Night scene from Ambercombe, the starting village in Whitmere (map v3, rough draft): a market square with a bell tower and a well, houses with slate roofs and lit windows. A warrior and a priest cross the square, a mage sits by the well, a wolf trots closer, and the Hollowmaw lurks at the edge.
A 2D online role-playing game built the way the classics were: slow, social, with dungeons, raids and a realm where death is final. In a world that did not exist before.
Get invited to the first test Watch the game ↓
Solo project. No pay-to-win. No AI images.
The running client against real servers; the three companions are bots. An evening in Ambercombe, wolves on the Heath, and finally the Hollowmaw.
Thirty-one years ago a thirty-year war ended when both sides set off a forbidden weapon. The inland sea between the continents tore open and ran dry. Since then the Ebb has been rising from the dry seabed: the dead come back, magic turns unreliable.
The ceasefire, the Grey Water Accord, was signed on the wreck of the flagship. Both sides sealed their files and tell their children a different story. You are the first generation after, sent to the borderlands as a Warden.
Corvane, the West
Law, registers, memory. A council of crowns under an elected High Chancellor; decisions are slow, written and binding. Slate, limestone, brass, lanterns, canals. The returned dead are citizens by law and unpaid labour in practice.
Only here: PaladinVarrach, the East
Clans, the Moot, banners, river boats, stone circles. Every banner rules itself; the Moot decides loudly, quickly and revocably. Wood, leather, copper, thorns. The banners fund themselves by border raids, and their Speakers know what they woke.
Only here: ShamanRace names other than Ithreni (approved in October 2026) are working names. Both sides are right and both are guilty; no NPC calls the other side "monsters". See all races → World, map and listening →
Three to start with: the Warrior holds the enemies, the Priest heals, the Mage fights from range. The other six come later.
coming after the MVP. See all classes →
The rules of classic online role-playing games as the foundation. World, story and numbers are our own.
You pick a target and use abilities with intent. Big attacks show on the ground before they land. The server decides whether a hit lands.
Dungeons for five, raids for ten and 25. One holds the enemies, one heals, the rest deal damage. Plus fights against the other side.
You travel on foot; mounts come at level 40. No jumping across the map at the press of a button, no automatic group finder. You meet on the way.
A separate realm where every character has one life. If it dies, it is gone.
Three talent trees per class. Later, Sigils unlock new roles for a class. Nothing you can buy makes you stronger.
In the browser, on PC, Linux, Android and handhelds. The controls are built for controllers from day one.
One e-mail when it is ready. Nothing else.
Every image is made by code: figures from joints and layers, maps from tiles. No AI images, no third-party assets. Click to see the whole sheet.
Lanterhall at night. The light is a layer of its own.
Figures: three classes, three armour tiers.
Slackwater Mine, the first dungeon. The light comes from the Ebb.
Enemies: wolf, boar and other four-legged beasts.
Tidemark Post at dusk. Torches instead of lanterns.
Interface: windows, bars and a pixel font of its own.A solo project with about three build days a week. Status: October 2026.
None of this is a promise. If something fails, it will say so here instead of the page disappearing.
One e-mail when there is something to test. No newsletter, no sharing. You get a confirmation e-mail (double opt-in) and after that only mail when a test is coming up or the project ends. The address is stored in our own database, together with the place on the page where you signed up.
Not yet. The client runs internally, as in the clip above. A first test with players comes with the first playable version (MVP) at the earliest. Join the waitlist and you will hear about it.
The plan is a one-time purchase, no mandatory subscription, optional cosmetics. No pay-to-win: nothing you can buy makes a character stronger. Prices are not set.
No. Saltwarden is inspired by classic MMORPGs and adopts their rules as far as that is allowed. World, story, names, numbers, texts and graphics are our own. There is no connection to other games or their publishers.
Not in the images: all pixel art is made by code and by hand from our own rigs, no image models. AI tools help with programming; a human makes the decisions and every line goes through tests.
In the browser, as a PC and Linux application, on Android and on handhelds. Controller support is part of the design from the start.
A separate realm with its own characters. If a character dies, it is gone. The exact rules for groups, duels and transfers are in the specification and will be fixed before the MVP.
Proper names and the game interface are English. German as a second game language is planned but not decided. This site exists in both languages.
