Vagneria

Vagneria is a platform game with RPG, crafting, exploration and village-building elements. You complete missions for the village’s residents, gather resources, fight threats and help the village grow. You return there after completing or being defeated in a stage, and use its travel sign to reach locations unlocked through residents’ requests.

The village

The story begins with you arriving in Vagneria, where the Village Chief is its only resident. He gives you an axe and asks you to gather wood for new structures, then to find his brother, a blacksmith lost in the forest. After the blacksmith joins the village, the chief asks you to escort him to a nearby merchant and persuade the merchant to move there. As more residents arrive, neighboring tribes take notice, and the story shifts from village expansion to fighting the tribes that threaten its peace.

New residents build structures that support your adventure. At the furnace, you smelt collected ore into bars; at the anvil, you repair items; and at the market, a merchant sells goods.

Explore and survive

You travel to locations through the world map, which opens as you interact with residents and fulfill their requests. A stage usually begins at its entrance, and you return to the village through a door at the end or if you are killed. Reaching that door may not complete your mission: if you need to collect a certain amount of wood, for example, returning without enough means you must go back and try again. With some exceptions, stages are generated randomly, so revisiting a location changes its layout while retaining the biome’s plants and creatures.

Each biome has its own environment and challenges. The forest contains trees, herbs, mushrooms, spiders, beehives, bees, bulls, slimes and pigs, and is not particularly difficult to survive in. Caves offer stone to mine and contain bats and lizards; the jungle region called the “flodra” is home to the masked tribe. Deep caves are very dark and contain bioluminescent creatures, so you need a torch to see. In icy lands you face the cold and local creatures, while the ocean brings a sea journey and pirates. The volcanic zone presents hazards from lava, and there are other biomes as well.

Gather and fight

You collect food to avoid starvation, chop trees, mine stone and gather herbs for potions. An axe is used to chop trees and collect wood, a pickaxe to mine, and swords and other weapons to fight enemies. Weapons and equipment wear out, so you craft replacements and seek better ores for more durable and powerful gear. You can also craft better weapons and equipment as you progress.

Defeating monsters earns gold and experience, which let you level up and grow stronger. An energy bar enables the use of magical items. Shields block projectiles and help defend against attacks, while armor reduces damage. Wearing more armor increases your defense; a full set consists of a helmet, chestplate, pants and boots.

Defend the village

The Masked Tribe, Orc Tribe, Skeleton Tribe, Furry Tribe and Demon Tribe threaten Vagneria. You must defend the village from invasions or attack their territories to remove the danger. In certain stages, you receive notice that a tribe is preparing an assault and must go to the conflict point to defend the village.

Before an attack, you have time to prepare by recruiting workers, gathering troops and resources, and building palisades, walls, towers, barracks and traps. You control multiple workers and troops at once, aiming to stop the enemy from destroying the city center while eliminating the invaders.