Gameplay

At its heart, Crownless is a roguelite action RPG that mixes dungeon crawling, resource management, and progression through persistent upgrades.

The core essence of the game revolves around exploring procedurally generated areas, fighting hordes of enemies, collecting loot, and improving both your character and your town for future expeditions.

Each play session, called an expedition, has a clear rhythm:

• Prepare in town : visit shops, upgrade your gear, refill supplies, and pick your class or companions.

• Venture into the wild: explore dangerous areas filled with traps, secrets, and randomized enemies.

• Gather resources: collect gold, ore, and fame while slaying monsters and completing quests.

• Survive or fall: if you die, you lose progress from the expedition, but some resources are banked.

• Return stronger: invest your spoils into town upgrades, permanent bonuses, and better equipment.

This constant cycle of risk and reward defines the gameplay. The deeper you go, the greater the loot—but also the higher the chance of dying and losing much of what you earned.

World Exploration and Map System

The world of Crownless is built from large, interconnected regions, each containing multiple biomes, towns, and dungeon entrances.

Players can:

• Travel between regions using discovered waypoints.

• Explore dungeons, caves, ruins, and overworld areas.

• Discover secrets, hidden treasures, and environmental puzzles.

• Encounter random events, NPCs, or enemy ambushes while exploring.

Each area often contains procedural elements, meaning that layouts, loot, and enemy placements change between runs. The player’s sense of progression is tied not just to leveling up, but also to learning the geography, enemy types, and best routes for farming resources efficiently.

Exploration encourages curiosity — players are rewarded for checking behind walls, lighting torches, solving switch puzzles, or defeating mini-bosses hiding in remote areas. Many secrets lead to rare items, ore veins, or hidden shrines that offer permanent upgrades.

Town Functions

Your home base serves as the center of all player progression. Between expeditions, you’ll spend a lot of time in town — a growing settlement filled with key buildings and NPCs. Each structure has a specific purpose, and investing in them is crucial for long-term success.

Main Town Buildings:

• Guild Hall The Guild Hall is the central building of the town — the foundation upon which all other structures depend. Upgrading the Guild Hall not only unlocks new town buildings but also raises the maximum upgrade tiers for existing ones. Each tier represents the collective growth of your settlement, symbolizing your progress as a hero and leader.

  The Builder’s Accomplishment board in the hall tracks your overall advancement, showing how many upgrades you’ve completed and what’s required for the next Guild tier.

• Training Grounds Behind the Guild Hall lies the Training Ground, where heroes refine their abilities. Initially, a few trainers are available, but more appear as the Guild grows. Each offers specialized character improvement:

  • Attribute Trainer – Allows allocation of Attribute Points across the five primary attributes. These determine your base power and whether you meet equipment requirements.

  • Skill Trainer – Teaches and upgrades active and passive skills using Skill Points. Every class begins with one basic skill and one passive. New abilities and enhancements unlock progressively, including subclass-exclusive skills available after level 10.

  • Weapon Master – Unlocked at Training Ground Tier 3, this mentor focuses on Weapon Mastery, boosting damage with specific weapon types by 3 % per upgrade. Bonuses apply to both one-handed and two-handed weapons.

  • Athletics Trainer – Improves overall mobility and stamina, subtly increasing speed and jump performance (available at higher Guild tiers).

  Training dummies are placed throughout the yard, allowing players to safely test builds and damage output.

• Blacksmith The Blacksmith is responsible for forging and enhancing your equipment. Upgrades purchased here permanently increase:

  • Weapon Power – Boosts all damage dealt.

  • Weapon Speed – Increases attack rate and fluidity.

  • Armor – Enhances survivability and mitigates incoming damage.

  As the Guild Hall advances, additional upgrade tiers unlock, allowing further refinement of your hero’s gear.

• Magic Shop (Mystic) The Mystic oversees the town’s Magic Shop, specializing in arcane improvements that amplify magical potential and elemental resistance.

  Available upgrades include:

  • Mana Pickup Gain – Increases the energy recovered from dropped mana orbs.

  • Spell Power – Boosts the strength of all spells.

  • Fire, Ice & Lightning Resistance – Reduces elemental damage taken from corresponding sources.

  These upgrades are crucial for mages and hybrid builds that rely on mana-intensive abilities.

• Apothecary The Apothecary is rescued early during the tutorial quest and becomes a permanent fixture in town. They provide access to potions, starting with a free introductory brew that restores 100 Health and Mana per charge.

  Players can invest resources to:

  • Increase the number of potion charges.

  • Improve Health and Mana restoration per use.

  • Unlock passive poison resistance upgrades.

  Potions are invaluable during expeditions, offering a safety net in prolonged battles and boss encounters.

• Chapel The Chapel represents the spiritual side of the town. Here, heroes can donate gold and resources — either voluntarily or automatically upon death — to gain global blessings that apply to every character on the account.

  Each donation rank unlocks a new Chapel Bonus, such as increased health, resistances, or experience gain. Progress can be viewed under the Titles menu in-game.

• Architect The Architect is a specialist NPC discovered during your journey — found deep within the Crypts and later constructible in town for 25 Stone and 25 Crystals. Once his workshop is built, the Architect offers six unique pre-run buffs, allowing you to customize your next expedition.

  After you’ve spoken with him in town, he can later appear near the Dark Citadel, offering to open shortcuts and skip levels for that particular run — a vital feature for efficient resource farming or boss rematches.

• Tavern The Tavern is the social and strategic hub of the town — a place where adventurers gather before venturing into the wild. While it’s a lively meeting point filled with chatter, rumors, and side quests, its most valuable function lies in providing powerful food buffs that can dramatically affect your next expedition.

• Enchanter The Enchanter brings mystical enhancement to your arsenal. Through powerful runic rituals, they can imbue weapons, armor, and trinkets with magical effects, or reroll enchantments to better suit your build. Higher Guild Hall tiers unlock new enchantment types and stronger modifiers.

  Enchantments can significantly alter gameplay, adding effects like elemental damage, life-leech, or reduced cooldowns — turning an ordinary weapon into a legendary one.

Each building can be upgraded multiple times, costing resources that are brought back from expeditions. As your town grows, so does your power — turning every death into meaningful progress.

Resource Management

Resource management is a vital part of progression in Crownless. Every expedition you complete brings back valuable materials that are used to build, upgrade, and expand your town. Managing these resources efficiently is key to long-term growth and survival.

There are seven total materials in the game — six of which are currently obtainable. Each has a unique function and contributes to different aspects of your hero’s advancement.

Gold ($CGT)

Gold($CGT) is the primary currency and one of the main materials in the game. It is acquired through combat and exploration and is essential for almost every form of upgrade.

How to obtain:

• Found in valuables, chests, and breakable objects

• Dropped by enemies during exploration

• Gained from resource caches scattered in various levels

Usage:

• Used to upgrade town buildings and purchase items

• Required for training, potion upgrades, and other town services

A portion of gold ($CGT) may be lost upon death, unless safely returned to town. Gold ($CGT) drives the main economy of progression and is the most frequently collected resource during expeditions.

Wood

Wood is one of the most common construction materials. It is primarily used in town upgrades and as part of the cost for building new facilities.

How to obtain:

• Found inside resource caches during exploration

• Occasionally obtained from loot and breakable objects within levels

Usage:

• Required for early-stage town construction and upgrades

• Consumed in many Guild Hall and Architect building tiers

Wood tends to accumulate quickly during early gameplay and is often used in bulk for foundational upgrades.

Stone

Stone is a mid-tier construction material, generally required for stronger and more durable structures. It is one of the more limited materials compared to Wood and Iron.

How to obtain:

• Dropped from resource caches during dungeon runs

• Found as part of level loot and environmental rewards

Usage:

• Used in advanced building upgrades and town expansion

• Plays a key role in later Guild Hall tiers

Players often report running low on Stone, making it a valuable mid-game material to prioritize.

Iron

Iron is a metallic construction material used for both town structures and equipment-related upgrades. It appears alongside Wood and Stone as part of the core building materials.

How to obtain:

• Acquired from resource caches and loot containers during exploration

• Often collected together with Wood and Stone

Usage:

• Used for building upgrades, particularly involving the Blacksmith and Guild Hall

• Required in later town improvement projects

Iron becomes more relevant as the town develops, supporting the transition from basic to advanced facilities.

Crystals

Crystals are magical resources tied to the Magic Shop. They become obtainable once the shop is built and upgraded to Tier 1.

How to obtain:

• Automatically received at the end of an expedition once the Magic Shop exists

• Common and Uncommon trinkets are converted into Crystals

Usage:

• Used for magical upgrades, including mana and spell-related improvements

• Required for enchantments and higher-tier magical facilities

Crystals are permanently stored in your resources and are not lost upon death.

Dust

Dust is a refined magical material, rarer than Crystals. It is also linked to trinket conversion and serves as an endgame magical crafting resource.

How to obtain:

• Rare and Epic trinkets are converted into Dust at the end of a run

• Available only after building the Magic Shop (Tier 1)

Usage:

• Required for high-tier enchantments and advanced magic upgrades

• Used to unlock late-game magical improvements

Dust is a long-term resource and retains its value throughout all stages of progression.