Was, Wasn't

A playful fairy tale with a devious puzzle at its heart.

Was, Wasn't is a turn-based strategy game built around two decks of double-sided cards. Piece together a fairy-tale world, plot your journey, and discover surprising uses for familiar objects.

Know the outcome before you make your move

Two decks lie before you: Path / Event and Terrain / Reward. Play a card from one deck, and the reverse side of the other deck's card comes into play. Weigh the whole outcome: how the board will change, which event will unfold, what reward you'll receive, and what it will cost you.

You know what your move will do. What comes next in the decks is another matter. All gameplay randomness is determined by the seed. Take your time: this is a test of wits, not reflexes.

More than one trick up your sleeve

A Firebird Feather can conjure a terrain tile, burn away one already on the board, or burn the top card of a deck. The other items have their own uses for you to discover. Find the right tool for the moment, save useful cards for later, and experiment with combinations.

Early public demo

The demo includes a branching chapter map, varied mission objectives, enemies, rewards, and saved progress. Fight, explore, and shape the terrain to meet each mission's goal. Choose from five difficulty levels, from a gentler introduction to an experimental extreme that I haven't beaten myself yet. Development is ongoing, and some models and artwork are temporary.

The demo is free. If you would like to support my work on games and mods, you can find me on Boosty (in Russian). Support is voluntary; it is not a preorder and does not include a promise of a key for the full game.

Want to try the latest experiments?

The experimental development build on GitHub Pages receives the latest changes first. It may be unstable and contain bugs or unfinished features.

Controls

• Left mouse button: select and drag cards.
• Q / E or mouse wheel while dragging a card: rotate the card.
• WASD / arrow keys or right mouse drag: pan the camera.
• Middle mouse drag, or Q / E when not dragging a card: rotate the camera.
• Mouse wheel when not dragging a card: zoom. Hold Shift to pan faster.
• R: discard and refresh the deck cards at a stamina cost.
• Esc: pause.

A mouse and keyboard are recommended. Touch controls are experimental, and some mobile devices may have rendering issues. The game is available in English and Russian. Browser saves are stored locally in your browser. Clearing this site's data may erase your progress.

Tell me how your tale went

Which decision made you stop and think? Which rule left you scratching your head? Leave a comment below. If you find a bug, describe what you did just before it happened and include a screenshot.