Three hearts. Every fighter, every round.
Server-authoritative. Predicted movement, interpolated rivals.
Challengers. Two abilities and a passive each.
Players. Up to 20 fighters with bots.
00 / Training ground
A tiny slice of the keep, right here. Knock out the straw dummies. Pick a challenger further down the page to change your colours.
01 / Game modes
The Jade Wardens against the Ember Knights, any split from 1v1 to 5v5. One attacker carries the cinder charge to site A or B and holds E for 3 s to plant. Defenders get 5 s to defuse it before the 20 s fuse burns down.
No charge and no teams: up to twenty fighters, bots included. The last fighter standing takes the round. If the 90 s clock runs out, the healthiest fighter wins it.
Practise solo against a bot that adapts to you. It sharpens when you win and eases off when it wins, so the match stays close. Its rank runs from Rookie to Legend.
02 / The challengers
Five fighters, each with a Q ability, an F ability and a passive. Anyone can pick the same one. Abilities respect teams, and smoke never hides your own side.
10 s cooldown
Thrown toward your aim. It bursts on a wall, a rampart or a fighter, after 0.7 s in the air, or when you press Q again. Everyone within 3.5 units with a clear line to it is whited out for 2 s, you and your teammates included.
12 s cooldown
A 1.8-unit pool up to 3 units ahead, for 6 s. Anyone in it moves up to twice as fast with little grip, so they slide and turn wide.
Passive / 5 s cooldown
Narrowly evade a live sword arc to gain 25% speed for 1 s.
12 s cooldown
An instant pulse that restores 1 heart to Jerry and every living teammate within 3 units, never above full health.
10 s cooldown
A 3-unit ridge of earth rolls 6 units forward. It shoves enemies ahead of it and crushes anyone pinned against the map. It stops every arrow, flashbang and hex bolt, and teammates pass through it.
Passive
Takes half the knockback distance from the backhand greatsword launch and Gale Burst.
8 s cooldown
A 110° cone of wind, 4.5 units long. It throws enemies back up to 3.2 units and interrupts their attack, turns enemy arrows and hex bolts around, blows smoke away and stretches pools downwind.
3 s tank / refills over 9 s
Hold to vent puffs of gas toward your aim. Each puff drifts, spreads and lasts 5 s. A sightline through thick smoke hides enemies, but attacking or close contact reveals a silhouette.
Passive
Walking footsteps carry 2.5 units instead of 6. Attacks and dodges sound as normal.
18 s cooldown
Invisible to enemies for 10 s, while teammates see him faintly. Attacking, casting, planting, defusing or taking a hit reveals him. His footsteps can still be heard.
10 s cooldown
A homing bolt that reaches up to 8 units and turns hard toward the nearest visible enemy. A hit silences them for 5 s: no abilities and no dodging. Walls and ramparts stop it.
Passive
A hex that lands shows Ash where its target stood for 1.2 s.
7 s cooldown
An orb lobbed over walls up to 12 units away. It bursts into a swamp for 5 s. Enemies inside move 75% slower and cannot dodge.
15 s cooldown
Open a map of the whole keep and click any open floor to teleport there instantly.
Passive
Rowan and his teammates wade through his swamps at full speed and can still dodge in them.
Where Emmett's slick water meets Rowan's bog mud, both drain away in a burst of steam. Values are initial tuning, not final balance.
03 / The arsenal
Pick with 1 2 3 in the lobby, the countdown or between rounds. Press V any time to switch between overhand and backhand.
Sword / the all-rounder
Backhand: 70% reach, but a much quicker swing, about 0.3 s instead of 0.45 s.
Heavy / slow / wide
A 140° arc, but you move at 40% speed while swinging. Backhand: a hit launches the target about 2.5 units, and they can't act until they land.
Ranged / projectile
Backhand: each shot looses two arrows, at more than twice the recovery.
Walls stop arrows. A well-timed Space dodge passes straight through them.
04 / The siege layer
In Plant and Defuse, both sides fight over materials in mid, then spend them to open or seal the routes into each walled site. Every build costs from a small shared pool, and building in the open shows where you plan to fight.
Hold Timber, Iron or Stone alone for 4 s to earn 1 material for your side. Smash crates and hunt the two wild boars for more. Each side holds up to 6, and materials reset every round.
Swords cut down enemy timber, doors, barricades, ladders and flags. Arrows don't.
05 / The maps
The original keep with three lanes and two bomb sites. A stream with plank footbridges runs north to south, cherry groves fill the corners, and wading the river slows you by 60%.
A competitive 4v4 siege district, 80 × 56 units. Attackers start in the Siege Camp to the west and defenders in the citadel to the east. Three lanes run between them, with at least two and a half real ways into every site.
06 / Screenshots
07 / How to play
7777 and click Open Arena. For internet play, forward that UDP port to your PC.Windows: keep Cinder.exe next to its _Data folder.
macOS: the universal app isn't notarized, so the first time, right-click it and choose Open.
Want to play alone? Choose VS Bot. You don't need an address.
| WASD | Move |
|---|---|
| Mouse | Aim |
| L-Click | Swing |
| Space | Dodge, with a short invulnerability window |
| QF | Character abilities |
| E | Hold to plant or defuse |
| G | Drop the charge for a teammate |
| B | Build menu |
| 123 | Sword, greatsword or bow |
| V | Overhand or backhand grip |
| Esc | Menu |