Ironwave Arena

They come wave after wave. You try to stay standing. Ironwave Arena is a survival arena. Between waves you stop at the shop and make yourself stronger; when you die you don't lose everything — your permanent gear climbs a tier and the next run starts a little stronger. EIGHT HEROES, EIGHT PLAYSTYLES The Hunter wears you down from range, the Samurai cuts in one sweep, the Vampire heals on every kill, the Sorcerer detonates arrows. Each hero has its own weapon family, its own gear ladder and its own record. PERMANENT PROGRESSION Collect Essence, push your gear to +9, unlock the next tier. Five slots, ten tiers. The ceiling is the same for everyone. SIX DANGER TIERS It starts calm. Climb and enemies harden, the shop gets pricier, elites show up more often; at the top, bosses arrive every fourth wave already enraged. The next tier only unlocks when you reach wave 20 on the current one — no skipping. EIGHTEEN BOSSES They appear every fifth wave and each has its own pattern: one charges you, one rains a salvo, one calls a swarm around itself. PETS A fallen boss can leave a pet behind. Standard, rare or extraordinary, each one adds damage, health or a shield. Raise your pet to level 50 with Ember, open its book slots, push books to +20 and change its color. WEATHER, CHESTS, SCROLLS Rain, snow, fog, night and storms change how a wave plays out. Open the chests that appear in the arena, and lure the horde onto dynamite crates before you blow them. Fire, ice, rock, thunder and plant scrolls give you one big single-use move, and the wandering merchant between waves lets you take just one of three deals. RUINS MODE A separate walled arena. After every boss the walls and floor are rearranged, so you have to find your way out of the corners all over again. BOSS LAIR AND SEALS Downing bosses during a run earns keys. Spend keys in the boss lair to face any boss one on one, and every win earns a seal. You own all eighteen seals but only five are equipped at once — which five you carry is a real choice, every run. HELPERS Plant a turret, spin orbiting stones, scatter mines, take a companion. They all scale with you and still matter deep into a run. DAILY CHALLENGE One attempt per day. Same seed, same hero, no permanent gear for anyone. All that's left is how you play. It has its own leaderboard. LEADERBOARDS Claim a nickname and find your place on five boards: overall, daily, per hero, single run and boss lair. Ranking looks at the danger tier first — clearing a hard tier beats simply playing long. LET'S BE HONEST The game is free and every purchase is optional. The one-time ad-free pack gives you revives, rerolls and the fourth card without watching ads; a run where you revive stays off the leaderboards. Essence packs speed up your permanent gear, Ember packs speed up your pet. A color credit recolors your pet. Ads are never forced. It does not work offline; your progress is saved in the cloud. Made by a solo developer.