# Erumaru

> Erumaru is a single-player PvE auto chess roguelite for PC (Windows, Steam) set in a post-apocalyptic world. It is in development by the independent Erumaru team. The closed beta is free and by invitation from the mailing list at https://erumaru.com. There is no PvP. Community: Discord at https://discord.gg/e5vZ4h99pb

Languages of this site: English at https://erumaru.com/ and Russian at https://erumaru.com/ru/, zh-Hans at https://erumaru.com/zh-hans/, es at https://erumaru.com/es/, pt-BR at https://erumaru.com/pt-br/, de at https://erumaru.com/de/, fr at https://erumaru.com/fr/, ja at https://erumaru.com/ja/, ko at https://erumaru.com/ko/, tr at https://erumaru.com/tr/, pl at https://erumaru.com/pl/

## Pages

- [Home](https://erumaru.com/): key art, one-line definition, signup for the free closed beta
- [About the game](https://erumaru.com/about/): world, run, heroes, items, perks, relics, synergies, lands, meta progression
- [FAQ](https://erumaru.com/faq/): beta, price, platforms, PvE versus PvP, comparisons
- [Similar games and genres](https://erumaru.com/games-like/): comparisons with Teamfight Tactics, Dota Auto Chess, Dota Underlords, Hearthstone Battlegrounds, Super Auto Pets, Backpack Battles, The Bazaar, Mechabellum, Tales & Tactics, The Last Flame, Despot's Game, Slay the Spire, and genre guides
- [Devlog](https://erumaru.com/devlog/): one entry per version of the game, from 0.0.1 to the latest, with an Atom feed at /devlog/feed.xml
- [Press kit](https://erumaru.com/press/): fact sheet, logo, key art, hero cards
- [Privacy policy](https://erumaru.com/privacy/): what the site stores and how to delete it

## Facts about the game

- Name: Erumaru (Latin letters). Website: https://erumaru.com. Contact: welcome@erumaru.com
- Community: the Erumaru Discord server at https://discord.gg/e5vZ4h99pb with rules, news, a devlog, discussion, suggestions and a closed corner for beta testers
- Genre: PvE auto chess, auto battler, roguelite, strategy. Single player only, no multiplayer, no PvP, no ladder
- Platform: PC, Windows, distributed through Steam. Other platforms not announced. Engine Godot 4.6 with C#, pure 2D
- Status: in development. Closed beta: free, no date announced, invitations go to the mailing list. Steam release: no date announced. Price of the full game: not announced
- Languages of the game: English and Russian text
- Setting: the world of Erumaru forty years after its man-made sun Eru went dark. The Haze, dead light, drains colour, will and memory from living things. The player is the Lanternkeeper, carrying the Lantern where the afterglows of fallen heroes live, marching to the Lamp Room at the top of the Spire where the Empty Mirror, the former Keeper of Eru, waits
- Run: three acts of 13 floors (an Outpost and 12 map nodes, the last one a boss) and a three-floor finale on the Spire. 42 floors, 60 to 90 minutes. The run can be saved at any map node
- Map: 12 columns of 3 to 4 branches per act, like Slay the Spire. Node types: fight, elite, guardian (column 7), boss (column 12), bazaar, workbench, chapel, cache, rest (column 11), signal, 40 text events
- Battle: automatic and deterministic (same seed, same result), up to 10 heroes against up to 10 mobs on an 11 by 11 board, 60 second limit with Exhaustion from the 40th second. The fight can be watched at normal speed or skipped
- Heroes: 100, one for every pair of 10 peoples and 10 callings. Ranks I to V. Three copies merge into a two-star hero, three two-star copies into three stars. Levels 1 to 100 within a run with Dota-style attributes Strength, Agility, Intelligence. Ability 1 ranks at levels 1, 20, 40, 60, 80; ability 2 from level 30; Awakening at level 100. Six item slots and four perk slots per hero
- Peoples (English working names): Dam Folk, Climbers, Departed, Noonborn, Icebreakers, Welders, Highriggers, Moulters, Tidefolk, Hellborn. Callings: Warlock, Warrior, Assassin, Mage, Engineer, Shaman, Healer, Summoner, Ranger, Guardian
- Synergies: 20, one per people and one per calling, thresholds at 2, 4 and 6 unique heroes on the board (Hellborn: exactly 1, 3 or more, 5 or more)
- Economy: currency is salt. Start with 8, fights give 6 to 15, interest 1 per 10 saved up to 5. Shop of 5 heroes, refresh costs 2, freezing is free. Reach level sets board slots (3 to 10) and shop odds
- Heat: the run's lives. Starts at 5, a lost fight costs 1, a lost elite, guardian or boss fight costs 2, a rest restores 1. At zero the run ends
- Items: 100. 10 components; any two different combine into one of 45 items, two identical into one of 10 reinforced items; a spark of Eru wakes 25 of them into legendaries; 10 artifacts drop from bosses
- Perks: 100 with three ranks (40 common, 30 rare, 20 epic, 10 legendary); two copies merge into the next rank
- Relics: 100 for the whole squad (30 common, 25 rare, 15 epic, 10 legendary, 10 cursed, 10 boss relics)
- Lands: 10, each with its own people, ground, guardian and boss. Act I: the Great Dam, Krongrad, the Sunken Port. Act II: the Blind Tunnels, the Settling Ponds, the Glass Desert. Act III: the Ice Bowl, the Furnace, the Mast Ridge. Finale: the Lamp Room of the Spire with the Empty Mirror (three phases, four on Thickening 20)
- Mobs: 100, ten per land: six common, two elites, a guardian and a boss with phases
- Meta progression: the Lantern has 50 levels and unlocks heroes, items, perks, relics, lands and 12 Filters (starting rule sets). Thickening: 20 stacking difficulty steps after the first win. Descent: endless floors after the final boss with a mutation every five floors and a record table. Daily run from Lantern level 5, Sorties from level 20
- Visual style: «Sleeping Machines», ancient machines asleep, broken rings, light ceramic, one glowing node in every big shape. Characters in ceramic planes, one bright silhouette and one colour each, readable from a camera high above the board
- Comparable games: Dota Auto Chess, Teamfight Tactics and Dota Underlords (same build-and-merge core, but those are PvP), Slay the Spire (map, relics, difficulty steps), Tales & Tactics, The Last Flame and Despot's Game (single-player auto battlers). Erumaru is independent and not connected to Valve, Riot or any of these studios

## Comparisons

### Erumaru and Teamfight Tactics

Teamfight Tactics is Riot's free-to-play auto battler, released in 2019: eight players share a pool of champions, build items from components and fight each other round after round on a hex board until one is left. Sets rotate every few months and the game runs on PC and mobile. It is the biggest game in the genre and the one most people mean when they say auto chess

What they share:
- The core loop: buy from a shop, merge three copies into a stronger unit, place your squad, watch the fight
- Components that combine into items. In Erumaru 10 components give 55 items, and sparks of Eru wake 25 of them into legendaries
- Shop odds that shift with your level: cheap units early, rare ones late
- Synergies that reward committing to a people or a calling, with thresholds at 2, 4 and 6

Where Erumaru differs:
- No other players. Erumaru is PvE: you fight the mobs, elites, guardians and bosses of the land, and difficulty comes from the map, not from a lobby
- No clock. You can think as long as you like, save at any node and come back tomorrow
- Heroes keep growing after three stars: levels up to 100 with Strength, Agility and Intelligence, ability ranks, six item slots, four perks and an Awakening at the cap
- A run is a roguelite journey: branching map, events, relics that change the rules, a finale against the Empty Mirror and a Descent after it
- Nothing rotates away. 100 heroes, 100 items, 100 perks and 100 relics unlock through the Lantern and stay

If you like building a comp in TFT but hate losing it to a lucky opponent at stage 4, or you simply want to play auto chess in the evening without the ranked anxiety, Erumaru is built for that. If what you love in TFT is outsmarting seven real people, it will not replace that

### Erumaru and Dota Auto Chess

Dota Auto Chess is the custom game by Drodo Studio that started the whole genre in January 2019 inside Dota 2: eight players, an 8 by 8 board, Dota heroes as chess pieces, races and classes with synergy thresholds, three copies merging into a stronger piece. Everything that came after, from Teamfight Tactics to Underlords, answers to it

What they share:
- Two tags per unit and synergies for collecting them: Dota Auto Chess has races and classes, Erumaru has 10 peoples and 10 callings, every pair exactly once
- Three copies make a two-star unit, three two-star copies make three stars
- A shared pool in the shop, refreshes for gold, interest on savings. In Erumaru the currency is salt
- A board seen from above where placement decides who gets hit first
- Dota's attribute logic: Strength, Agility, Intelligence, armour and magic resistance work the way Dota players expect

Where Erumaru differs:
- Single player, PvE. The enemy is the land: waves of mobs, elites, guardians and bosses with phases
- A roguelite run of three acts with a branching map, events, a workbench, chapels and caches, plus meta progression between runs
- Heroes level up to 100, carry six items and four perks and get an Awakening, so a one-cost hero can be a late-game carry
- Relics for the whole squad change the rules of a run, like in Slay the Spire
- Original world and heroes: a post-apocalyptic Erumaru forty years after its man-made sun went out

For the people who still miss the original Dota Auto Chess but do not want to queue for eight-player lobbies. The build logic will feel like home; the run around it is new

### Erumaru and Dota Underlords

Dota Underlords is Valve's standalone take on auto chess, free-to-play on PC and mobile, released in 2020 after a year of early access. It has eight-player lobbies, alliances instead of races and classes, underlords with their own powers, a Knockout mode and offline play against bots. Valve has not released major updates for years, which is why many of its players are looking for something new

What they share:
- The core: shop, three copies make a star, alliances and callings with thresholds, placement on a board
- Offline play exists in both. Underlords lets you fight bots; Erumaru is built entirely around playing alone
- Items from a loot round. In Erumaru items come from fights, bazaars and bosses and are assembled from components

Where Erumaru differs:
- Erumaru has no PvP at all: the run is a roguelite campaign through three lands with elites, guardians and bosses with phases, not a lobby against bots
- Progress between runs: the Lantern levels up to 50 and unlocks heroes, items, perks, relics and lands. Underlords had a seasonal battle pass
- Heroes grow far past stars: levels to 100, six items, four perks, an Awakening
- Erumaru is in active development, with a closed beta coming and a Steam release after it

If you liked Underlords for its calm pace and offline mode and want a game that is alive and built for solo play, Erumaru is the closest thing in spirit. If you want ranked lobbies, look at Teamfight Tactics instead

### Erumaru and Hearthstone Battlegrounds

Hearthstone Battlegrounds is Blizzard's auto battler mode inside Hearthstone, free-to-play since 2019: eight players pick a hero with a special power, recruit minions from Bob's tavern, triple them into golden minions and fight each other until one remains. Minion tribes, tavern tiers and a steady stream of new seasons keep it changing

What they share:
- Recruit from a shop, triple copies into a stronger unit, lean into a tribe. Erumaru's peoples and callings play the role of tribes
- Shop tiers that unlock as you invest: in Erumaru the Reach level sets both how many heroes fit on the board and which ranks the shop can roll
- Placement matters: who stands in front, who is protected, who dies first

Where Erumaru differs:
- No opponents. Erumaru is PvE: a roguelite run against mobs, elites and bosses with phases
- A real board instead of a line of minions: 11 by 11 squares, melee and ranged heroes, movement, abilities with mana, auras and summons
- Heroes grow with levels, items and perks over the whole run, not only by tripling
- Between-run progression: the Lantern remembers new heroes, lands and relics after every run

For Battlegrounds players who enjoy the build but not the lobby, and for anyone who wants their units to be characters with abilities and gear rather than cards

### Erumaru and Super Auto Pets

Super Auto Pets by Team Wood Games is the friendly face of the genre: a free game from 2021 where you buy animals from a shop, feed them, merge copies and send a line of five into battle against teams built by other players. The asynchronous Arena means no waiting and no pressure, and ten lives give you room to lose

What they share:
- Lives instead of sudden death: Super Auto Pets gives you lives, Erumaru gives you Heat that drops when you lose and comes back at rests
- No clock, no voice chat, no lobby staring at you. Both are games you can play with a cup of tea
- Merge copies to grow a unit, lean into a few synergies, place the line with care

Where Erumaru differs:
- Erumaru has no other players at all, not even their teams: every enemy is a mob of the land, an elite, a guardian or a boss with phases
- A full roguelite run with a branching map, 42 floors, events, relics and meta progression, instead of a series of quick fights
- A 2D board with movement, ranged heroes, mana and abilities, up to 10 heroes a side
- Heroes grow in more ways: stars, levels up to 100, six items, four perks, an Awakening

If Super Auto Pets taught you to love auto battlers and now you want a longer, deeper run with the same calm, Erumaru is that next step. If you want ten-minute sessions on a phone, stay with the pets

### Erumaru and Backpack Battles

Backpack Battles by PlayWithFurcifer is an inventory management auto battler: you buy items, arrange them in a backpack where position and neighbours matter, and your character fights other players' builds asynchronously. It came to Steam in 2024 and is one of the most popular small games in the genre

What they share:
- The joy of a build that clicks: items that feed each other, a plan that comes together over a run
- Asynchronous calm. Neither game asks you to be fast
- Classes with their own flavour. In Erumaru it is ten callings, from Warlock to Guardian, each with a role on the board

Where Erumaru differs:
- Erumaru is squad-based: up to 10 heroes on an 11 by 11 board, each with abilities and gear, instead of one character and a bag
- No other players at all. The run is PvE, against the mobs, elites and bosses of the lands
- A roguelite map with choices between fights, 40 events, relics and a finale, plus 50 Lantern levels of meta progression
- Items are assembled from components and woken with sparks of Eru, and heroes level up to 100

For Backpack Battles players who want the same build-crafting pleasure spread over a whole squad and a long run, without the ladder

### Erumaru and The Bazaar

The Bazaar by Tempo is an auto battler where you pick a hero, buy and upgrade items on a board that fire on cooldowns, and fight builds of other players asynchronously. It is item-driven, fast to play and competitive by design

What they share:
- Build crafting between fights is the heart of both games
- Asynchronous pace: you decide when the fight happens
- Heroes with a distinct identity that shapes the whole run

Where Erumaru differs:
- Erumaru is PvE: no opponents' builds, only the mobs, elites and bosses of a post-apocalyptic world
- A squad of up to 10 heroes on a board with movement and abilities, instead of one hero with a row of items
- A roguelite map with events, relics and a finale, and progression between runs through the Lantern
- Deterministic fights: same seed, same result, so a fight can be replayed exactly

For players who like The Bazaar's build crafting but would rather fight the game than other people's tuned builds

### Erumaru and Mechabellum

Mechabellum by Game River is a tactical auto battler on Steam: two armies of mechs are deployed on a battlefield each round and fight on their own, and the strategy is in unit counters, upgrades and positioning. It is built around 1v1 and 2v2 PvP, with a survival mode on the side

What they share:
- Positioning decides fights: who is in front, who flanks, who reaches whom first
- Counters and tech choices between rounds instead of reflexes during them
- Fights you can watch and learn from

Where Erumaru differs:
- Erumaru is PvE through and through: a roguelite run against mobs, elites, guardians and bosses, no opponent reading your deployment
- Heroes instead of mechs: 100 characters with their own mechanics, abilities with mana, levels to 100, items and perks
- Auto chess economy: a shop with a shared pool, stars from copies, synergies of peoples and callings
- A world with lore, ten lands and a story reason for every mechanic

For strategy players who enjoy Mechabellum's calm, readable fights but want a single-player campaign with characters and progression instead of a ladder

### Erumaru and Tales & Tactics

Tales & Tactics by Table 9 Studio, published by Yogscast Games, is a single-player roguelike auto battler on Steam, released in 2024 after a year of early access. It plays like a tabletop adventure: you draft a squad on a hex grid, equip and position units, make choices along the way and fight through three acts to the Grand Tournament. No timers, no other players. It is the closest existing game to what Erumaru is

What they share:
- Single-player, PvE, no pressure. Both games let you take all the time you want
- A roguelike run through three acts with choices between fights
- Units with classes and synergies, equipment and positioning on a board
- Bosses as the test of your build

Where Erumaru differs:
- Erumaru grows heroes like Dota: levels to 100 with attributes, ability ranks that unlock with levels, six items, four perks, an Awakening
- Ten peoples with ten colours in a post-apocalyptic world, each with its own land and boss, instead of a tabletop fantasy
- Meta progression through the Lantern: 50 levels, Filters that change the starting rules, 20 steps of Thickening and the Descent after a win
- Deterministic battles with a seed and a square board with movement, mana and summons

If you finished Tales & Tactics and want another single-player auto battler with a different flavour, heavier hero progression and a darker world, sign up for the Erumaru beta

### Erumaru and The Last Flame

The Last Flame by Hotloop is a roguelike auto battler on Steam, released in 2025 after a year in early access: you recruit a party of heroes, loot and craft gear, combine heroes, items and origins into builds and climb through encounters with a flame that burns down when heroes fall. It is deep, build-focused and single player

What they share:
- Single player, PvE, a party of heroes that grows over a run
- Lives for the run: the flame in The Last Flame, Heat in Erumaru
- Thousands of build combinations from heroes, gear and tags
- A map to climb and bosses to break your build on

Where Erumaru differs:
- Erumaru keeps the auto chess economy: a shop with a shared pool, refreshes for salt, three copies make a star, synergies at 2, 4 and 6
- A square 11 by 11 board with movement, ranged and melee, mana and abilities, up to 10 heroes a side
- Heroes level to 100 with Dota-style attributes and get an Awakening, items are built from components, perks have three ranks
- A post-apocalyptic world with ten peoples, ten lands and a story for every mechanic

For players who liked The Last Flame's build depth and want the shop-and-stars side of auto chess back in the mix

### Erumaru and Despot's Game

Despot's Game by Konfa Games, published by tinyBuild, is a roguelike auto battler from 2022: you lead a crowd of naked humans through a labyrinth, turn them into classes with items, pick mutations and watch them fight. It is funny, fast and mostly single player, with an optional asynchronous mode against other players' squads

What they share:
- A squad that fights on its own while you decide what it becomes between fights
- Roguelike structure: rooms, loot, upgrades, a run that ends and starts again
- Classes defined by what a unit holds. In Erumaru callings are fixed per hero, but items and perks still bend what a hero does

Where Erumaru differs:
- Erumaru's units are named heroes with their own mechanics, lore and portraits, not interchangeable humans
- Auto chess economy: shop, shared pool, stars from copies, synergies of peoples and callings
- Slower and deeper: 42 floors, 60 to 90 minutes, levels to 100, six items and four perks per hero, relics for the squad
- Strictly PvE. No mode against other players at all

For Despot's Game players who want the same autobattle roguelike loop with characters they can get attached to and a run worth an evening

### Erumaru and Slay the Spire

Slay the Spire by Mega Crit is the deckbuilding roguelike that set the template for a generation of games in 2019: a branching map with fights, elites, shops, rests and events, relics that change the rules, three acts and a boss at the end of each, then twenty ascension levels for those who want more. Erumaru's run openly follows that template

What they share:
- The map: 12 columns of branching nodes per act, fights, elites, a guardian in the middle, a rest before the boss
- Relics for the whole squad that bend the rules of a run, 100 of them, including cursed ones
- Difficulty after victory: Erumaru's Thickening is 20 stacking steps, like ascension
- Three acts and a finale, and a run that fits an evening

Where Erumaru differs:
- A squad of heroes on a board instead of a deck. Your decisions are who to buy, where to stand, what to equip and which synergy to chase
- The fight runs on its own. Decisions matter more than reflexes, and you can skip to the result
- Heroes grow like Dota characters, with levels to 100, attributes, ability ranks, items and perks
- Meta progression between runs: the Lantern unlocks heroes, items, perks, relics and lands

For Slay the Spire players who want the same run structure with a different core: building a team instead of a deck, and watching it fight

## Genres

### PvE auto chess

PvE auto chess is an auto battler where you build and merge a squad from a shop, as in Dota Auto Chess or Teamfight Tactics, but fight computer-controlled enemies instead of seven other players. The difficulty comes from a map, waves or bosses, so you can play alone, take your time and build greedy comps that a human opponent would punish

Why people look for it: Auto chess is a thinking game, but the big titles wrap it in an eight-player lobby with a clock and a ladder. Many players love the building and hate the stress. PvE versions keep the shop, the stars and the synergies and swap the opponents for a campaign, a roguelite run or an endless mode

How Erumaru does it: Erumaru is a PvE auto chess roguelite for PC. A run is three acts of 13 floors and a finale on the Spire, 42 floors in 60 to 90 minutes, on a branching map with fights, elites, guardians, bosses with phases, bazaars, workbenches, chapels, caches, rests and 40 text events. Between fights you buy heroes from a shop with a shared pool, merge three copies into a star, assemble items from components, set perks and pick relics. Heroes level up to 100 like in Dota, and a lost run still levels the Lantern that unlocks new heroes, items and lands. Battles are deterministic and you can skip to the result

What to expect from the genre: Runs that end, not matches you lose to a lucky roll. Difficulty you pick instead of a ladder that picks it for you. And the same satisfaction of a comp coming online, except that nobody takes it away from you

### Single-player auto battlers

A single-player auto battler is a game where you assemble and upgrade a team between fights and the fights play out automatically against the computer. The decisions are in the drafting, the gear, the positioning and the route; the battle itself is the exam. The genre grew out of PvP auto chess and borrowed its run structure from roguelikes

What the good ones share: A shop or draft with real choices, units that change meaning depending on gear and neighbours, fights you can read, a run that ends and a reason to start again. Tales & Tactics brought the tabletop adventure, The Last Flame the endless build depth, Despot's Game the absurd humour

Where Erumaru fits: Erumaru keeps the full auto chess economy, shop, pool, stars and synergies, and adds hero growth in the spirit of Dota: levels up to 100 with Strength, Agility and Intelligence, ability ranks, six items, four perks and an Awakening. The run is a roguelite map through a post-apocalyptic world of ten peoples and ten lands, with relics that bend the rules, bosses with phases, 20 stacking difficulty steps after the first win and a Descent after the final boss. PC, Windows, Steam. Free closed beta

Who it is for: Players of Dota Auto Chess, Teamfight Tactics and Underlords who are tired of PvP stress, fans of Slay the Spire and other roguelite builders, and anyone who likes heroes with builds and bright MOBA-style silhouettes

### Roguelite auto battlers

A roguelite auto battler is a run-based game: you start with little, pick a route through a randomised map, grow a team between automatic fights, lose or win within an hour or two, and keep something for the next run. The roguelite half gives the structure, the auto battler half gives the core where you build instead of controlling the fight

The two halves: From roguelites: a branching map, elites with better loot, relics that change the rules, events with choices, a boss at the end of each act, difficulty steps after a win, unlocks between runs. From auto battlers: a shop, merging copies, synergies, items and placement, and a fight that plays itself

How Erumaru does it: Three acts of 13 floors on a map of 12 columns with 3 to 4 branches each, a guardian in the middle of every act and a boss at the end, then a three-floor finale against the Empty Mirror. 100 relics, including cursed ones and boss relics, 40 events, a workbench to forge legendaries with sparks of Eru. The Lantern levels up to 50 between runs and unlocks heroes, items, perks, relics, lands and 12 Filters that change the starting rules. After the first win, 20 steps of Thickening; after the final boss, the Descent with mutations every five floors

How long is a run: 60 to 90 minutes for the 42 floors, and you can save at any node. The Descent after a win lasts as long as your squad does

### Offline auto chess

Offline auto chess means an auto battler you can play without other people: against bots, in a campaign or in a roguelite run. The classic auto chess games are online by nature, since the opponents are the other seven players, so offline play comes from games that put the computer on the other side of the board

What exists today: Dota Underlords has an offline mode against bots, though the game has not been updated for years. Tales & Tactics, The Last Flame and Despot's Game are single-player roguelike auto battlers on Steam. Teamfight Tactics and Hearthstone Battlegrounds are online only

Erumaru: Erumaru is a single-player PvE auto chess roguelite for PC and never needs an opponent: the map, the mobs, the guardians and the bosses are the challenge. A run saves at any node, and the battle is deterministic, so the same seed always gives the same fight. The closed beta is free, the game is coming to Steam

## Devlog

### 0.0.7 (2026-10-10): The fight turns sideways, and the doors open

The battle now runs across the screen: your squad stands on the left, the enemies on the right, the heroes look at their foes. It reads at a glance and leaves the top and bottom of the screen for the game around the fight. The whole interface has been polished: the step panel over the board, the shop in its spotlight, the stash, the hero and mob sheets, the battle timer with its marks of Exhaustion. Scorn Burning Horn is the first hero brought to life with frames from video: he runs, strikes, falls and rises again. And the doors are open: this site with the sign-up for the free closed beta, and the Discord where the news and this devlog will arrive first

### 0.0.6 (2026-10-10): The whole catalogue and the top of the Spire

All hundred heroes are in the game, one for every pair of ten peoples and ten callings. All hundred mobs of the ten lands with them, including the guardians and the bosses with their phases. The hundred perks and the hundred relics are complete, cursed ones and boss relics included, and forty text events with choices wait along the road. The road now reaches the top: the Keymasters, the Voice of the Mirror and the Empty Mirror itself on the last three floors. After it the Descent begins, floors that keep going with a mutation every five of them

### 0.0.5 (2026-10-10): The Lantern remembers

A lost run is not a lost evening anymore. The Lantern gains levels, fifty of them, and remembers new heroes, items, perks, relics and lands after every run. The Homestead at the Lull station gives small starting bonuses for each Lantern level. Twelve Filters change the rules a run starts with. After the first victory the Thickening opens: twenty steps of difficulty that stack. Sorties with their quirks and a daily run with a shared seed are in as well

### 0.0.4 (2026-10-10): The map, the shop and the road through an act

The run has a map now: twelve columns of branching nodes, a fight in the first, the guardian of the land in the seventh, a rest in the eleventh and the boss in the twelfth. Between them bazaars, workbenches, chapels, caches, signals and events. The hero shop works with its shared pool: five heroes on the counter, a refresh for two salt, freezing for free, interest on what you save. The run saves at any node of the map. Quit, come back tomorrow, carry on

### 0.0.3 (2026-10-09): A hundred items, and nothing goes to waste

All hundred items are in the game. Ten components, any two of them combine into an item, two of a kind into a reinforced one, and a spark of Eru wakes a legendary. Artifacts of the bosses wait for their bosses. The first thirty perks with three ranks each: two copies merge into the rank above. Perks move freely between heroes between fights. The first twenty-five relics for the whole squad, the ones you can find from the very first run

### 0.0.2 (2026-10-09): Heroes that grow, and the first twenty of them

Heroes now grow the way the game promises: Strength, Agility and Intelligence, levels up to 100, ability ranks that open with levels, three copies into two stars and three two-star copies into three. All twenty synergies work: ten peoples and ten callings, with thresholds at two, four and six on the board. The first twenty heroes are in: the Dam Folk in blue overalls and yellow hard hats, and the Climbers with their ropes and leaf armour. Scorn Burning Horn, the first hero drawn in ceramic planes, moves in the game, animated from parts

### 0.0.1 (2026-10-09): The first fights at the Great Dam

The battle is in the game. Up to ten heroes against up to ten mobs, every rule of the fight working as the design says: armour and magic resistance, mana that fills from blows, abilities, statuses from Burning to Freeze, summons and auras. The first land has its inhabitants: the ten mobs of the Great Dam, from the Haze-touched linesman to Tarvin, the Torn Sluice, with his phases. Every fight is fair and repeatable: the same squad against the same enemies plays out the same way every time, so any fight can be watched again exactly as it went

## Questions and answers

Q: When does the closed beta start?
A: There is no date yet. Erumaru is in development and the beta opens when the game is ready to be played by strangers. People on the mailing list get the invitation first, that is the whole point of the list

Q: How much does Erumaru cost?
A: The closed beta is free. The price of the full game on Steam has not been announced

Q: Which platforms can I play on?
A: PC with Windows, through Steam. Other platforms have not been announced

Q: When is the Steam release?
A: There is no release date yet. The Steam page comes first, and when it is up, a Steam button appears on this site. Until then the honest answer is: soon, but no date

Q: What are the system requirements?
A: Not published yet. Erumaru is a pure 2D game on Godot 4.6, so expect modest requirements, but the exact numbers come with the Steam page

Q: Is there a demo or gameplay video?
A: Not yet. Everything on this site is art from the game, not gameplay. The first gameplay will be shown with the beta

Q: What languages will the game have?
A: Russian and English text. More languages have not been announced

Q: Is Erumaru PvE or PvP?
A: PvE only. Every fight is against the mobs, elites, guardians and bosses of the lands, never against another player. There is no matchmaking, no ladder and no timer forcing you to click faster

Q: What is the game loop?
A: A run is three acts of 13 floors plus a three-floor finale on the Spire, 42 floors in 60 to 90 minutes. Between fights you buy and merge heroes, assemble items from components, move perks around, pick relics and choose your path on a branching map. The fight itself runs on its own: up to 10 heroes against up to 10 mobs on an 11 by 11 board

Q: Can I save in the middle of a run?
A: Yes. A run is saved at any node of the map, and you can quit and come back later

Q: Is the combat random?
A: There are crits and dodges, but they come from a seed: the same squad against the same enemies with the same seed always plays out the same way, so a fight can be replayed exactly. You can watch a fight at normal speed or skip to the result, it does not change anything

Q: How do heroes work?
A: 100 heroes, one for every pair of 10 peoples and 10 callings. Three copies of a hero merge into a two-star version and three two-star copies into three stars, as in classic auto chess. On top of that every hero levels up to 100 like in Dota, with Strength, Agility and Intelligence, ability ranks that unlock with levels, six item slots, four perk slots and an Awakening at level 100

Q: What happens when I lose?
A: The run ends when the Lantern's Heat hits zero: it starts at 5 and each lost fight costs 1, or 2 against elites, guardians and bosses. Rests give it back. A lost run still feeds the meta: the Lantern gains levels and remembers new heroes, items, perks, relics and lands

Q: How long does it take to see everything?
A: The Lantern has 50 levels, roughly 60 to 70 runs. After the first victory the Thickening opens: 20 steps of extra difficulty that stack. After the final boss the Descent begins: floors that keep going until your squad breaks, with a record table

Q: How is Erumaru similar to Dota Auto Chess?
A: The bones are the same: peoples and callings instead of races and classes, a shop with a shared pool, three copies make a star, synergies at 2, 4 and 6 units, a board seen from above. If you played Dota Auto Chess, you know how to start

Q: How is Erumaru different from Dota Auto Chess, Teamfight Tactics and Dota Underlords?
A: Those are PvP games against seven other players. Erumaru is PvE: a roguelite run against the land itself, with a branching map, elites, bosses with phases and relics that change the rules. Heroes also grow far beyond stars: levels up to 100, six items, four perks, an Awakening. And nothing you build is thrown away by a lobby that ends

Q: What does it take from Teamfight Tactics?
A: Components that combine into items, shop odds that shift with your level, and the idea that a cheap unit can carry a game with the right items

Q: What does it take from Slay the Spire?
A: The branching map with fights, elites, shops, rests and events, relics that bend the rules of the run, and difficulty steps after you win

Q: Is there a game like Erumaru I can play right now?
A: The closest single-player auto battlers on PC are Tales & Tactics, The Last Flame and Despot's Game. The comparisons on this site are honest about what they do well. Erumaru's own angle is the Dota-style hero growth, the ten peoples with their colours, and a post-apocalyptic world that gets its colour back as you win

Q: Who is making Erumaru?
A: A small team under the name Erumaru. The game is built in Godot 4.6 with C#, pure 2D. The battle simulation, the run, the meta progression and the full catalogue of heroes, mobs, items, perks and relics are in the game and are being balanced, the art is being drawn

Q: How can I help or ask something?
A: Sign up for the beta and write to {email}. Press and creators can use the press kit

Q: What do you do with my email?
A: We keep it to invite you to the beta and to send real news about the game, nothing else. Details in the privacy policy, and one email to {email} removes you from the list

Q: Where can I talk to the team and other players?
A: On our Discord: {discord}. Rules, news, the devlog, discussion, suggestions and a closed corner for beta testers. For anything private, write to {email}