Build beside the road
There are no fixed tower slots. Set a machine on clear floor beside the road, wherever the fight needs it. Round stone pads take 20% off the price.
Tower defense · in your browser
Too young for dragonfire,
Too young for dragonfire,
so he built his own.
Wick is a young dragon with a wrench, a workshop and a hoard to keep. Raiders march in, grab the treasure and run for the cave mouth. Stop them with the machines he built himself. Kill a carrier before it gets out, and its coins fly home.
Free · no ads · nothing to buy · no sign-up
The getaway
They grab the gold. Then they have to get it out.
Your treasure, sixty coins in the keep, is your life. Lose it all and the defense ends. You build from a separate purse of gold, so machines never cost you treasure.
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GrabThey reach the pile
A raider that makes it to the hoard takes coins: one for a Scrapling, up to twenty-five for the Hoard King. Then it turns for the cave mouth.
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RunHeavier loot, slower getaway
Loot weighs a raider down. Your Crossbows, Mimics, Roosts and Braziers go after fleeing carriers first.
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HomeKill the carrier
Every coin a carrier is still holding when it falls flies back to the pile. Coins that reach the cave mouth are gone for good, and your stars count them.
Wick can win coins back without a kill, too. Stand him in a fleeing thief's path and he shakes its coins loose, one at a time.
How it plays
Small dragon. Clever defenses.
Pick a machine from the bar, set it down beside the road, and upgrade it as the waves get worse. Then decide where Wick himself should stand.
Put Wick to work
Send Wick to crew a weapon and it fires 70% faster and hits 30% harder. Put him aboard a Bellows Post or Coin Press and he boosts its aura or its gold. Even standing nearby, he overclocks the closest machine by 25%.
Wick's Breath
Tap BREATH to scorch every raider in Wick's reach for 26 damage, straight through armor, flyers included. It recharges in 14 seconds.
Two final forms each
Upgrade a machine twice, then choose what it becomes. That choice is for good.
Machines that don't shoot
A Bellows Post fans the machines around it to fire faster. A Coin Press mints gold when each wave ends.
Mother stirs
Let the treasure fall to 15 and the keep begins to glow. Tap it and Wick's sleeping mother breathes, once a run: 60 damage to every raider on your road.
Between waves a seven-second clock runs down. Call the next wave early for a little bonus gold, or use the time to build.
Wick's field guide
Eight machines. Sixteen final forms.
Three are ready on your first keep, and campaign stars unlock the rest. Daily Siege and Duels always hand you all eight.
Gemsinger
50 goldGround + air
“Chills raiders slow. Hits flyers. Low damage.”
Final forms: Deepchill Coil or Tuning Fork
Campaign: from the start
Kobold Crossbow
70 goldGround + air
“Fast bolts, long reach. Hits flyers.”
Final forms: Overwinder or Windlass Rig
Campaign: from the start
Latch Mimic
80 goldGround only
“Hard bite, short reach. Ground only.”
Final forms: Gearjaw or Magnet Jaws
Campaign: from the start
Gargoyle Roost
90 goldGround + air
“Longest reach. Best vs air. Ground pierce only.”
Final forms: Drillbolt or Netcaster
Campaign: unlocks at 1 star
Whirlyjack
110 goldGround + air
“Spinning blades cut a whole ring. Hits flyers.”
Final forms: Updraft Rotor or Threshing Rotor
Campaign: unlocks at 3 stars
Soot Brazier
100 goldGround only
“Lobs fire — splashes a crowd. Ground only.”
Final forms: Whistlepot or Tar Boiler
Campaign: unlocks at 2 stars
Bellows Post
120 goldSupport
“NOT A WEAPON — machines near it fire +15%.”
Final forms: Gale Bellows or Tempering Post
Campaign: unlocks at 4 stars
Coin Press
140 goldSupport
“NOT A WEAPON — mints 26g when a wave ends.”
Final forms: Royal Mint or Tithe Press
Campaign: unlocks at 6 stars
The raiders
Ten kinds of thief.
“The Guild wants your treasure. Make them work for it.” Every raider needs a different answer. The first time each one turns up, a card tells you what it does and how to stop it.
Scrapling
Fodder with a loot sack. Everything works on him.
Filcher
The fastest thief on the road, and he grabs three coins.
Bulwark
Armor takes 5 off every direct hit. Burns, Gemsinger pulses and Breath go straight through.
Shellback
A pavise halves Crossbow and Roost bolts, until a Drillbolt breaks it for good.
Gloomwing
Flies over ground-only machines. Bring something that hits air.
Greed Hexer
Heals the raiders around him. Set an aiming machine to HEXER to hunt him.
Blinker
Teleports up the road every few seconds, unless a Gemsinger has it chilled.
Pry-Hand
Jams the machines he passes. Wick clears a jam fastest by climbing aboard.
Hogshead
Splits into two Scraplings when he falls. Bring splash.
The Hoard King
Grabs up to 25 coins at once. His war drum hurries his court, and at half health he calls more.
Ways to hold the hoard
Four keeps, one endless siege, four rivals.
Campaign
Four keeps, twenty waves each
Hold The Long Sleep, The Undergallery, The Coldroot Stair and The Twin Throats, each ending with the Hoard King. Win with treasure left, and your stars count the coins that got away.
- Three stars if five coins or fewer escape
- Stars unlock machines and buy lasting upgrades in the Forge, with a free respec
- Six trials remix a keep you've already won
- A checkpoint saves at the start of every wave
Daily Siege
An endless siege, the same for everyone
One siege per UTC day, with the same keep and the same waves for every player. There is no last wave. How many can you hold?
- Everyone starts equal: 120 gold, all eight machines, no Forge upgrades
- A Hoard King every tenth wave
- Restart as often as you like; your best wave stands
- An all-time ladder of the deepest sieges, if you say yes
Duel
One cavern, two dragons
Face a computer rival in The Split Cavern. The same raiders march down both roads for twelve waves. Keep more treasure than your rival, or sack their hoard outright.
- Four rivals, Tallow, Flint, Ember and Cinder, each with their own way of building
- No Forge upgrades, and all eight machines on your bar
- Your first win against each rival pays Hoard Marks
Your Cavern
New looks are earned, not bought
Spend Hoard Marks across six shelves: recolour Wick, re-mint your coins, swap the keep, repave the road. Preview any look free before you unlock it.
- Marks come from new stars, first trial badges, first rival wins and deeper Daily Sieges
- Looks never change a single number
Screens
Torchlight, brass and a great deal of gold.
The getaway
The Hoard King, 25 coins heavier
Final upgrade
Pick one path, for good
Duel
Same raiders, two roads
Your Cavern
Paid for in earned marks
Field guide
Every machine, explained
Wick's Workshop
Where every defense starts
The deal
Free, and nothing for sale.
A game about guarding treasure shouldn't be busy taking yours. There is nothing to buy and nothing to watch. Every new look and every upgrade is earned by playing.
Nothing to buy
No purchases, no subscriptions, no coin packs. Hoard Marks are earned in play and can't be bought.
No ads
Not before a wave, not after a loss, not anywhere in the game.
No sign-up
There's no account to make and nothing to type in: no name, no email, no password.
The ladder asks first
Daily Siege posts your best wave to a public all-time ladder only if you say yes, under a random WICK-XXXX name. The details.
Saved on your device
Progress lives in your browser, with no copy on our servers.
A fair Daily
Everyone starts a Daily Siege on 120 gold with all eight machines and no Forge upgrades. Looks never change a number.
Common questions
FAQ
Where can I play Hoardling?
In your browser, at hypersage.ai/hoardling/play/. It's made for a phone held upright; on a computer it plays in a tall window framed by the cavern. It needs a connection to load, and your save stays in that browser.
Does it cost anything?
No. Hoardling is free to play in your browser, with nothing to buy: no purchases, no subscriptions and no ads. Every look you unlock in the Cavern is paid for with Hoard Marks you earn by playing.
How is my progress saved?
On your device. Stars, Forge upgrades, trial badges, Hoard Marks and looks are kept in your browser's storage. A campaign keep also saves a checkpoint at the start of each wave, so you can close the game and pick up from the start of that wave. Daily Siege and Duel runs are played in one sitting. There's no sign-up and no cloud copy of your progress, so clearing site data, using a private window or switching browsers starts a fresh save.
What does the leaderboard share?
Only what you agree to. The first time you open Daily Siege, the game asks whether to post your waves to a public all-time ladder. Say yes and it signs your browser in anonymously and posts your wave count under a random WICK-XXXX name; it never asks for your name or email. Say no and the game makes no leaderboard connection at all. You can stop posting from any Daily Siege results screen, and a score that has been posted can't be deleted. Campaign and Duel runs are never posted. Read the privacy policy.
How does Daily Siege work?
It's one endless siege per UTC day, the same for every player: the same keep and the same waves. Your score is how many waves you survive. Everyone starts with 120 gold and all eight machines, with no Forge upgrades, and a Hoard King arrives every tenth wave. Restart as often as you like; your best wave is the one that stands.
What are the controls?
Everything works with a tap or a click: pick a machine from the bar and tap the floor to build it, tap a machine to upgrade it or send Wick aboard, and tap the floor to move him. On a keyboard, Space calls the next wave, B breathes, 1 to 8 pick a machine, the arrow keys or WASD move Wick, Enter builds, Esc or P pauses, H opens the field guide and M turns sound on or off.
Is the art hand-painted?
No. It's AI-generated. Wick, the machines, the raiders and the cavern are made with AI image models under one painted art direction, then cut out, cleaned up and recoloured by our own tools so they sit together. The music is composed in code and rendered by our own synthesis scripts, with no samples and no licensed audio. Sound effects are generated as you play.
The studio
From HyperSage
Hoardling is made by HyperSage, an independent app and game studio. See the studio
The raiders are already on the road.
Hoardling is free in your browser. Questions, bugs, or a complaint about the Hoard King? A real person reads support@hypersage.ai.