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Ashen Expedition: Tactics Engine

Read the intent. Shove them overboard.

Cards

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Pick a stop on the map. In a fight, play cards with reach, step along the lane, and let the tide turn when you are done.

An explorer with a lantern at the left end of a lane of five drifting islands in an ash-grey dusk, an ash crab and a cinder gull on their islands with attack intents above them, a lit powder keg and cards flying up from a satchel.

Drifting archipelago

Ashen Expedition: Tactics Engine

Read the intent. Shove them overboard.

About Ashen Expedition: Tactics Engine

Ashen Expedition: Tactics Engine is a solo deckbuilder set on an archipelago that will not hold still. The islands are slow grey rafts of ash and rock that drift west with the tide, and you lead the last expedition that means to chart them before they scatter. You start with a ten-card satchel, seventy-four health and three fuel a turn, and a map of eight stops that ends at the Drowned Cartographer.

Every fight is played on a lane of five islands. You stand on the left end; the foes stand on the right, and each shows what it will do next: a number and an arrow for an attack, a shield for a guard, a mark for a curse. Your cards have a reach. A cutlass bites only the island beside you, a harpoon three islands away, and a few cards do not hit at all: Drift Left and Drift Right move you one island for no fuel, Shove pushes a foe away from you, the Gaff hauls it in beside you, and a Powder Keg planted under a foe bursts, as your turn ends, over its island and the two next to it.

A foe that cannot reach you cannot hit you: its attack turns into a step toward you. So the lane is a puzzle of distance, and the tide makes it a moving one. When your turn ends the islands slide one place to the left and a new one drifts in; a reef gives 4 brace to whoever stands on it, a shoal bites whoever stands on it for 3, and the next island to arrive is shown before it does. Push a small foe off the end of the lane and it goes overboard; a Warden or a boss only takes a bruise.

Between fights you take a card or a relic, camp to mend or sharpen a card, or land on an island and make a choice with a price. Every run is a fresh archipelago from a seed, so the daily challenge gives everyone the same one. The game saves where you leave it, in this browser only.

How to play

  1. Pick a stop on the map. Each fight is played on a lane of five islands: you stand on the left end, the foes come from the right, and every foe shows its next move above its head.
  2. You have three fuel a turn and five cards in your satchel. A card with a reach hits only foes that many islands away, so step along the lane with Drift Left and Drift Right, or use a longer weapon.
  3. Shove pushes a foe away, a gaff hauls it in, and a powder keg planted under it bursts over its island and the two beside it as your turn ends. Push a small foe off the end of the lane and it goes overboard.
  4. When you let the tide turn, foes in reach hit you and the rest walk closer. The islands drift one place to the left: a reef gives 4 brace to whoever stands on it, a shoal bites for 3.
  5. Between fights take a card or a relic, camp to mend or sharpen a card, and meet what you find on landfall. Reach the Drowned Cartographer on the last floor and beat it to finish the run.

Controls

  • Play a card — Tap it, or press its number 1 to 9; then tap a foe, or press its number, when a target is asked for
  • Let the tide turn (end your turn) — The button, E, Ⓧ
  • Cancel a card you picked — Escape, Ⓑ
  • Choose a stop, a reward or an option — Tap it, or press 1 to 9; S skips a reward
  • Move between buttons — Arrow keys, Tab, D-pad; Space or Enter or Ⓐ presses
  • Pause — P, Escape or Start

Frequently asked questions

What does reach mean?

It is how many islands away a card or a foe can hit. Reach 1 is the island beside you, reach 3 is three islands along the lane. A card with no foe in its reach is dimmed, and its words say so.

Why did a foe not attack me?

It was out of reach. A foe that cannot hit you walks toward you instead, so the number of islands between you and it is what keeps you safe, for a turn.

What do the reef and the shoal do?

A reef gives 4 brace to whoever stands on it when the islands finish drifting, you or a foe. A shoal bites for 3 whoever ends the turn on it, past brace. The lane strip above your cards shows both, and the island arriving next.

How does a powder keg work?

Planted under a foe, it waits. When you let the tide turn it bursts for its damage on that island and the two beside it, past block, and it hurts you too if you are standing there.

Does it save my run?

Yes, in this browser only: the map, your deck, your relics and the fight you are in, lane included. Your unfinished run, best score and badges are never uploaded.

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