Tactics

Tactics is a top-down, 16×16 pixel turn-based roguelike about positions and timing.

There is no wall-clock and no attack animation to dodge: every creature — you and every monster — acts on one shared timeline measured in *beats*. You give a command, it resolves instantly, and it locks you out until your next ready moment. Fast actions let you act twice before a heavy enemy swings once. Read the timeline, act with intent, and make every beat count.

The fog rises one row at a time. Loot, levels and blessings all cost you beats — so greed has a price.

=== CORE FEATURES ===

• BEAT-BASED TIMELINE COMBAT

  Every action costs beats. Positioning and timing matter more than reflexes — standing still and trading blows will get you killed.

• FOUR WEAPON PATTERNS, NO MOUSE AIMING

  Dagger, great sword, spear and crossbow each attack in a fixed 4-direction pattern. Play the whole game on the keyboard.

• SMALL, SHARP BUILDS

  3 armor slots + 1 weapon, no inventory. Walk over loot to equip it. Level up with stat choices, and pick skills at level 3 and 5.

• STACKING BLESSINGS

  Blessings modify the rules instead of just adding numbers — and they stack, if you can make them fit together.

• ONE TREE-SHAPED MAP PER RUN

  A single branching map, one-way ascent, and a boss at the top. Move up or sideways — never back down. Missed branches are gone for good.

• A RISING DEATH FOG

  The fog climbs the map on a timer. Explore, farm, and spend — but the clock is always moving up.

=== WHAT'S IN THIS DEMO ===

• 2 playable characters — Warrior (melee bruiser) and Hunter (mobile ranged)

• 2 maps — Slime King's Court and Werewolf Forest（developing） — each with its own final boss

• Full run loop: fight, loot, level up, take blessings, kill the boss

• ~20–30 minutes per run

• English and Simplified Chinese (UI + content)

=== CONTROLS ===

WASD / Arrows   Move (attacks instead, if an enemy is in that direction)

Shift           Force move (never attack)

J               Attack nearest / in facing direction

Q / E / R       Skill slots

X               Reload (crossbow)

F               Interact

M               Open map

Ctrl            Hold for detail view (HP, next action time)

Esc             Pause / options

=== EARLY ACCESS NOTE ===

This is an early, work-in-progress demo. Some icons and monsters are still placeholders, the tutorial is unfinished, and there is no meta-progression yet. Numbers and balance will change.

I'm publishing it to find out whether the core idea — a shared-beat timeline where every step is a decision — actually feels good to play. If you try it, I'd love to hear what worked, what felt confusing, and where it got boring. Please leave a comment!

=== FEEDBACK ===

Comments here on itch are the best place. Bug reports are extra helpful if you mention your version number (shown on the main menu).

=== CREDITS ===

Music:

- "Pixel Cyber Forest Melody Loop" by orginaljun — CC BY 4.0 (https://freesound.org/people/orginaljun/sounds/535208/)

- "Boss Battle Loop" by kanaizo — CC0 (https://freesound.org/people/kanaizo/sounds/739177/)

=== SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS ===

OS: Windows 10 / 11 (64-bit)

GPU: DirectX 12 capable

Storage: ~500 MB