Bathala: a Filipino folklore card roguelike

5-card poker hands are your attacks

Draw 8 cards, play up to 5. Pick from this hand: it is scored the way combat scores it.

Full House

(18 cards + 20 bonus) × 2

Special adds Apoy: the tikbalang burns each turn.

A Tikbalang Scout, horse-headed trickster of the forest

52 cards in 4 elements

The deck runs Ace to Datu in each element. The element you play most decides what a Special does.

Apoy burns

Fire. Its Special burns the enemy every turn.

Tubig heals

Water. Its Special heals you mid-fight.

Lupa strengthens

Earth. Its Special adds Strength to attacks.

Hangin shields

Air. Its Special adds Dexterity to blocks.

3 chapters, forest to sky

Each chapter has its own map, its own creatures and a boss at the end of the fifth night.

Chapter 1

Chapter 1: The Enchanted Forest

Balete groves where the tikbalang leads you off the trail and a duwende waits for you to say tabi-tabi po.

Chapter 2

Chapter 2: The Submerged Barangays

Flooded stilt villages where the sirena sings, the santelmo burns on the waves and the siyokoy raids from below.

Chapter 3

Chapter 3: The Skyward Citadel

Cloud temples above the storm, watched by the sarimanok, the alan and the bird that swallows the sun.

Meet 30 creatures of Philippine folklore

Explore the game’s lore, from forest tricksters to the three chapter bosses. Pick a creature to read its entry.

Read the full bestiary, bosses included

Chapter 1, Boss

Kapre Shade

Massive tree-dwelling giants who smoke enormous cigars. Once Bathala's appointed guardians of sacred groves, the engkanto's corruption has unleashed centuries of pent-up rage, turning their protective smoke into choking infernos.

Read full entry

5 nights to each chapter boss

Every step on the overworld map moves time. Spirits keep to themselves by day and hunt at night.

After the fifth night the chapter boss comes for you, ready or not, so each detour to a shop, a campfire or a chest is a trade against the clock.

Combatgold, and one card removed for free
Elitemore gold, a relic or a rare card
Campfireheal a third of your health or attune a card
Shoprelics and potions, purify a card, sell
Eventa story choice, lore, sometimes a gift
Bossthe chapter's keeper, ready or not

The babaylan walks a forest path toward the mountains at sunset

3 ways to shape your deck

Every run starts with all 52 cards. These three places on the map change them for good.

Purify a card at the merchant

Pay gold to remove a weak card for good, so your strong hands come up more often.

The merchant on his mat with potions and wares under a thatched stall

Attune a card at the campfire

Rest and raise a card within its element, a 5 of Apoy to a 9, for free.

The babaylan warming her hands at a campfire beside her deck

Infuse a card after hard fights

Elite and boss rewards add new cards, rare enough that each one changes the run.

The babaylan opening a treasure chest full of gold under a balete tree

40 relics that bend the rules

Relics come from creatures, chests and the merchant, and stay for the whole run. Pick one to read what it does.

Found in chapter 1: Forest

Kapre's Cigar

Once per combat, your first Attack action deals double damage.

Deal your first hand of Filipino folklore

3 chapters, 40 relics and a path of your own, free in a desktop browser.

Play free

The babaylan deals the four element aces in a balete forest while folklore creatures watch from the trees

The 3 paths of Landas

When a creature falls, you choose to spare it or slay it. Each choice moves your Landas toward Mercy, Balance or Conquest, and that changes the rewards you find and the story you hear. It never changes the difficulty.

The babaylan sweeps her arm and five face cards fly from her hand toward a glowing sun-eye

Spare more than you slay

Path of Mercy +5 to +10

Half again the Spirit Fragments for upgrades that carry into the next run, wounded enemies may flee, and fights pay a fifth less gold.

Mix spare and slay

Path of Balance -4 to +4

Standard rewards, every event on the map and the story as written.

Slay more than you spare

Path of Conquest -10 to -5

A third more gold, better relics in chests and shops, and a darker story to walk.

Difficulty set by 7 measures of play

Bathala is a thesis project on rule-based difficulty. After every fight a performance score reads seven things you did and moves you between four tiers, from struggling to mastering.

The tier then adjusts enemy stats, gold and which map nodes appear. Every rule is written down in the source, and there is no machine learning.