A stage takes place on a 4×4 grid filled with tiles that can contain enemies, treasure, or traps. How you move across the grid depends on your movement cards. These let you move within an entire row, a column, or a 2×2 area. The movement cards available to you depend on the character you choose, so the examples above are only available to the first character.
What makes the game stand out is that while you always know the area you'll move within because you choose the row, column, or 2×2 section yourself, you never know the exact tile you'll land on. That part is completely random. Sometimes luck is on your side and you find treasure, while other times you have to deal with the consequences of an unlucky landing.
Some movement cards have a cooldown, so you can't use the same one twice in a row. Your odds of landing on a specific tile also change over time. Whenever you land on a tile, it becomes inactive and can't be selected again. For example, if you've already landed on two tiles in a row, only two remain active, giving each of them a 50% chance of being chosen.
Tiles can contain chests with gems, food that restores health, traps that deal damage, or enemies. What happens when you land on an enemy depends on your strength compared to theirs. Both you and your enemies have sword and staff values. If your matching stat is equal to or higher than the enemy's, you'll defeat them without taking damage. If the enemy is stronger, you'll get hurt, and the amount of damage is clearly shown beforehand.
You don't receive rewards for defeating enemies, so there's no need to grind them. Some enemies also evolve as the stage progresses. For example, a goblin pulls out a sword after three moves, making it much tougher to defeat, or a totem switches each turn between strong and weak variant. A common threat are also traps, which also change from turn to turn.
Most stages require you to move enough times to unlock the door to the next stage. Occasionally, you'll encounter special objectives instead, such as defeating specific enemies. You can always check the current objective by hovering your mouse over the stone beside the exit. Even after opening the door, you're free to stay and collect any remaining rewards, although pushing your luck isn't always the best idea unless you have great chances.
When you decide to continue, you'll either be sent to a random stage or get to choose between two options. These can include battles against normal or elite enemies, with elite fights offering better rewards, random events that can help or hurt you, shops where you spend gems on three random items, or a mini game where you smash eggs for prizes. The first two hits are free, while every hit afterward costs gems.
Since movement is heavily influenced by luck, you can shape the odds with runes. You can buy them in shops or find them in chests after tougher battles. Every rune increases the chance of some outcomes while decreasing the chance of others. For example, one rune might make landing on traps less likely while increasing your chances of landing on sword-based enemies. You can equip several runes at once, and all probability changes are displayed through five easy to read sliders as well as directly on the affected tiles. This makes it much easier to see how your choices change the odds. For instance, if the only remaining tiles are a trap and a treasure chest, a treasure-focused rune will noticeably improve your chances of landing on the reward.
If a rune doesn't fit your strategy anymore, you can destroy it at any time. Runes can also be upgraded at campsites, which appear just before the final stage of a run. At a campsite, you'll have to choose between upgrading your runes or restoring a few hearts because you can't do both. You can also improve your sword or staff strength, although this is only possible at a special upgrade stage that's clearly marked so you won't accidentally miss it. Even then, you must choose which stat to improve since you can't upgrade both at once.
Your ultimate goal is to clear every stage in a run and repeat the process two more times in a different environment with different enemies and traps. In reality, you'll probably die before getting that far, and that's perfectly fine because every defeat rewards you with Development Points. These are used to rebuild the village. There are five different buildings to invest in, each offering five upgrade levels that make future runs easier and unlock new characters. Higher level upgrades become more expensive and often require you to reach or defeat a specific stage before they become available.
There are five playable characters, and you choose one before starting each run. They all feel distinct thanks to their different health values, sword and staff stats, rune capacity, unique movement cards, and passive abilities. Some passive abilities are available from the start, while others must first be unlocked by upgrading the village, giving you another reason to keep coming back for one more run.
