Stelewarden · 神之墓地 · original 3D hero-defense RPG

Hold the stele. Grow a legend. Right in your browser.

Every 90 seconds the Blight pours down the north road to break the last stele standing. Between raids you're free to roam an open world of eight regions — hunt camps and bosses, chase hidden quests, forge gear and climb three realms — then race home before the horde arrives. Pick one of 16 heroes, play solo or with a friend, and play it in any modern browser with nothing to install.

Play free now See the game

16Heroes, each with four skills and a passive

8Regions, from level 1 to 65, plus 8 bosses

240Enemies on screen at 60 FPS in our horde test

90 sBetween raids — every round is a decision

stelewarden.vber-ai.com

Stelewarden hero select: 16 heroes, the glowing stele and the hero standing on the home rune platform at dusk

01 Why it exists

A love letter to the custom hero-defense maps of the 2000s — rebuilt from scratch, with all-original heroes, art and story.

Defense and adventure in one

Classic hero defense gives you one lane and a timer. Here the timer is a choice: farm the far regions for gear, or hold the line at home.

Console-feel combat, zero install

Hit-stop, crits, slash arcs, sparks, chain lightning and screen shake — the kind of feedback you expect from a downloaded game, in a browser tab.

Built end-to-end with AI

Design, code, balance testing and every in-game model were built with AI pair-programming — a showcase of what a one-person studio can ship.

02 Features

Real screenshots from the running game.

A Blight raid of 85 enemies crashing into the hero on the north road

Blight raids

Hordes that actually feel like hordes

A raid every 90 seconds, up to 240 enemies at once

What it does — the Blight streams from its portal toward the stele in ever-bigger waves, with elites and a boss every tenth raid. A colour-coded countdown under the top bar tells you exactly how long you have to farm, shop or recall home.

Instanced rendering keeps 240 animated enemies at 60 FPS (choose a 60 or 120 FPS cap)
The stele cracks and glows orange as it weakens — reinforce it in five tiers
Hit-stop, critical hits, slash arcs, sparks, death bursts and damage numbers
Combo counter and multi-kill streaks for mowing through a wave

Fighting named Steppe Wolves and skeletons in Sunfall Steppe with the zoomed minimap

Open world

Eight regions worth leaving home for

Level 1 to 65, day and night, blood moons

What it does — from Whisperwood and Rotmire to Dragonspine Ridge and the Starfall Abyss, each region has its own monsters, materials and dangers. Every monster shows its level and type, and the minimap names each zone and points to your next objective.

21 enemy types with elite affixes — Swift, Tough, Volatile and Frost
A day–night cycle: nights hit harder and pay more; a blood moon rises every six minutes
A training ground, a wild zone and the Abyss Trials for endgame runs
Three story chapters, three realms to ascend, and four hidden quests to discover

Skylance fighting the Rimebone Drake, a winged frost dragon boss

Bosses

Eight bosses with real mechanics

From the Rotmire Warden to the Lord of the Fallen Stars

What it does — world bosses guard each chapter, raid bosses join the Blight, and each one telegraphs its big attacks — shockwaves, enrage phases and summons — so you learn to read the fight rather than just out-stat it.

Warning wind-ups in orange so every attack is readable, even for colour-blind players
Rimebone Drake, Frost Sovereign, Infernal Lord, Boneguard, Grave Sovereign and more
Boss bars, named intros and a loot imp worth chasing
Four difficulties, from Easy to Hell

03 Sixteen heroes, sixteen playstyles

Strength, Agility or Intelligence — every hero has four skills to level, a passive, and gear and talents that change how they play.

Hero	Role
Frostedge Rin	Melee · Burst	Fast, high-damage duellist
Starstring Yu	Ranged · Kiting	Wins by never being caught
Oathbound Yao	Melee · Tank & Heal	Holds the stairs and heals through it
Boneoath Shang	Melee · Summoner	Fights alongside an army of the dead
Frostweave Ji	Ranged · Freeze control	Locks whole waves in place
The Formless	Special growth · Shapeshifter	Changes form as it ascends the realms
… and 8 more	Mages, assassins, tanks, healers	Every role in the genre covered
Skylance & Soul Devourer	Sponsor heroes	Chain lightning and soul-eating growth

Every hero can also run on AUTO — the built-in autopilot fights, shops, learns skills and recalls home for raids while you watch or take over at any time.

04 Everything included

Free, in your browser, with nothing to install — the whole game is about a 600 KB download.

Heroes

14 free heroes plus 2 sponsor heroes, each with its own model and skill effects.

Items

Weapons, armour and artifacts with quality tiers, affixes, enhancing and reforging.

Talents

Talent picks and a skill hall that let one hero play several ways.

Chapters & realms

A main story told by the Stele Keeper, with three realms to ascend.

Modes

Adventure (open world and story) or classic Defense waves.

AUTO

Autopilot

Let the hero play itself, at 1× or 2× speed.

Online co-op

Play with a friend over a direct peer-to-peer link — no account, no game server (beta).

Two languages

Full English and Chinese, keyboard or classic RTS mouse controls, rebindable keys.

05 Sponsor heroes

The game is free. Sponsors keep it growing — and get something special back.

×2

Unlock both hidden heroes · US$2.99

Skylance, a storm lancer whose every fourth strike chains lightning, and Soul Devourer, who grows stronger with every soul. One code unlocks both.

★

Design a hero for everyone · US$16.99

Name it, choose its fantasy and shape its skills with the developer. Your hero ships for all players, credited to you.

✓

Simple and private

Pay on Ko-fi and get a code by email. Codes are cryptographically signed and checked offline — no account needed.

06 FAQ

Is it free?

Yes. Open the page and play — no download and no account. Only the two sponsor heroes are paid, and they're optional.

What do I need to run it?

Any modern desktop browser with WebGL — Chrome, Edge, Safari or Firefox. A laptop with integrated graphics is enough; it holds 60 FPS with 200+ enemies in our tests.

Is it a copy of an existing game?

No. It's inspired by the classic custom hero-defense maps of the 2000s, but every hero, enemy, region, model and line of story is original.

Can I play with friends?

Yes, two players in online co-op (beta). The host creates a room and sends an invite code; the friend joins and controls their own hero. Co-op always runs at 1× speed so it stays fair.

Does my progress save?

Yes. The game auto-saves at the start of every raid, and you can export a save file to move it to another computer.

Does it work on a phone?

It's designed for a keyboard or mouse, so a desktop or laptop browser is the best way to play.

The Blight attacks in 90 seconds.

Pick a hero and see how many raids you can hold.

Play Stelewarden → Talk about a game project