What the symbols are
The icons that appear on the elevator before a descent are run modifiers. They tell you what is different about the floor you are about to drop into — a missing fuse, no lights, tougher enemies. You do not pick them. You read them and change what you bring.
Everything below comes from one place: the Steam thread "Symbols meaning", where nine replies of players compared notes over four days. Read the confidence line under each symbol before you plan a run around it.
The eight symbols
| Symbol | What it means | How well confirmed |
|---|---|---|
| Fuse | A fuse breaks on arrival and must be replaced before you can leave | Multiple players |
| Eye | Blackout — every light goes out except near the elevator | Multiple players |
| Skull | Enemies are stronger | Multiple players |
| Map | A map room exists somewhere on the floor | One player verified in game |
| 2x | More loot / higher yield | One reading, no test posted |
| Piston | A hydraulic press you can use to crush objects for cash | One player |
| Key | A locked chest, one report of a purple orb inside | Uncertain |
| ? | Nobody has worked it out | Unknown |
Two of the eight are honestly unresolved. We are leaving them that way rather than inventing meanings — a wrong modifier is worse than no modifier, because you would prepare for the wrong run.
Fuse
One of the elevator's fuses breaks on arrival. A replacement spawns in an openable chest somewhere on the map, and it has to be installed before you can leave.
Confirmed by multiple players.
This is the modifier with a hard fail state attached: no fuse, no extraction. Useful detail from the same thread —
There are usually two fuses on a map, in case one falls into a pit.
So a fuse being unreachable is not the end of the run. There is normally a spare.
The full procedure, including the part people miss — the fuse has to be the item in your hand when you reach the slot — is on the elevator fuse page.
Eye
Blackout. Every light bulb on the floor goes out except the ones near and inside the elevator.
Confirmed by multiple players.
Skull
Enemies are stronger.
Confirmed by multiple players. Nobody in the thread quantifies how much stronger.
Map
There is a map room somewhere on the floor. The map on its table shows the size of the basement and the routes through it.
One player verified this in game.
2x
Read as more loot or higher yield.
⚠️ One player's reading, with no test posted. Whether it multiplies quantity, value, or something else is unknown.
Piston
A small hydraulic press you can use to crush nearby objects for quick cash.
One player.
Key
A locked chest. One player reports opening a purple orb out of it.
⚠️ Uncertain — whether Key always means a locked chest, and whether the orb is guaranteed, is not established.
Purple orbs are furniture blueprints, which is why a locked chest containing one is worth the detour. What to do with them is on the Outpost upgrades page.
The "?" symbol
Nobody in the thread has worked it out. Nine replies over four days and it stayed unsolved.
If you have run a floor with this modifier and noticed what changed, that is genuinely missing information.
⚠️ This thread is from the demo
The dates matter here. That thread ran 18–21 June 2026 — during the demo, roughly seven weeks before the 1.0 release on 7 August. The game has shipped seven patches in its first five days since then.
Nothing in the patch notes so far mentions changing the elevator modifiers, and players have kept using these meanings after launch. But no one has posted a fresh 1.0-era confirmation of the full set, so treat the demo-era readings as the best available answer rather than a verified current one.
What is not confirmed
- The complete list of symbols. Eight are discussed. Whether more exist, nobody says
- What "?" does
- Whether Key always means a locked chest, and whether the purple orb is guaranteed
- Whether 2x is loot quantity, value, or something else
- How much stronger Skull makes enemies
- Whether symbols stack — several at once, and how they interact
- Whether the meanings survived the demo → 1.0 transition unchanged