Omens, boons and a growing map

A short run needs variety, or it turns into a spreadsheet. Cinder Automata gets that from three places: omens, boons and the map itself.

Omens

Each fight comes with a random twist. There is Swarm, Ironhide, Two fronts, Ash fog and Acid rain, and a few kinder ones like Bounty. You read the omen before the fight starts, so you can adapt your base to it.

Boons

Every second level you pick one of three upgrades. Small choices stack up into a build, and that is what makes one run different from the next.

A map that opens up

You start on a single 24 by 24 plot with iron only. After each win you pick one of three neighbouring plots to open, and the game opens a second one. Copper is always next door, and forests start two plots out. The map is generated from a seed, so you can replay one you liked.