Sword Survivor

A 5-minute wuxia survivor-like. You are a lone sword spirit holding a pass against endless demons, the blade strikes on its own, and the only thing a run asks of you is where to stand.

5 minutes, and the run is over

A run is 5 minutes of demon waves, and then it ends whether the sword spirit is still standing or not. That gives a run an end you can see from the start.

Nothing is bought before a run and nothing is spent between waves. The blade is in hand from the first second, and the 5 minutes go on moving rather than on a shop.

The blade fights, you move

There is no attack button. The sword swings at whatever comes close, so a fight uses 2 inputs: movement and the dash. Every demon that reaches you got there because you stopped moving.

Gems drop where the demons fall, and walking over one is how they are collected. A route through the crowd is worth more than a fight at its edge, because the ground with the gems on it is also the ground the next wave arrives from.

Every level is a choice of 3

Each level offers a choice of 3 upgrades, and taking one is the whole build. Some are the same sword made stranger; others are new blades that orbit, fly, or fall from the sky, and enough of them together turn the screen into a storm of swords, thrown blades and Heaven Strikes.

Upgrades chain into synergies rather than sitting beside each other, so the decision is which pair finishes a run. A chest holds a rarer boost, and opening it costs a detour while the demons keep coming.

3 bosses across the 5 minutes

The 3 bosses are the Stone Sentinel, the Wind Caller and the Dragon King, each on its own part of the clock, so the last minute is not the same fight as the first.

The waves escalate. A run that spent its first 2 minutes picking up single blades meets the last minute with a screen full of them. The clock does not get longer. The screen gets fuller.

What a run leaves behind

Soul Coins are earned in every run, won or lost, and they are spent outside it on permanent upgrades. A short run still pays for a stronger start, so the first attempt is not wasted.

There are 8 skins to unlock with the same coins. None of them changes how the blade behaves.

How it sits beside Azeroth Survivors

The 2 games ask the same question: one figure, a crowd that never stops, attacks that do not need pressing, and a level-up offer that decides the rest of the run. Azeroth Survivors builds spells across a longer run. Sword Survivor builds a sword style inside 5 minutes.

They differ in the clock. There is no talent tree and no class here, and the run ends when the 5 minutes do, not when the crowd wins, so you know how long it will take before you start.

What a first run looks like

Take the upgrade that keeps working while you move. A blade that fires on its own is worth more than one that needs you near the crowd, because near the crowd is where the run goes wrong.

Spend the dash to cross a gap, not to escape a demon that is already touching you. Space is the only defensive key, and a dash that is still recharging will not save you.