Donkeywork GamesA turn-based fantasy roguelike · Windows & Linux
Coin & Contract:
Brackenmarch
Take contracts. Haul goods. Try not to die.
The Brackenmarch
A hundred and eighteen years ago, the Empire of Vael tried to cheat death, and lost.
In one night of white fire, its capital was gone. Where it stood there's now the Scar: miles of glass and silence, and things that don't make sense. Since that night, the dead don't always rest, magic takes its price from whoever uses it, and the Empire's pieces have spent a century fighting over its corpse.
The Brackenmarch was once a quiet imperial province. Now it's a borderland between an old, frightened king and the southern lords who broke away from him. It's too poor to tax, too far away to garrison, and too useful to burn, so the Crown leaves order to the Mercenaries' Guild, whose motto is the Open Hand: we take any coin.
You're not the chosen one. You're a sellsword with a short sword, a few coins and a cat, working the edges of a long war: the jobs nobody else wants, and the goods nobody else will haul.
"The King's levy came through in spring. Took the Harlow boys, both of them. Took the Harlow cart, too, which Old Harlow says he minds more. He doesn't."
Two ways to make a living
Take contracts
Clear dungeons, hunt named monsters, recover stolen goods and rescue captives for the Mercenaries' Guild. Climb its ranks for bigger, deadlier and better-paid jobs, and meet your deadlines, because the Guild remembers.
Be a travelling merchant
Five towns, each making and wanting different goods. Prices move with supply and demand, and you only know the prices you've seen or heard rumours of. Buy cheap, haul it, sell dear, and hope the bandits and the weather let you.
Screenshots
In the playtest now
- Turn-based, tile-based combat with melee, bows, crossbows and thrown weapons
- Five towns, each with its own Guild board, shops, inn and trade goods
- A world map with days of travel, hunger, fatigue, regional weather and road encounters
- A wagon and horses for hauling cargo, with upgrades and hired guards
- Guild ranks, deadlines, and five kinds of contract
- Character levels and stats
- Permadeath, and a high score list that remembers how each character died
- A cat. It follows you everywhere. It's never scared of the dead. Probably nothing.
Coming next
- Combat abilities: shield bashes, lunges, dodges, bleeding and stuns
- Magic that is wild and costly, and illegal without a licence
- Character backgrounds, and many ways to build a character
- Coins of different metals whose worth changes from town to town
- A world full of lore, gossip and things to read
Help shape the game
The playtest is free. Every bug report, idea and complaint makes the game better.
Art: Kenney (kenney.nl), Clint Bellanger, Shepardskin and markoxx2, all CC0. No AI-generated art or sound.