are a perfect playground for learning the ropes. You’ll find Susie again, but she’s not interested in making friends. She wants to fight, and she’ll attack anything that gets in her way, forcing you to find clever ways to end battles before she does too much damage. This dynamic, your choice, Susie’s aggression, and Ralsei’s pacifism are the heart of your journey.
A Field of Hopes and Dreams
Leaving the initial area behind, you’ll step into a breathtaking new zone: the Field of Hopes and Dreams. The purple ground gives way to a vibrant landscape filled with sparkling trees and colorful, mushroom-like platforms. It’s the first sign that this world isn’t just darkness; it’s a living, breathing place.
Here, you’ll meet the first real residents of the Dark World. Creatures like Rudinn, a diamond-headed guard, and Hathy, a heart shaped monster with a top hat, will challenge you. This is your chance to practice what Ralsei taught you. You’ll discover that a kind word or a simple warning is often more effective than a sword. These early encounters are low-stakes, designed to show you that compassion is a form of strength.
As you explore, you’ll stumble upon a rickety old shop run by a strange, cat-like creature named Seam (pronounced “Shawm”). His face is stitched up, and one of his eyes is a button, but his smile is warm. Seam sells items and gear that can help you on your quest, but more importantly, he offers wisdom. He’s seen a lot, and his cryptic words hint at a deeper story and a hidden darkness within this world. He’s a safe haven, a place to rest and prepare for the road ahead.
Lancer will continue to pop up, trying to thwart your progress with his “evil” plans, which usually involve things like building a machine that will smash you (but he forgets to turn it on). His antics are genuinely funny and add a wonderful layer of humor to the adventure. You’ll start to see that behind his bad-guy facade, there’s a kid who’s just looking for some fun and maybe a few friends.
The Puzzling Forest and the Great Board
Your path will eventually lead you to a dense, checkerboard themed forest. The puzzles here start to get a little trickier, requiring you to think a few steps ahead. This area is ruled by a delightfully over the top character named Rouxls Kaard. He considers himself a master of puzzles and will constantly appear to challenge you with his “greatest” creations.
Most of his puzzles are humorously simple. He might task you with pushing a box onto a switch, only for the box to be right next to it. He’s all flair and no substance, and his dramatic speeches are a highlight of the chapter. Don’t be intimidated by his fancy language; his challenges are more about making you laugh than making you think.
Deeper in the forest, you’ll encounter a new enemy: a small checker piece called C. Round. After a few easy encounters, Lancer will supercharge it with a crown, turning it into the miniboss K. Round. This fight isn’t about attacking. K. Round will stomp and kick, and your job is simply to dodge its attacks. After a few rounds of this, you’ll get the option to ACT. By bowing to K. Round, you’ll make it self-conscious, and eventually, it will bow back, causing its crown to fall off and ending the fight. It’s a perfect example of Deltarune’s creative and non-violent solutions.
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It’s in this forest that something special happens. Susie and Lancer, tired of your heroic ways, decide to team up and become the “Dark Fun Gang.” They run off together, leaving you and Ralsei to navigate the rest of the forest alone. It’s a lonely feeling, but it’s also a pivotal moment in their story, as their strange friendship begins to blossom.
For the Brave: Hunting Down the Secret of Jevil
Before you charge ahead to the castle, take a moment. If you’re feeling brave and looking for a true challenge, there’s a secret waiting for you. Back at Seam’s shop, if you ask him about the “strange prisoner,” he’ll tell you about a jester who was locked away for seeing the world as a game. This is Jevil, the game’s secret superboss. Finding and facing him is one of the most rewarding parts of Chapter 1.
To open his prison, you need to find three Broken Key pieces. This requires a bit of a scavenger hunt:
- Broken Key A: Talk to Seam after he tells you about Jevil, and he will simply give you the first piece.
- Broken Key B: Head back to the checkerboard forest. There’s a path that leads to a small area with a puzzle involving dancing characters. Open the chest here to find the second piece. It’s a bit hidden, so keep your eyes peeled for an opening in the trees you might have missed before.
- Broken Key C: This one is in a chest right out in the open in the Field of Hopes and Dreams, just south of the shop area. The chest is a bit tricky to open with a combination puzzle, but the solution is written on the wall nearby (Diamond, Heart, Club, Spade).
Once you have all three pieces, take them to the smith, Malius, who is banging away at his anvil in the forest. He’ll repair the pieces for you, forging them into the Prison Key. With this key in hand, you can now head to the very bottom of Card Castle (you’ll get there later) and unlock the “????” floor.
Down in the darkness, you’ll find Jevil, a manic jester bouncing in his cell. He’s excited to have visitors and eagerly asks you to play a “game” with him. Be warned: his game is chaos. The battle against Jevil is incredibly difficult. His attacks are fast, unpredictable, and fill the entire screen. He can do anything!
To win peacefully, you need to survive his onslaught while using Ralsei’s Hypnosis ACT and Kris’s Pirouette ACT. Each successful Pirouette will raise the party’s defense, and each Hypnosis will slowly tire Jevil out. It’s a long, grueling dance of survival. You’ll need to learn the patterns of his spade attacks, his carousel of death, and the final, chaotic attack where the screen fills with giant scythes. It will take many tries, but when you finally pacify him, the sense of accomplishment is immense. He’ll reward you with a powerful piece of armor or a weapon, but the real prize is knowing you beat the toughest challenge Chapter 1 has to offer.
Storming the Gates of Card Castle
With Susie and Lancer still off on their own, you and Ralsei will finally reach your destination: Card Castle, a towering fortress where Lancer’s father, the King, rules. The castle is crawling with guards, but the puzzles here are more about observation than anything else. You’ll need to remember the order of the card suits to pass through doors and navigate the floors.
Eventually, you’ll reunite with Susie and Lancer, who have had a change of heart. Lancer realizes his dad’s plan to create a world of darkness isn’t just fun and games, it’s dangerous. The four of you decide to confront the King together, as a true team.
Your ascent through the castle is a testament to how far you’ve come. You are no longer just a quiet kid and a lonely prince; you are the Delta Warriors, united with your friends. You’ll face the King’s top guards and solve Rouxls Kaard’s final, ridiculous puzzle before finally reaching the throne room.
The King: A Battle of Wills
The King is an imposing figure, and he is not interested in talking. He sees you as a threat to his world and his way of life. The final battle is the ultimate test of everything you’ve learned. The King’s attacks are brutal and powerful, but by now, you know what to do.
You must work as a team. Kris and Susie can use their ACTs to warn each other about incoming attacks, reducing the damage. Ralsei is the heart of the team, healing everyone and using his Pacify spell whenever an opportunity arises. The fight is a dramatic back-and-forth. You’ll have to dodge chains, spade attacks, and the King’s powerful belly slam.
Just when it seems like you have him on the ropes, he’ll capture your friends, leaving you to face him alone. But this is a story about friendship. Lancer, seeing his friends in trouble, finally stands up to his father, leading the other Darkners to rebel and overthrow the King. In the end, it’s not your power that wins the day, but the bonds you’ve forged.
The Journey Home and a Chilling Twist
With the King defeated, your mission is complete. You, Kris, Susie, and Ralsei approach the Dark Fountain. It’s a bittersweet moment. You have to say goodbye to this world and the friends you’ve made. Ralsei’s farewell is especially touching, as he takes off his hat to reveal his true face, a fluffy boy who looks a lot like another character we know and love. He promises to wait for you, for your next adventure.
You and Susie seal the fountain and awaken back where it all began: the school’s unused classroom. The floor is littered with old playing cards and board games, the remnants of the world you just left behind. It feels like a dream, but something has changed. As you walk home, the silence between you and Susie isn’t awkward anymore. It’s comfortable. A real friendship has begun.
But the story isn’t over. That night, something strange happened. You, the player, lose control. Kris gets out of bed, stumbles to the center of the room, and with a horrifying lurch, rips their own SOUL from their body and throws it into a birdcage. As the SOUL beats helplessly against the bars, Kris brandishes a knife, a sinister smile spreading across their face. The screen cuts to black.
What just happened? Who is in control? The choices you thought were yours might not have been yours at all. And with that terrifying cliffhanger, the journey of Deltarunes Chapter 1 comes to an end, leaving you with more questions than answers and an insatiable hunger for what comes next.
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