Join the arena, buy gladiators & stake them on risky gambles. Dunestake is a single-player strategy auto-battler, where winning the battle is important, but what's more important is gambling successfully.
Gold is scarce, and if you want to reach the top, you'll have to, well, gamble. Stake a gladiator's soul, and place a bet. Can you guess which gladiator will die first? How about who will deal the most damage? Win and gain enough gold to make it through, or lose, and your gladiator is sent into oblivion, permanently dying. The more powerful the gladiator staked, the more gold you stand to gain. Staking a gladiator will always pose a risk, for each battle is unpredictable and filled with many surprises.
If you manage to get your hands on any gold, slave caravans pass by every now and then, willing to sell your their finest exhibits. Purchase gladiators, and form your roster. With each gladiator having two unique abilities to choose from, and with over 20 gladiators, Dunestake offers a lot of variety.
Buy beads, powerful items that grant unique abilities. Beads are upgradable, and they have branching trees, making each run fresh with possibilities. A savage slow brute, equipped with a bead that allows them to attack faster, and even perform double attacks? Or a spellcaster that can now tank in order to use their spell more times? Use your imagination not only to succeed in battle, but weight the bets in your odds. A bet that requires you to guess who will kill first? Maybe a bead that executes enemies will be of help....
And topple it all with a bunch of...spirited beverages. Alcohols grant powerful buffs for the next fight, but the high tax makes them a little bit expensive.
Match against powerful Warlords that have specific strategies and unique gladiators - some prefer assassins, while others focus on spellcasters. Find their weaknesses and win them enough times, to challenge them to a boss battle.
Each Warlord has their own unique Champion, a powerful gladiator that will be tough to take down. Kill them and take their heads as trophies while you climb the ladder.
What's an arena without some good ol' fashioned cheating? Pay a few gold to fix the next match. Have the shop feature specific beads & gladiators. If your roster features lots of silences and burst damage, fix the match to play against Lissie, the spellcaster warlord that has powerful spellcasters but squishy gladiators, and knock their beak out again and again. Don't like the arena you were dealt? Looking for a specific bead or wanna get drunk on Sea Vodka? No problem, you can cheat EVERYTHING here.
