Pattern Ledger

Hey, thanks for checking this out.

Pattern Ledger is a deck-builder roguelike I've been building as part of a larger world called Zurvan. You play as one of nine apprentices training under a man named Valthek Luminspire, who insists that every human conflict — debt, betrayal, broken promises — can be reduced to an abstract pattern. Your job is to prove him right. Or wrong. The game doesn't tell you which.

What you actually do: Cards in your hand have numbers. Marks on a circular board have numbers. You match them. Good matches deal more damage. Resolve enough marks and you build Accord (that's winning). Let too many marks pile up and Forfeit climbs (that's losing). Between encounters you pick up new cards, visit shops, rest, and make choices on a district map.

Each of the nine characters plays differently — not just mechanically but narratively. They all learned the same method from the same teacher, and they all disagree about what it means.

What's here right now

• 9 playable characters with unique abilities and starter decks
• A full encounter system with a Binding Circle, sweep timer, and escalation mechanics
• Guided tutorial (Valthek talks you through your first case)
• District map with shops, rest sites, events, and boss encounters
• ~80 cards across six schools
• It runs in your browser, nothing to install

What's NOT here (yet)

• Balance. Some characters are stronger than others. Some cards are probably broken. This is a known thing.
• Deep roguelike progression. The map works but the variety of events and encounters is limited.
• Audio beyond ambient music. Sound effects exist but they're synthesized placeholder beeps.
• A save system. If you close the tab, the run is gone.
• Mobile support. Desktop browsers only for now.

Why I'm sharing this

Honestly? I need eyes on it. I've been building this mostly alone and I've lost the ability to tell what's intuitive and what's confusing, what's fun and what's tedious. The game is playable start to finish but it's rough in places, and the only way it gets better is if someone other than me tries it and tells me what they think.

What kind of feedback helps most

• Did you understand the tutorial? Valthek walks you through the first encounter. Did it make sense or did you feel lost?
• Did you pick a character? Why that one? The selection screen tries to give you a feel for each apprentice. Did it work?
• Where did you get confused? If something didn't make sense, I want to know exactly where. Screenshot if you can.
• Where did you get bored? Just as important as confusion.
• Did you finish a run? If not, why did you stop?

You can leave a comment here, or reach out directly. I read everything.

A note on the world

Pattern Ledger is set in a place called Echelon — a vertical market city where debts have physical weight and contracts carry metaphysical force. The nine characters you can play aren't generic archetypes wearing fantasy costumes. They're a clerk, a courier, a salvage diver, a protocol auditor. They have day jobs. The magic is bureaucratic, the stakes are personal, and the aesthetic is somewhere between a law office and a cathedral.

If that sounds interesting, there's more of this world coming.

Thanks for playing.