Appearance
Getting Started
Installing
Play in the browser: the latest release is hosted at play.athanor.games (best in a landscape window). It is free and ad-supported: the ads sit in bands above and below the page, outside the game entirely, never over it. The settings menu has a Fullscreen switch.
Or grab the latest Android APK from the download page. Take the arm64-v8a build unless you know otherwise, then open it: your browser will offer to install it, and you may need to allow installs from that source. The game plays in landscape.
Starting a campaign
New Game starts a fresh campaign, Custom World lets you pick the seed, Continue resumes your last save, and Settings controls sound and display.
The game opens on a short intro cinematic. Tap Skip ▸ any time to jump straight to the menu, or let it play out and the menu arrives on its final frame.
From the main menu choose New Game, or Custom World to pick the world seed (the same seed always forges the same world). Continue lights up once you have a campaign saved, and Settings opens the sound and play options.
A guided first turn
The screen dims to highlight what's important, with a note explaining what to tap and why. You can skip any step.
Your first campaign walks you through the opening: the screen dims to the one thing to tap next, with a note on why. It covers taking command, raising a soldier, putting your city to work, beginning a study, settling a field, and taking your Grand Athanor back. Every card carries a Skip tutorial button.
It never appears twice, never interrupts a saved game you resume, and never shows up at all once you have won a campaign. Settings can switch it back on, or start the whole tour again.
1. Choose your Lord's calling
Pick your Lord's calling. Each plays completely differently in combat and affects your starting treasury and research priority.
Your Lord is the guild: if they fall, the campaign is lost. Each calling plays differently:
- Warrior: front-line steel. Rally, the art they study first, hardens the whole party.
- Alchemist: fragile, but opens battles with a devastating Transmute Blast of raw Essence.
- Rogue: fastest on the road, deadliest from ambush, and the only calling that can sneak parties through dungeon floors.
2. Choose your guild
Seven seats around the ring (the guilds), Entropy at the center. Tap a seat to see its perks, terrain, and starting stats. The same layout mirrors the world map itself.
Seven seats ring the chamber floor, and Entropy holds the middle. The world has the same shape: the rot at the heart, everyone else around it. Tap a seat to see that guild's details: its special ability, home terrain, rival guild, story, and your starting Lord stats. Tap another seat to switch guilds, or tap the ✕ to close the panel.
Every guild has a distinct perk. Sulfur's blades hit harder, Aether marches faster, Aurum's vaults run deeper, Salt's shield walls hold.
3. Lore, stats, and go
Review your choices: starting stats, first skill, treasury, story, and what the campaign will demand of you. You can go back and change guilds before pressing Choose.
The last screen lays out what you are committing to: your Lord's exact starting stats, the art their calling studies first, what the treasury opens with, the guild's story and ground, and what the campaign is going to ask of you. Press Choose and it begins.
Your first campaign runs at the gentlest setting. There is no difficulty to weigh before you know what any of it means. Finish the Great Work once and the choice appears here; finish it on Hard and Entropy itself becomes playable. See Settings & Unlocks.
Your first days
You start with your Lord and two followers in your capital city. Your own Grand Athanor stands nearby, held by the Faithless Marauders. Liberating it is your first quest, and it pays: renown for your Lord, followers and infamy for your guild, and its income and territory afterward.
🎯 The Goal
Capture Entropy's Grand Athanor (at the world's center) to complete the Great Work and win the campaign. It is the only way to truly end the blight. Defeating Entropy's heroes helps, but their central stronghold is what matters.
⚠️ Why Speed Matters
The blight spreads gradually outward from Entropy's heart. Every day it goes unchecked, it swallows more territory. Your controlled territory stops it in place, so capturing buildings quickly is survival, not just ambition. The gentler outer ring is safe to learn in, but don't wait too long before pushing toward the center.
💡 Core Loop: What to Do Each Day
- Move your armies: attack enemy buildings, defend your own, or explore
- Manage cities: recruit new soldiers, research skills, build farms
- Pay your army: each soldier costs upkeep; see the treasury at day's end
- End Day: everyone refreshes, a new day begins
Repeat until you hold Entropy's Grand Athanor.
From Here
The tutorial walks you through liberating your own Grand Athanor and your first few turns. Win once, and the difficulty options open up on your next campaign. See Settings & Unlocks for what else you can unlock.