Emberhold

Emberhold is a free online action RPG you play in the browser, with no download and no account. A caped knight fights through a campaign of 30 short levels spread over three worlds: the torchlit Ember Halls, the flooded Sunken Crypt and the violet Amethyst Vault. A level is two to six rooms. Clear every room and the level is done, with up to three stars for how little damage you took.

Your fighter swings in the direction they are walking, so every attack is a small commitment: you stop backing off and face the thing you want to hit. With a mouse you can hold the button to walk toward the pointer and click an enemy to swing at it. Enemies are slower than you, so the fight is a rhythm of closing in, landing a swing while the cooldown allows it, and getting back out before two of them reach you at once. Getting touched costs health and leaves you briefly invulnerable, which is the window you use to walk out of a crowd.

The five weapons are behaviours, not damage numbers with different names. The Worn Blade cuts a wide arc in front of you. The Piercing Spear reaches much further but only along a narrow line. The Chain Rod jumps from its first target to an enemy outside your swing. The Warding Hammer knocks whatever it hits backwards. The Ember Dagger sets a target burning so the damage keeps coming after you walk away. Enemies drop weapons and walking over one equips it at once, and the weapon you finish a level with comes with you into the next one. When the last enemy of a room falls, the room stays open for a moment and nothing can hurt you: walk over to a weapon you want, and whatever you leave on the floor melts into embers that fly to you.

Each world teaches its enemies one at a time before it mixes them. Chasers just come at you. Chargers stop, wind up in plain sight and dash in a straight line, so you sidestep instead of fleeing. Spitters keep their distance and show their aim line before each shot, which is your cue to close in or put a pillar in the way. In the Crypt, broods split into two small ones when they die, and iron grates in the floor glow and then flare: stand clear, or lure enemies onto them and let the fire do the work. In the Vault, heavy sentinels slam a ring around themselves, and the Warden of Emberhold waits in the last level and calls for help as it weakens. Later rooms send a second and third wave, marked on the floor a moment before they walk in.

Health carries between the rooms of a level with only a small top-up, so a sloppy first room still costs you in the last one. If you fall, the level starts again from its first room. You keep every ember you picked up. Embers buy permanent boons at the Forge between levels: more starting health, a faster swing, richer weapon drops, a bigger heal between rooms, or Keepsake, which lets you keep your weapon when you fall. The Levels screen shows your stars for every level and lets you replay any you have opened. Progress is saved in your browser, and the game runs on desktop and phones.