Bramble Guard

From the Devs

EXPLORE LIKE AN ADVENTURE STRATEGY GAME. FIGHT LIKE A TACTICAL RPG. EXPECT THE RULES TO CHANGE.

Bramble Guard is a turn-based fantasy strategy RPG about heroes, armies, castles, exploration, and tactical battles that do not always play by the same rules.

Lead heroes across branching maps, uncover the fog, claim valuable locations, develop castles, recruit armies, discover treasures, and decide which road deserves today's limited movement.

What you discover matters. New routes, resources, heroes, units, equipment, locations and other entities steadily expand what becomes possible.

{IMAGE: HERO + WORLD MAP / MAIN GAMEPLAY BEAUTY SHOT}

Heroes lead your armies through a world of branching roads, dangerous regions and opportunities that frequently look safer from a distance.

Explore one move at a time. Claim mines and settlements. Open blocked routes. Visit shrines. Discover treasures. Strengthen castles. Meet factions, characters and creatures who may be helpful, hostile, or simply inconvenient.

The strategic map is not a menu between battles.

It is where much of Bramble Guard happens.

• Explore branching fantasy maps under fog of war.

• Lead heroes and their armies across the world.

• Claim mines, settlements and other valuable locations.

• Develop castles and strengthen important positions.

• Discover treasures, shrines, characters, events and new opportunities.

• Spend limited movement carefully.

King: Which road is safer?

Maelis: The one without a reward.

King: So, the other one.

{IMAGE: STRATEGIC MAP / HERO EXPLORATION}

Most encounters become turn-based tactical battles fought on a grid.

Heroes and units move, attack, defend, use abilities, control space and support one another. Equipment, formations, RPG progression and positioning can matter as much as raw strength.

But Bramble Guard does not force every encounter into the same rulebook.

Some battles are direct tactical clashes.

Some ask you to hold territory.

Some turn the usual objective around.

Some introduce entirely different battlefield rules.

• Fight grid-based, turn-based tactical battles.

• Command heroes and the armies travelling with them.

• Combine abilities, equipment, formations and unit roles.

• Face encounters with different objectives and battlefield rules.

• Adapt your strategy instead of repeating one solution forever.

Maelis: That is very bold.

King: You mean brilliant?

Maelis: I was being diplomatic.

{IMAGE: GRID-BASED TACTICAL BATTLE}

Some encounters shift into Bramble Guard's unusual take on tower defense.

But towers are not passive weapons on sticks.

They are places defenders come from.

Knights leave their towers and step into the lane to physically hold enemies in place. Archers support the line from behind. Spearmen buy precious space. Monks keep wounded defenders standing.

Your defensive line moves because your defenders do.

• Place towers to control space, not simply deal damage.

• Deploy physical defenders directly onto the battlefield.

• Reinforce heroes and armies with defensive infrastructure.

• Watch front lines move as units block, retreat, recover and return.

Sometimes the answer is another tower.

Sometimes it very much isn't.

King: Why is the tower leaving?

Maelis: The tower isn't.

King: Good. That would be expensive.

{IMAGE: TOWER DEFENSE / DEFENDERS LEAVING TOWERS}

An adventure does not exist in isolation.

Resources, discoveries, opened routes, claimed locations, castle development, heroes and armies steadily expand your possibilities.

But discoveries can have another life.

Eligible entities found during play can be transmuted into cards and added to your collection.

Heroes. Creatures. Equipment. Artefacts. Other discoveries.

The adventure becomes a source of new strategic possibilities.

• Discover entities while exploring and fighting.

• Transmute eligible discoveries into collectible cards.

• Experiment with new combinations and strategies.

• Grow your collection through normal play.

King: So anything can become a card?

Maelis: Almost anything.

King: My crown?

Maelis: Tempting.

{IMAGE: TRANSMUTATION / CARD COLLECTION}

The League connects competitive play back to the world you have been exploring.

Build from your collection, create strategies around your preferred heroes, faction and playstyle, and bring them into competitive matches.

Your adventures are not simply something you finish before multiplayer.

They are where your possibilities come from.

[h3]Explore the world.

Build your collection.

Take it into the League.[/h3]

King: Why am I below Maelis?

Maelis: Skill-based matchmaking.

King: Remove skill.

{IMAGE: LEAGUE / COMPETITIVE UI}

Bramble Guard's factions are more than visual themes.

Different factions bring their own heroes, armies, castles, abilities and approaches to exploration and battle.

Learning another faction means discovering another set of tools, synergies and strategic problems.

During Early Access, the available faction roster and campaign content will continue to expand toward the full game.

{IMAGE: FACTION / HERO / CASTLE MONTAGE}

There were ten Trees of Memory once.

Nine burned.

One remains.

The Heartwood is the last living Tree of Memory and the final refuge of an ancient order.

The corruption spreading from its roots was born from grief rather than simple evil.

Bramble Guard begins colorful, inviting and almost comfortable, then slowly lets something sadder creep between the branches.

One thorn at a time.

{IMAGE: HEARTWOOD / STORY ATMOSPHERE}

• Hero-driven fantasy adventure strategy across branching maps filled with castles, mines, shrines, settlements and discoveries.

• Turn-based tactical RPG combat built around grids, positioning, abilities, armies and hero progression.

• Multiple encounter formats with different objectives and battlefield rules.

• An unusual tower-defense system where towers deploy physical defenders directly onto the battlefield.

• Heroes, armies and castles that develop alongside your exploration of the world.

• Distinct factions with their own units, heroes, castles and strategic possibilities.

• Single-player and hot-seat play built around exploration, experimentation and replayability.

• Transmutation and card collection connecting discoveries from your adventures to the wider meta-game.

• Competitive League play built around the strategic options you have assembled.

• A colorful fantasy world with something considerably sadder growing underneath it.