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Ablahshikar
A turn-based salvage-survival CRPG adrift on the Candle Sea. Bound to a worn terminal, tear organs from rival warships to rebuild your vessel into a doomed chimera—then make landfall in the archaic city of Dastgerd to pawn borrowed life, trade heretical folios, and barter across silk and oaths.

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Features
Single-player
Steam Achievements
Family Sharing
Steam is learning about this game 
Languages:
Interface Full Audio Subtitles
English ✔ ✔

Coming Soon To Early Access

The developers of this game intend to release as a work in progress, developing with the feedback of players.

Note: Games in Early Access are not complete and may or may not change further. If you are not excited to play this game in its current state, then you should wait to see if the game progresses further in development. Learn more

What the developers have to say:

Why Early Access?

“Ablahshikar is built upon uncompromising simulationist maritime mechanics and high-density prose. Deploying Phase I (The Pelagic Charter) allows us to stress-test real-time drift, ballistics, ordnance scatter, and resource attrition across diverse player hardware and playstyles before unbarring the overland gates of Dastgerd.”

Approximately how long will this game be in Early Access?

“Approximately 6 to 8 weeks. Early Access covers Phase I (The Pelagic Charter) at a heavily discounted early-boarding rate. Once the overland districts of Dastgerd, the audio overhaul, and the remaining card illuminations are welded, the game will graduate directly to 1.0 Full Release at its final cruise price. Captains boarding during Phase I remain grandfathered in for life.”

How is the full version planned to differ from the Early Access version?

“While Phase I delivers a complete and closed pelagic survival loop at sea, the 1.0 Full Release will dock the vessel at Darband and unlock:

- Dastgerd itself.
- Pawning your hundred-year pact, trading jarred organs, bartering across silk and oaths and surviving the threshold visitor.
- Exquisite hand-drawn in-game art, which the developer is very proud of.
- Expanded soundstage sculpting and full atmospheric tracks, which the developer is also very proud of.
- Alternate endings.”

What is the current state of the Early Access version?

“Phase I: The Pelagic Charter (Fully Operational)

The current Early Access build is a closed survival-salvage loop focused entirely on dead-reckoning navigation via the Watch Slate, with full encounters with rogue wrecks and privateer hulks.
Expeditions conclude with a certain extraction or hull failure. The overland systems of Dastgerd are intentionally cordoned off by port decree until the 1.0 Full Release (Phase II: The Dastgerd Charter). That being said, it has an ending of its own, with rewarding and challenging NG+.”

Will the game be priced differently during and after Early Access?

“Aye. Early Access Phase I is offered at a modest initial rate—roughly the ransom demanded by an iced coffee. Upon graduating to the 1.0 Full Release with the overland city of Dastgerd attached, the price will triple to its final cruise rate. Early captains remain grandfathered in with full access to all subsequent releases and Phase II content at no additional cost.”

How are you planning on involving the Community in your development process?

“Through the Steam Community Discussions and direct dispatch logs. While the Candle Sea offers no hand-holding or yellow guidelines, anomalies reported by observant captains will receive prompt attention.”
Read more

Download Ablahshikar Demo

This game is not yet available on Steam

Planned Release Date: Q4 2026

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Reviews

“An alchemic blend of poetry and ASCII makes a memorable demo.”
Dominic Tarason (Steam Hype)

About This Game

SYSTEM & HARDWARE NOTICE

• Display: Strictly requires 1920x1080 (1080p) or higher.
• Handhelds: Steam Deck (1280x800) and other sub-1080p screens are NOT supported.
• Controls: Terminal interface requires full keyboard and mouse navigation.


╔══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║ DASTGERD CHAINWATER // WATCH-SLATE ║
╠══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╣
║ [ VALVE I ] ........ STEAM PRESSURE LASHED ║
║ [ DIALS ] .......... BEATING GAUGE GLASS. NEEDLES ZEROED. ║
║ [ WARRANT ] ........ EDICT LAID BARE. ║
║ ║
║ > BOILER IGNITED. ║
║ > CASTING OFF MOORING CHAINS. ║
║ > BOW TURNED TO BLACK WATER. ║
╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝

HELM A DOOMED CHIMERA.


Lo, destiny crooks a finger only to those whose eyes peer beyond þe next tempest. Take custody of a faltering war-barge that wanders the outer brine of Dastgerd.

Thy wrists y-braced to a wan terminal of bone-whyte and tarnysshed latoun, þou steerest Ablahshikar by murke point-nettes and sputteryng tables.


┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ MATRIX ADJACENCY //: [ . . · ▓███████████████▓ · . . ] │
├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ ▲ │
│ ▓█▓ ℵ 0x1A4F │
│ ▓███▓ ♄ 0x2B9C │
│ ▒▒▒▒▒▓█████▓▒▒▒▒▒ │
│ ░░▓███████▓░░ [Veni, precor, hiems mæsta,] │
│ ░░███░░ [Veni, mors, et claude festa. ] │
│ ███ │
│ ▀▀▀ │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

TEAR PARTS FROM THE PERISHED.


Descend into the midnight water to flense derelicts upon the seabed, or tear organs direct from hostile vessels. Graft their severed parts onto your own keel. Rear a freshe Ablahshikar from carcasses of loftier craft, though fremde yren shrike agenst þy brands and snarl at þi cure.


┌───────────────────────────── WINNING TACKLE ─────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ line: set truer now │
│ wreck: brine-dark │
│ noise: rising │
│ │
│ [G] HOOK/HAUL │
│ [V] SEND CREW │
│ [C] CUT LINE │
│ │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

LET FOLIOS GOUT WITH ÞI SHAME & GLORYE


Alle naviȝacioun is nought but grym runes crawing on a text-bord. Þou beholdest glutted ASCII matrices & þe stark lore of attricioun. Hert-cave brestes, self-flayne limmes for spare-stukkes, and blind brodsides in milk-fog ben sacrementes of schame and grace. Brand þilke sigils into þe Folios of Þal-Drayem through many lif-loans, proof of how keenly þou and þine brueden crisped in þe pale rush.


┌──────────────────────────── WATCH NOTICE ────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ ▲ GOLD ARROW = YOUR HULL │
│ │
│ BLUE = PORT GOLD = STARBOARD │
│ │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

TURN HOUND ON HOUND, & CAST HEM INTO HEMSELF


Lif hengeþ by malice forged to a gleyve. Pit towering bastions and mercenary flotillas against one another. You deploy smoke to shroud your heading, whip bird swarms until they tattle on the unsuspecting, and seduce rival armed factions into merry mutual evisceration. Cram þy crew in þe gnasty cogges þat þe dial mote steal another watch. Surrender a limb to make unanesthetized oblations to the Syzygy. Wring utility from the deep. Turn the hostility of the waters into a weapon of your own.


┌────────────────────────────── HELM PLATES ───────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ [Q] LEFT GUNS [G] HOOK/HAUL [E] RIGHT GUNS │
│ [V] SEND CREW [C] CUT LINE [B] BRACE PART │
│ [O] THROW BAIT [T] VENT STEAM [Y] BURN DECOY │
│ [I] STRIKE GLASS [J] JETTISON [H] TETHER [L] FLARE │
│ │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

TRUST NO DIAL.


Gauges film over with green rot and bilious vapor, and their needles burrow themselves in the casing. Smite þe frame with a trusty mall til þe scale disgorgeþ its treason. Peer through þe quavering ciphers to glimpse þe nude doome of coal and decay.

Haply, haply, whan þou flayest þe laste viserne of Þal-Drayem þe Candell-Sæ, þe blanchte grin shal wyden for þe likewise.

Features


  • Turn-based salvage-survival on an ASCII sea.
  • Harvest parts from wrecks and enemy vessels.
  • Rebuild your war-barge from scavenged components.
  • Manipulate smoke, fire, bait, carrion flocks, hostile factions & more.
  • Strike unreliable gauges and make decisions from corrupted readouts.
  • Heavy industrial and deep-water acoustic soundscapes.


┌────────────── HELM ──────────────┐
│ hull / rig / fuel / crew │
│ guns / tackle / bait / flare │
└──────────────────────────────────┘
┌────────── WATCH-SLATE ───────────┐
│ chart / wreck / fog / fire │
│ log / slate / deed archive │
└──────────────────────────────────┘
┌──────────── AUTOPSY ─────────────┐
│ warrants / factions / zones │
│ notices / dossiers / ports │
└──────────────────────────────────┘

◆◇◆◇◆


“If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up people to collect wood, and don’t assign them tasks and work. Rather, teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.”
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

“Ignoranti quem portum petat, nullus suus ventus est.”
Lucius Annaeus Seneca

“Therefore he counselled them to get ready to fight a battle by sea, for in this was their bulwark of wood.”
Herodotus, concerning Themistocles

System Requirements

    Minimum:
    • OS: Windows 10
    • Processor: Intel Core i3
    • Memory: 4 GB RAM
    • Graphics: DirectX 11
    • Storage: 1 GB available space
    • Additional Notes: Requires a minimum display resolution of 1920x1080 (1080p). Displays below 1080p and Steam Deck (1280x800) are currently NOT supported. Keyboard & mouse required.