Two dice land in front of you. You take ONE of them — and that number is how far you walk.
Oathreaver is a dice roguelike you play with one thumb, in portrait, in the gaps of a day. Sixty-one squares of forking road, a boss standing at the end of every one, and a decision on every fork: the coin or the goblin, the heart or the chest.
■ THE BOARD TELLS YOU EVERYTHING
Every square ahead prints exactly what it will cost you or give you — worked out from the stats you are carrying right now. Pick up a coat and watch every monster number on the road ahead drop. There is nothing hidden. There is only the arithmetic, and whether you can see it in time.
■ TWO DICE, ONE CHOICE
A die is not an event that happens to you. It is two options, and you are the one who picks. The high roll takes you past the gold; the low one puts you on the trap. Neither is safe. That is the game.
■ THREE HEROES WHO BREAK THE RULES DIFFERENTLY
BJORN reads every monster two lower than it really is. MERLO takes the dice again, twice a level. WREN never lands ON the number — always one square short, or one past, which gives her three landing spots where everyone else has one. Four more are unlocked with what you bring home.
■ THE GATE
Every level ends in a fight, and a boss is not a bar you drain. It declares what it is about to do a full round before it does it, and you answer with a die and a verb: STRIKE, GUARD, a FLASK, or your hero's own signature once it is charged. A high roll is a big hit or a big shield. A low roll is neither, and choosing what to waste it on is the round.
■ SOMEWHERE NEW, OFTEN
Greenhollow, The Deep Halls, Mistmarsh, Nightwood, The Pale Star, Embersands and more — each with its own ground, its own creatures, its own boss at the gate. No two levels are lit the same way. And it does not stop: the road keeps going, and it keeps getting harder.
■ WHAT SURVIVES THE RUN
Gold comes home with you and the market spends it: permanent upgrades that stack, one-run charms, and costumes for every hero.
No timers. No energy. No waiting to play. Roll the dice, pick your road.
Roll two dice, pick one, walk the forking road. A boss waits at every gate.