News

What has changed in the realm, newest first.

A new front page, and the game at /play

13 October 2026 · version 0.142

The realm has a new front page that tells newcomers what the game is, with pictures from the game itself, the latest news and a big Play now button.
The game itself now lives at taleofsevencrowns.com/play. Old bookmarks still work: they lead to the front page, and Play now takes you in.
A map of the world, drawn from the game's own land in the style of an old parchment map: the Saltmarch and Aldmere, their regions, towns, villages and landmarks, each with a page of its own, and a short telling of the story of the seven crowns.
A player's guide: getting started, how fighting works, what death costs and what the bank keeps, how ore becomes a sword, a tree a bow and a fish a supper, and how trading goes.

13 October 2026 · version 0.141

The Knocking Well: finding Oskar's torn journal, his rope or his key now also says so in the chat.

13 October 2026 · version 0.140

Axes look more like axes in hand: the woodcutter's axe has a curved wooden haft with a knob at its end, a bearded blade with a bright honed edge, and a hammer-faced back.
The battle axe is longer, with a leather-wound grip, iron straps down the haft, two broad crescent blades and a spike on top, so it is easy to tell from a woodcutter's axe.

13 October 2026 · version 0.139

A lamp now lights the machine while you work its panel or mend it, so the levers, gauges and parts are easy to see in the dark of the cave.
On a phone held upright, Oskar's desk is seen from straight above and close up, so the torn pages are big enough to read. Drag the desk sideways to look along it; a page carried to the edge of the screen takes the view with it.

13 October 2026 · version 0.138

The Knocking Well: the old engine's levers are now worked right there at the engine. The view leans in to its panel, and you take each heavy iron lever with the mouse or a finger and drag it up or down (or tap it). A pressure gauge, a flow gauge and a water glass answer every pull, so you can see what each lever does.
Pull them in the wrong order and the engine lets out its steam: the panel shuts, the steam scalds you for 1 hitpoint (never your last), and the levers fall back. Get it right and you will hear the engine wake.
Mending the engine is done at its opened side: the parts you carry lie on a tray, and you drag each one to where it belongs. The tooth must be turned to match the key in the wheel's gap (tap it to turn it), and the wire is stretched from one stud to the other. A crank tries the great wheel and shows what is still missing.
Oskar's torn journal is mended on a desk under a lantern: drag the torn pages about, tap one to turn it round, and hold one still to lift it and read it. Edges torn from each other snap together when they meet, and once the page is whole you can read all of it.

13 October 2026 · version 0.137

People and creatures are easier to click: a click between their arms and legs, or just beside them, now means them and no longer the tile behind.
The same for chests, crates, barrels, anvils and other low things: a click just above or beside one picks it.
Fixed: reloading the game page yourself no longer says that your browser was short of memory.
Fixed: on some phones the game could reload itself the first time you talked to someone. The game now uses less of the phone's memory for its pictures: the character preview from the login is let go once you play, and the look preview at the transformation mage once you close it.

10 October 2026 · version 0.136

The game has pages of its own beside the login, linked under the login scroll: About (what the game is, how to begin, the controls and the rules of fair play), News (everything in this window, page by page), High scores and a Wiki.
High scores: the realm's best overall and in every skill, with a search by name that shows a player's place on every board. Updated every few minutes.
The Wiki lists every skill with what each level unlocks, every quest with who gives it, where it starts, how long it is and what it asks (no spoilers), the items with their pictures, Examine texts and figures, the people, animals and monsters you can meet and where, and the realm's towns, villages, landmarks and caves with their shops, folk and what can be gathered there. It is read from the game itself, so it never falls behind.

10 October 2026 · version 0.135

A new quest in Clyffside: The Knocking Well (2 quest points). Something has been knocking at the bottom of the village's dry well for three nights. Ask the old woman listening at it. No levels are needed.
Some quests now have puzzles to solve in their own window: pull levers, fit parts, put torn pages back in order. You can step back and try again as often as you like.
Clyffside has a well again, for those who have filled it.
Clicking something inside a house with its door shut now walks you to the door, opens it and carries on, as talking to someone inside already did.