About Sword Quest
Why the arena is round
Creatures arrive from the edge, which means the middle is the one place they can reach you from every direction at once. Standing there always loses eventually.
Moving along the rim makes a crowd string out into a line: they arrive one at a time in the order they started, which is exactly the fight you want. That technique is worth more than any amount of attack speed, and it is the single most useful thing to learn in the whole category.
The arena is drawn with concentric rings for the same reason - they make your distance from the edge legible at a glance while you are busy watching something else.
Guard, parry and the cost of holding it
A raised guard stops attacks from in front of you and costs stamina every time it absorbs something. It also slows you to under half speed, so holding it permanently is not a strategy.
A parry is a guard raised inside a short window as the attack arrives rather than one that was already up. It costs no stamina, staggers the attacker and pays 120 points at full quality. The difference between blocking and parrying is entirely when you press, not how long you hold.
The practical consequence is that guarding is a tool for the moment an attack is arriving, not a state you live in. Players who turtle here run out of stamina and then out of health.
Waves, breathers and what arrives when
Waves are built by the shared composer. Goblins from the first, bats from the second, slimes from the third, wraiths from the fifth, dragonlings from the sixth, golems from the seventh - and a wave never opens with a creature you have not met.
Every fourth wave is a breather: smaller, with treasure scattered on the floor. A difficulty curve that only rises reads as a wall, and players stop at walls. A staircase with landings is the same total challenge, arranged so it can be beaten.
Creatures arrive on a spell circle with a visible delay rather than appearing, so nothing ever materialises on top of you. Every third wave cleared restores a heart.
How to play
- Press Space, Enter or tap to enter the arena.
- Move with WASD or the arrows; drag on a phone. Your aim follows your movement.
- Press Space to swing, K for a heavier swing that costs more stamina.
- Hold Shift to guard. Raise it as an attack arrives for a parry.
- Press Z to roll - briefly invulnerable, and it travels through creatures.
- Clear every creature to end the wave. Every fourth wave is a breather with treasure.
Controls
| Where | What to do |
|---|---|
| Keyboard - move | WASD or the arrow keys |
| Keyboard - light swing | Space or J |
| Keyboard - heavy swing | K |
| Keyboard - guard / parry | Shift (hold to block, press as it lands to parry) |
| Keyboard - roll | Z |
| Touch - move / swing | Drag to move, tap near the knight to swing |
| Touch - guard and dodge | Buttons below the canvas |
Scoring
These are the point values this game awards, before the combo multiplier is applied where it uses one. Hit quality changes the figure: a strike at the centre of the correct moment is worth substantially more than one at the edge of it.
Tips
- Circle the rim of the arena. A crowd chasing you round a circle arrives in single file.
- Swing when something is in reach, not when you see it move. Movement is its wind-up.
- A parry is a guard pressed as the attack lands. Holding the guard early is only a block.
- Kill the dragonlings first - they are what stops you dealing with anything else.
- Leave slimes if you cannot finish both halves. A dead slime is two live ones.
- Keep a point of stamina in reserve so a roll is always available.
Common mistakes
- Fighting in the middle of the arena, which is the only place you can be surrounded from all sides.
- Holding the guard permanently, which halves your speed and drains stamina.
- Committing to a golem while three faster things are still alive.
- Emptying the stamina bar on a flurry that misses.
- Attacking on reflex during an enemy's wind-up, which lines your recovery up with its blade.
Features
- The shared three-phase attack system with guard, parry, roll and stamina.
- A round arena that makes rim-circling a real and teachable technique.
- Waves composed so nothing arrives before it has been introduced.
- A breather wave every fourth, with treasure, to keep the curve a staircase.
- Creatures that arrive on a visible spell circle rather than appearing.
- Personal best score, wave reached and creatures defeated stored locally.
