Elden Ring — A Text RPG

A fan-made, text-based retelling of Elden Ring: create a character, choose your weapons, and fight a gauntlet of bosses in time-based combat. It runs as a free website (no download) and as the original Java console program.

▶ Play now (free, in your browser)

https://jdesilver.github.io/EldenRing/

Nothing to install — it works on desktop and mobile, with a keyboard, mouse, touch, or screen reader.

If the link 404s, the site just needs to be switched on once — see Publishing the website below.

How to play

• Menus are numbered. Type the number of your choice and press Enter, or select one of the on-screen buttons.
• Story screens wait for you. Press Enter (or select Continue) to advance.
• Combat is turn-based. Each boss attack charges up while you Attack, Dodge, Heal, or Wait. Dodge in time and in a correct direction to avoid the hit; otherwise the blow lands when the timer runs out. While the boss recovers, it's vulnerable — keep hitting.
• You can't break it. Any input that isn't a valid option simply returns you to the same prompt.

Features

• Time-based combat with light, heavy, and Focus-fuelled special attacks.
• 16 bosses across two phases each, with unique attack combos and dialogue.
• Character building: pick from six tiers of weapons, allocate eight stats, and upgrade your weapon at the Sites of Grace between fights.
• A branching ending decided at the Erdtree.
• Accessible by design: semantic HTML, an ARIA live region so screen readers announce each screen, full keyboard control, large touch targets, and support for reduced-motion and high-contrast preferences.

Accessibility

The whole game is text and numbered choices, which makes it naturally screen-reader friendly. The web version adds:

• a live region that reads out new narration and menus as they appear;
• on-screen buttons for every menu option (and Continue / Yes / No), so you never have to type if you'd rather click or tap;
• visible keyboard focus, a "skip to input" link, and 44px-minimum touch targets;
• honoring prefers-reduced-motion and prefers-contrast.

Run the website locally

The site is plain HTML/CSS/JavaScript in docs/ — no build step. You can just open docs/index.html in a browser, or serve the folder:

# Option A: Node (no install thanks to npx)
npx serve docs

# Option B: Python 3
python -m http.server -d docs 8000

Then visit the URL it prints (e.g. http://localhost:8000).

Tests

A small headless test suite fuzzes the game for crashes and verifies the combat win path:

node docs/test.js

verify-port.js is a differential check that parses the Java source and confirms the web version's data (bosses, weapons, narration) matches it exactly — run it after any gameplay change to keep the two versions in sync:

node verify-port.js

Run the original Java console version

The original terminal game lives in the repository root.

1. Install Java (JDK 17 or newer). Check what you have:

   java -version

   If it's below 17, install a current JDK. Make sure java and javac report the same version — if java -version shows 1.8 while javac is newer, put your JDK's bin directory first on your PATH.
2. Compile:

   javac *.java

3. Run:

   java Main

Project layout

.
├── docs/            # the web version (served by GitHub Pages)
│   ├── index.html
│   ├── styles.css
│   ├── data.js      # bosses, weapons, and narration (data only)
│   ├── game.js      # game engine + browser front-end
│   └── test.js      # headless tests
├── Main.java        # the Java console game (script/flow)
├── Combat.java      # time-based combat engine
├── Bestiary.java    # all bosses, as data
├── Armory.java      # weapon tiers
├── Story.java       # all narration
└── ...              # Player, Weapon, Boss, Console, enums, records

The web version is a faithful port of the Java game — the same prompts, narration, and combat math (including its quirks).

Publishing the website

The site is served by GitHub Pages from the docs/ folder. To turn it on (one time):

1. Push this repository to GitHub.
2. Go to Settings → Pages.
3. Under Build and deployment, set Source to Deploy from a branch, choose the main branch and the /docs folder, and Save.
4. After a minute, the game is live at https://<your-username>.github.io/EldenRing/.

Credits

Fan project by James DeSilver. Not affiliated with FromSoftware or Bandai Namco; all Elden Ring names and lore belong to their respective owners.