If you like
Ultima Online
The freedom you remember.
- Skills that grow by use, no classes
- One shared world, full loot on bodies
- Fame, karma, red names and town guards
- Guildstones, secure trades, a bank vault
An online fantasy RPG · Free to play
A world to make
your own.
The freedom of an old-school online RPG, in one world
you play at your desk and carry on in your pocket.
Join the iOS betaiPhone and iPad · free · TestFlightPlay on PC in your browser
Free to play · No pay to win iOS Beta open Android Next Windows Mac
Your story starts hereSunford · Concept artwork
- Free to play, always
- No pay to win
- iOS beta open now
- Android, Windows & Mac to come
- Play at home, continue on the go
- One continuous world
- A world that keeps growing
- Sixteen skills, no classes
- Eighteen spells
- Eight metals to forge
- Guilds & guildstones
- Parties & voice
- Day and night for everyone
- The Notice Board
- Two orders: Virtue & Vice
Real gameplay · no paintings here
One hero on horseback, one continuous world: from Sunford’s streets through forest, snow and desert to the elven and desert cities, then down into the dungeons to face their bosses, with real monsters, spells and the game’s own screen.
In-game footage
A world that keeps growing
Varrowen is never finished.
New lands, dungeons, monsters, quests and crafts keep arriving with updates, and the map you know today will have more edges to push tomorrow. Much of what you see in this video arrived in the last few weeks.
Recently arrived
- Ardmere, an island of six lands
- The Grimbough and the port of Brinewick
- The Sunford Sewers
- Fallen stars to mine
- Eight metals and plate armour
- Guilds and guildstones
- Runebooks, Mark and Recall
- Bank vaults
The legend / The Night of Ash
Every newcomer dreams
the same dream.
Two hundred years ago, a village slept beneath a white tower.
Then the sky turned red, and fire began to fall.
In the tower, someone reached for the clock…
…and the hour stopped.
You have dreamt it every night since you can remember. Tonight, you wake.
01 / Straight into the adventure
Choose a name. Make a character.
Then wake in the Hall of First Steps.
No class to lock in, no starting stats to solve. Six rooms teach you to fight, cast, heal and loot by doing it, with real dummies, real rats and gold for every lesson learned. Then the gate opens onto Sunford.
01 Make your character02 Learn in the Hall03 Find your own way
02 / If you loved…
Steel Shall Speak is built for players who miss a world that doesn’t hold their hand: old-school online freedom, deep dungeons, and the urge to see what is over the next hill.
If you like
Diablo
Down, and further down.
- Dungeons up to five levels deep
- Bosses that enrage, breathe fire, rewind time
- Every kill rolls its own loot
- Worn salvaged gear and rare metal drops
If you like
No Man’s Sky
Always one more horizon.
- An island of six lands, eight passes
- Fallen stars to find and mine
- Ores, herbs, timber and fish to gather
- Forge, carve and brew what you find
If you like
Any RPG worth the name
A story under the map.
- A legend told floor by floor, echo by echo
- Quests, daily tasks, a Hunt of the Day
- Parties of eight with voice chat
- Two orders, Virtue and Vice, to swear to
Names of other games are used only to compare. Steel Shall Speak is an independent game, not affiliated with them.
A promise
Free, on every platform
Download it, make a character and play the whole world without paying, on phone or computer.
Power is earned, not bought
Nothing that makes you stronger is for sale. Skills, gear, gold and metals come from playing, for everyone alike.
The best blade wins
Whoever beats you did it with practice, a plan and their friends, never with a wallet.
03 / One world, every screen
There is only one Varrowen. Play it on a computer at home and pick it up on your phone on the way out: the same character, the same world, exactly where you left them.
- 01 · At your desk
A big screen, mouse and keys or a gamepad. Clear a dungeon level with your party.
- 02 · Step away
Log out. Your character is saved where they stand, with their bag, gold, skills and quests.
- 03 · On the go
Open the game on your phone, sign in, and carry on from the same spot, in the same world, with the same people.
04 / How it plays
Real rules, the same for everyone, on every device. Learn them in the Hall of First Steps, then live with them out in the world.
- 01
War and Peace
In Peace you talk, trade and travel. Switch to War and your taps become attacks. Being struck puts you in War, so a fight always finds you ready.
- 02
Spells must see
Eighteen spells, each with mana and reagents. The target must be in sight when you start casting and when the spell lands: duck behind a pillar and a bolt fizzles.
- 03
Skills grow by use
Every swing, cast, bandage and parry is a chance to improve, even the misses. Fast at first, slow near a hundred. You are what you practise.
- 04
Death has weight
Fall and everything you carried stays on your body. Rise as a ghost at a shrine, walk back, and hope no one looted it first.
- 05
Gather, then make
Mine veins, fell trees, pick herbs, cast a line. Smelt and forge at the anvil, carve at the bench, brew at the alchemy table. Tools and blades wear out; smiths mend them.
- 06
Hide and seek
Hide in plain sight and walk slowly to stay unseen; run and you are revealed. Others can search for you, and some notice you on their own.
- 07
Others are real
A shared world, not a lobby. Strike an innocent and your name turns grey; kill enough of them and it turns red. Inside the walls, the guards are watching.
- 08
One sky, one clock
Day and night pass for everyone at once. Some creatures only walk after dark. Every result is decided by the server, never by your device.
05 / Your hands. Your choices.
Sixteen skills, each grown by use from the first swing. Easy at the start, very hard near a hundred.
Arms
The way of arms
Close the distance. Hold your ground.
Fight with a blade or a bow, bind wounds, raise a shield, speak the words of power. Eighteen spells, from Firebolt to Burst Flame, each needing mana, reagents and a clear line of sight.
- Melee
- Marksmanship
- Magery
- Healing
- Parrying
16Skills, no classes
18Spells in the book
8Metals to forge
19Dungeon levels to descend
06 / Beyond the next horizon
Cities, wild country, an island of six lands and dungeons that go down for miles: one continuous world. Walk the roads, descend the stairs or step through a gate. Every journey leads somewhere.
05 / 06
Sunford
The first city: a walled market town on the river, where every newcomer arrives.
01
Your first horizon
Sunford & the Vale
Find your footing in the meadows outside Sunford. Follow the river to Stillglass Lake, then into Wolfwood, Redcap Camp and the walls of Fort Hollin.
A gentle beginning. Wilder roads ahead.02
A long and dangerous forest
The Grimbough
Three kilometres of wood south of the Vale: the village of Fernhallow, a drowned hamlet, a burning giant oak, and at the end of the road the harbour town of Brinewick.
Keep to the road. Mostly.03
The first island
Ardmere
An island the size of a country round the older lands: copper hills, a snowbound fjord, barrow heath, an ancient forest, a salt pan and river farmland, with five towns of their own.
Six lands. Eight passes. Polar bears.04
The road through the mountain
Hammerholt
Pass through Kingsfoot and the Gate of Kings. Cross the Lowmarrow to reach a dwarf city of forges, carved halls and the Heartstone.
The road is earned. There is no shortcut in.05
At the end of the Lantern Road
Aurendel
A valley city of terraces and waterfalls, a sanctuary where the Order of Virtue keeps its temple. Somewhere behind the cliffs, a hidden grove.
Climb the pilgrims’ road to see it.06
Three levels below
The Crypt
Beneath Sunford’s church, the Mourning Vaults give way to the Ossuary. Take the stairs deeper, if you dare: Hackwell waits in his Larder.
Rats, ghouls, wraiths — and worse.07
Five descents into fire
The Ashfathom
Sulfur galleries, an ashen temple and a burning river lead to Pyrrhax’s Caldera. The Cinder Wyrm guards the end of the descent.
Watch the ground. Watch the dragon’s breath.08
Five floors caught in time
The Stillhour Spire
At the Vale’s western edge, a white tower holds the last moments of the Night of Ash. Climb through frozen halls, unwritten hours and sandfall vaults.
Hear the echoes. Watch where the hour takes you.09
A moment of peace
The Haven
An island sanctuary reached through portals. Meet your party, catch your breath and choose the next road. Here, no one can harm another.
A shared refuge in a dangerous world.
From the depths / The Crypt
Hackwell the Flesher
Three levels beneath Sunford’s church, the stairs end at his Larder. Ghouls and wraiths are only the beginning. Wound him, and his rage makes the next exchange even more dangerous.
Bring a plan. Bring a party.
Make sure someone is watching your back.
An early dungeon boss · Concept artwork
At the end of the descent / The Ashfathom
Pyrrhax the Cinder Wyrm
Beyond the sulfur galleries, the ashen temple and the burning river lies a lake of lava. At its heart, a red wyrm guards an island of gold.
Watch for the windup. Step out of his fire breath before it lands. Wound him enough, and the Cinder Wyrm’s fury only grows.
Pyrrhax’s Caldera · Concept artwork
Above the frozen hour / The Stillhour Spire
Ilsabet Vane
The astronomer who stopped the hour to catch a dragon’s fire is still up there. To keep that night still, she takes hours from the living.
Climb five floors past frozen petitioners, a library of unwritten hours and the Sandfall Vaults. At the Orrery Crown, remember where you stood: her Rewind can send you back there.
The Orrery Crown · Concept artwork
07 / A world that remembers
Everything you carry was found, forged or fought for. Everything you do, someone will hear about.
Forge it in any metal
Eight metals from iron to welkinite. Plate armour takes the colour of the ore it was forged from — and gleedite glows.
The crafting guideRaise a guildstone
Found a guild, set its stone where you stand, wear its tag beside your name. Guild chat and guild voice reach every member, anywhere.
Work the Notice Board
Quests from the people of every town, three new tasks on Sunford’s board each day, and a Hunt of the Day worth twice the loot.
Light or the Hollow
Two orders, Virtue and Vice. Swear by walking through a temple’s portal. Step through the wrong one and you won’t walk out.
Your name tells the tale
Fame and karma earn titles. Strike an innocent and your name turns grey; kill enough of them and it turns red, and the town guards will come for you.
Young and protected
For your first ten hours no other player can harm you, and only you can loot your body.
Never alone
08 / Friends, clans and rivals
Every other hero you meet is a real person. Some will become the friends you log in for every night; some will be the reason you never travel alone.
Gather your people, raise a guild and put its stone where everyone can see it. Then go out and make a name, together.
Bring all your friends
Party up with as many as eight. Party chat and voice reach every member wherever they are, on a phone or a computer. Share the kill, share the loot, trade face to face in a window both sides must accept, and meet in the Haven when the fighting is done.
Build a clan
Found a guild, write its charter and raise its guildstone where everyone can see it. Your tag rides beside every member’s name; officers recruit, guild chat and guild voice reach everyone online, anywhere in the world.
On the forge Alliances between guilds, and guild wars.
Make real enemies
Outside the town walls, the other heroes can strike too. Fall and anyone can loot your body. Prey on the innocent and your name turns grey, then red, and the guards cut murderers down on sight. Two orders, Virtue and Vice, guard portals that kill the other side’s faithful.
09 / Before you set out
Start small. The realm will still be there when you’re ready to go further.
No. Steel Shall Speak is free to play, always, and it will never be pay to win: nothing that makes a character stronger is for sale. Skills, gear and gold are earned in the world, the same way for everyone.
10 / Phone or computer
Play it today on iPhone and iPad through the free TestFlight beta.
Android is next; Windows and Mac are in development. One account, one world, whichever screen you pick up.
Join the iOS betaiPhone and iPad · free · TestFlight
AndroidPhones & tabletsComing soon · Free
WindowsMouse, keys or gamepadComing soon · Free
MacMouse, keys or gamepadComing soon · Free
iOS beta open · PCs in the browser · Android next · Windows and Mac apps in development. Store links will appear here as each one goes live.