Afternoons of legend
It was 2000, an ordinary afternoon, and Hyrule was on the screen. Ocarina of Time wasn't just a game to finish — it was an excuse to sit still for hours, trusting a world that felt real, memorizing a melody to open a door, letting myself be surprised by a plot that unfolded one piece at a time. That magic — time slowing down, the itch to know what happens next — is the same thing that made me capable of getting invested in a complicated story, full of double-crosses and deals that change halfway through.
The PC came later, and with it Baldur's Gate. The first and the second, one after the other, hours spent building a party, reading every line of dialogue, saving before a choice that would change everything. Those weren't games you "finished" over a weekend — they were places you kept coming back to.
I'm not about to rebuild Baldur's Gate — that would be a real project, and it needs time I don't have today. But that feeling — moving through a place, facing something, feeling a little stronger by the end — fits in a small box too. Below is one: Ember Keep, a tiny arena, no plot, no dialogue, just a sword, a fireball, and a few monsters that show up unannounced.
Ember Keep
Co-Authored-By: Claude
Code and commit history on GitHub.
Arrow keys or WASD to move, Space for the sword (hold it and you keep spinning), X or C for the full-arena fireball (has a cooldown).
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YouThe sword knocks back, the fireball clears the arena.
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SlimeSlow and tough. Walks straight into you.
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ImpQuicker, thinner skinned.
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Bat — from level 2Fast and fragile: one hit sends it flying.
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Caster — from level 3Keeps its distance and shoots. The sword won\'t block it: move.
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Boss — every 5 levelsHuge health, charges at you, barely flinches.
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HeartDrops from kills and heals. It lies where they are.
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Final boss — level 15Beat it and you have won the run.
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Cookie — rareShows up when monsters pile up and barks them all away (bosses excluded).
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May — rareShows up when monsters pile up and gifts you a level up.