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Duel of Realms

A strategy game for the Mac, inspired by the 1980s classic. Light and Dark face off on a living board, and every capture becomes a real-time duel in the arena. Sixteen hand-built characters, five power points, and the computer or a friend on the other side.

ProjectDuel of Realms

No.SWC-008

Rev.v0.0.1

StatusTestFlight beta

Since2026

PlatformmacOS (Apple Silicon)

StackUnreal Engine 5.8 · C++ · Blender

ScopeLight against dark: a board of strategy, a duel for every square · TestFlight beta for macOS 14+

Drawn byM. Rogg, Basel

Sheet8 / 8

Fig. 1–6 · Screens

Duel of Realms: The main menu over the painted sanctuary: human vs computer with side and difficulty, two players, or computer vs computer. — Fig. 1 · Main menuThe main menu over the painted sanctuary: human vs computer with side and difficulty, two players, or computer vs computer.

Duel of Realms: Round 2 on the 9 by 9 board: emerald gems mark the legal moves, the side panels show the selected unit, spells left and the match log. — Fig. 2 · The boardRound 2 on the 9 by 9 board: emerald gems mark the legal moves, the side panels show the selected unit, spells left and the match log.

Duel of Realms: A capture starts a duel. The preview shows both fighters, their health, the square bonus and the arena for two seconds before the fight. — Fig. 3 · Duel previewA capture starts a duel. The preview shows both fighters, their health, the square bonus and the arena for two seconds before the fight.

Duel of Realms: Moon Archer against Ashwing Dragon in real time, with health bars, the duel clock and each side's abilities at the bottom. — Fig. 4 · The duelMoon Archer against Ashwing Dragon in real time, with health bars, the duel clock and each side's abilities at the bottom.

Duel of Realms: The Moon Archer wins the duel and keeps the square, with the wounds it took. — Fig. 5 · Duel wonThe Moon Archer wins the duel and keeps the square, with the wounds it took.

Duel of Realms: Back on the board after the duel: the dragon is gone, the log records the result and it is Dark's turn. — Fig. 6 · Back on the boardBack on the board after the duel: the dragon is gone, the log records the result and it is Dark's turn.

Spec · Features

01Every capture becomes a real-time duel, in an arena shaped by the square it is fought on.
02A living board: light, dark and cycling squares shift the odds as the rounds go by.
03Five power points. Hold all five to win, or stand on one to heal faster and stay safe from spells.
0416 hand-built characters, 8 for Light and 8 for Dark, each with a primary attack, a signature move and a defence.
05Heal and Teleport spells, once per game, as long as your Wizard or Sorceress is alive.
06Play against the computer on Easy, Normal or Hard, or two players on one Mac with keyboard or gamepads.
07Online multiplayer (in testing).
08Made for Macs with Apple Silicon, macOS 14 or later.

Light

8 characters · Light moves first. · tap a character to view it in 3D

Moon Archer, a Light character in Duel of Realms — Moon Archer

Sunstone Golem, a Light character in Duel of Realms — Sunstone Golem

Astral Wizard, a Light character in Duel of Realms — Astral Wizard

Storm Valkyrie, a Light character in Duel of Realms — Storm Valkyrie

Silverhorn Unicorn, a Light character in Duel of Realms — Silverhorn Unicorn

Ember Phoenix, a Light character in Duel of Realms — Ember Phoenix

Azure Djinn, a Light character in Duel of Realms — Azure Djinn

Dark

8 characters · tap a character to view it in 3D

Thorn Manticore, a Dark character in Duel of Realms — Thorn Manticore

Basalt Troll, a Dark character in Duel of Realms — Basalt Troll

Veil Banshee, a Dark character in Duel of Realms — Veil Banshee

Eclipse Sorceress, a Dark character in Duel of Realms — Eclipse Sorceress

Ashwing Dragon, a Dark character in Duel of Realms — Ashwing Dragon

Glass-Eyed Basilisk, a Dark character in Duel of Realms — Glass-Eyed Basilisk

Mirror Wraith, a Dark character in Duel of Realms — Mirror Wraith

§1 · Why

I've always loved that 1980s classic, so I wanted to build a modern game inspired by it in Unreal Engine. I also wanted to test how far AI models can go in building and animating complex 3D characters.

§2 · How

Built with Unreal Engine 5.8 in C++, with every character modelled in Blender, and developed together with AI coding agents. The board is 9 by 9 with 18 pieces a side from 8 types. Ground units march in straight lines, flyers and teleporters jump over other pieces. Squares are light, dark or cycle between the two, and the colour of the square sets the arena and the odds of the duel. Wounds carry over after a fight, five power points heal faster and protect against spells, and the Wizard and the Sorceress can each cast Heal and Teleport once per game. After 75 seconds a duel goes into sudden death.

§3 · Learned

Work in progress. Notes follow once it ships.

Availability

Beta on TestFlight for Macs with Apple Silicon (macOS 14 or later). Sign up below and I'll send you an invite.

Beta · Sign-up

Want to play the beta?

You need a Mac with Apple Silicon and macOS 14 or later. The beta runs through Apple TestFlight, and I send every invite personally, so it may take a few days.