Version 1.9.0. A solo game: you guide one adventurer; up to 3 computer rivals share the Realm.
Press Play to open the illustrated cover, then choose New adventure. On the setup screen click a portrait to choose your adventurer, use the + and - buttons to divide exactly five victory points among Great Treasures, Usable Spells, Fame, Notoriety and Gold, choose how many computer rivals (0-3), the length, scenario and ferocity, then press Enter the Realm. A first game: the Amazon, two rivals, 28 days, Standard ferocity, The Open Realm.
On the cover, Continue resumes an active session or a valid autosave, with the manual save as a fallback. Load saved game lets you choose a browser save or import an exported game. You can also open Rules, the tutorial, the manual and Hall of Fame.
| Mouse / touch | Click a green-ringed clearing to plan a move; shift-click any clearing to plot a whole route. Drag to pan; wheel or pinch to zoom. Click a clearing to inspect it. |
|---|---|
| H / R / S | Add Hide, Rest or Search (Locate in mountains and caves, otherwise Peer) to the day's plan. |
| Backspace / Enter | Undo the last planned phase / finish the plan. |
| Space | Step through Daylight one phase at a time. |
| + / - / F / C | Zoom in, zoom out, fit the map, centre on your adventurer. |
| L | Open the Lore screen. |
| Combat 1-4 / 5-8 | Choose a fight chit / a move chit. |
| Combat Q W E / A S D | Thrust, Swing, Smash / Charge, Dodge, Duck. |
| Combat Tab / Enter | Next target / commit the round. |
The information panel is on the left, the controls on the right, the map in the middle. The Advisor box in the morning suggests sensible moves.
Every day runs Birdsong (plan your phases in secret), Sunrise (the monster roll), Daylight (everyone acts in a random order, one turn each), Evening (battles) and Midnight (hiding ends). You have two basic phases and two sunlight phases, fewer in caves or bad weather. Press Done to finish your plan, then Play to watch the day.
Move along paths between clearings. Entering a mountain clearing costs two phases; starting a day in a cave costs your sunlight phases. Hidden paths and secret passages appear only once you have found them by searching (Peer, Locate) or when the tile is enchanted. If your heaviest item outweighs your best move chit you are encumbered and moves cost double.
In a battle each round you choose a fight chit and an attack direction (Thrust, Swing, Smash), a move chit and a maneuver (Charge, Dodge, Duck), and a target. An attack hits if its direction meets the target's maneuver (Thrust meets Charge, Swing meets Dodge, Smash meets Duck) or if its time is lower than the target's move time. Harm at least equal to a monster's vulnerability kills it. The preview on each enemy card tells you whether your blow can land and kill, and what its blow would do to you. Killing monsters earns fame and notoriety; treasures, spells and gold come from searching sites and trading.
At the end, for each category, units earned minus points assigned is the basic score and basic × points is the bonus. A total of zero or more means you met your victory requirements: victory. In The Race scenario the first adventurer to meet the requirements at midnight wins at once.
If every one of your chits is wounded, or a single blow exceeds your vulnerability, your adventurer dies and the quest ends. Finishing the month below zero is also a defeat. Hide at the end of the day and rest when wounded to stay alive.
The game autosaves every morning. Save and Load keep one manual save; Export and Import move a game as a file. Restart day returns to that morning's Birdsong. New game starts over. Saves stay in this browser. Use Cover to pause and return to the title screen, then Continue to return to the same session. Returning to the cover does not replace a manual save: use Save or Export before closing the browser. Existing version 1.8.0 solo saves remain compatible.