From Obscurity to Online Sensation: The Unlikely Tale of a Resurrected Indie Game

A Dormant Title's Sudden Awakening and a Mysterious Surge in Player Engagement

Several months prior, RetroSpecter, an independent game creator, noticed peculiar activity surrounding their inaugural completed project, Crashphalt, a platformer released on Steam in 2018. The game, which had largely been overlooked since its debut, suddenly amassed over 500 new reviews, a stark contrast to the handful it had accumulated in its initial four years.

The Unforeseen Connection: Undertale Dominates Crashphalt's Review Section

Remarkably, the influx of new reviews rarely mentioned Crashphalt itself. Instead, the comments section was overwhelmingly filled with discussions about Undertale, a highly acclaimed role-playing game. Reviewers expressed a desire to play Undertale with others or lauded Undertale as a "pretty cool game," with one even humorously describing Crashphalt as "the best game to never actually play." This puzzling situation prompted RetroSpecter to question the sudden shift, as they openly admitted their own fondness for Undertale.

Unraveling the Mystery: The Undertale Together Mod and Remote Play Hack

The developer's investigation soon revealed that Crashphalt's unexpected revival was linked to "Undertale Together," a fan-made multiplayer modification for Undertale. This mod, typically limited to local co-op, was being ingeniously adapted by players for online play. A specific YouTube video, uploaded in December 2022, detailed a method: players would copy Crashphalt's installation files into a modified Undertale directory, then rename the Undertale executable to "Crashphalt.exe." This trick led Steam to believe they were launching Crashphalt, thereby enabling Remote Play multiplayer for the otherwise local-only Undertale mod.

Statistical Evidence: Crashphalt's Unprecedented Player Activity Spikes

Analysis of Crashphalt's SteamDB charts corroborates this discovery, showing a dramatic increase in its peak daily player count. Between November and December 2022, the player count soared from a mere 6 to 107, representing an astonishing 1683% jump. This timeline perfectly aligns with the release of the aforementioned YouTube tutorial. An additional surge in player activity was observed in June 2025, corresponding with Deltarune's paid launch on Steam, indicating the method's applicability to other games.

The Developer's Reaction: Gratitude for a Game's Unconventional Second Life

Despite the unusual circumstances, RetroSpecter expressed genuine pleasure at Crashphalt's unforeseen popularity. They acknowledged that the "hack" only requires a game with Remote Play enabled, suggesting many other free titles could have been chosen. However, Crashphalt was the "lucky game" to receive this unexpected honor. The developer finds it "really cool" that their game has found a "second life," serving as an unconventional bridge for friends to experience Undertale together. RetroSpecter, inspired by Undertale during their early game development journey, appreciates this unique impact on the gaming community, even humorously suggesting a collaboration with Undertale's creator, Toby Fox.