Emberwake

A first-person, retro pixel-3D adventure: explore the Wilds, clear nine dungeons, collect eight Ember Shards and unmake the Hollow King. 1–4 player co-op.

Play: open index.html in Chrome, Edge or Firefox, or play the hosted version on GitHub Pages.

Co-op

• Join code (internet): the host opens Menu → Invite Friends, which shows a 5-character code like K7QFM. Friends pick Join a Friend and type it, or click the invite link (…/#join-K7QFM).
• Same room: if the venue Wi-Fi won't connect you, put everyone on one phone hotspot and use the code as usual.
• When the host pauses (opens the menu or switches to another tab), the game pauses for everyone.

If some friends can't join ("could not connect")

Co-op connects computers straight to each other. Some networks (school, work, venue Wi-Fi, phone data) block that. The game also tries Metered's free public relay, which passes traffic along when a direct link is blocked, but it may not always be up. If a friend can't connect, try a phone hotspot. The pause menu shows DIRECT or RELAY for each player.

You can add your own relay later by putting a Metered app name and TURN API key into src/net/relay.js and rebuilding.

Beyond the main quest

Two mountain passes lead out of the Wilds. West is the Frozen Reach: slippery ice, frost imps and snow wolves, and Rimefang Hollow, home of the long-necked Frost Matriarch (treasure: Frost Arrows, which freeze what they hit). East is the Cinder Wastes: lava, vents that blow on a rhythm, and the Cinder Caldera with the Fire Patriarch (treasure: Magma Boots). Each dragon leaves a relic, the Frost Fang and the Ember Heart. With both, the sealed gate on the edge of the great wood opens to the Hearth, where the three-headed Hearthwyrm guards the Dawnblade.

Controls

WASD move · mouse look (click to lock, or hold a button and drag) · click/Space attack (Space dashes for the martial artist) · right-click/E item: hold for power (the bow fires on release; with the Loaded Shot scroll, holding nocks a second arrow), Shift + item for its technique · Q/R/wheel switch item · I inventory (pick any sword, tunic or arrow you've earned) · hold F next to a fallen friend to help them up · M map · Esc menu. Gamepads work too (LB held = Shift).

Debug mode

Only for heroes named MITCH or LOGAN (the list is DEV_NAMES in src/core/util.js). With one of those names:

• Title screen → DEBUG sets a starting loadout (sword, tunic, hearts, items, shards), a start location and god mode.
• Pause menu → DEBUG: ON/OFF switches it mid-game. While it's on you get warp buttons and a Warp Stone B-item that hops between dungeons.

Any other name has no debug at all.

Working on the game

node tools/check.js     # validate content + headless tests (add --full for 300 worlds)
python build.py         # rebuild index.html from src/

See all the art and animations: docs/art.

New enemies, items, elites, sprites and animations are one file each. Start with docs/ADDING_CONTENT.md and the copy-paste files in docs/templates/.

Folder	What's in it
src/content/	All game content: enemies, items, elites, projectiles, drops, dungeons, caves, art
src/engine/	Drawing, textures, sound, input
src/game/	World generation and the game rules
src/net/, src/ui/	Co-op networking; menus and the client loop
src/core/	Shared helpers and the content registry
tools/check.js	The automated checks
tools/export_art.js, docs/art/	Animated GIF gallery of every sprite and animation
vendor/	PeerJS