Beltborn is a turn-based survival-strategy RPG set in the Halcyon Scatter — the debris field of a shattered world, where humanity lives in the bones of a dead planet. Captain a scrappy ship through a system that wants you dead — one jump, one deal, one reputation at a time. And out here, word travels faster than you do.
Built solo & AI-assisted in Godot 4 · iOS + Android
A grounded sci-fi RPG in the lineage of
A world called Halcyon came apart — no one left agrees on how. What it left behind is a glittering graveyard of rock and ruin, and people who were too stubborn to leave. They tunneled into the fragments, hung stations off the wreckage, and called themselves Beltborn. You are one of them: born in the marrow of a dead planet, distrusted by the inner worlds, and free in the way only the desperate are.
No crew yet — just Marrow, the mind woven into your ship's hull. Dry, loyal, and quietly terrified of running out of air. It reads the manifest, runs the numbers, and talks you through the dark. The closest thing to family the Scatter left you.
"Fuel's at nineteen percent, captain. I've done the math twice. You won't like it either time."
Your ship is slow. Light isn't. Every deal you cut and every faction you cross is broadcast across the Scatter the instant you act — and it gets to the next station before you do. Smuggle for the Ashfall here, and Corewatch is watching the airlock when you dock. You can outrun a ship. You can't outrun a transmission. The whole Belt is one long memory, and it's keeping score.
Every jump between stations burns resources you can't easily replace. Every crew member is a person with skills, needs, and loyalties. Every faction you help is a faction you've made an enemy of someone else by helping. Told through tight, readable decisions you can make in 60 seconds on a bus — or sink into for an hour.
On an isometric grid: move crew, take cover, resolve turn-based encounters. Every turn the situation evolves — oxygen drops, a hull breach spreads, reinforcements arrive.
Assess → Position → Act → Resolve → Adapt
Between encounters, manage ship and crew at a station: triage fuel, water, air, morale and repairs, take a job, burn resources to travel, bank the reward, decide the next jump.
Arrive → Triage → Job → Travel → Resolve → Bank
Across the Belt, build reputation, unlock regions, and pursue the spine of the story. A legible map where each sector hides a hand-authored set-piece with real consequence.
Explore → Shift standings → Upgrade → Unlock → Confront
Persistent characters with skills, traits, and histories. Losing one hurts. Saving one against the odds sticks.
“Do I have enough fuel to make it?” is a question you carry between sessions — and a reason to come back.
Hand-crafted set-pieces, not procedural filler. Curiosity is renewable when the content is bespoke.
Simple to read, deep to master. Come back to try a leaner crew, a pacifist run, a different allegiance.
Faction reputation gives the world memory. Choices close doors — which makes a second run feel different.
No daily-login coercion. No pay-to-win. No energy gates. No infinite filler. You play because you want to.
The Scatter is carved up between four forces that can't stand each other. There's no neutral run — every cargo you carry and every job you take is a vote, and the Belt tallies it.
Inner-world logistics cartel
Owns the shipping lanes and most of the debt in the Belt. Pays well, forgives nothing, and would sell your air back to you at a markup. Money is its only loyalty.
The inner-system navy & law
Tariffs, patrols, and a long memory for unregistered cargo. Play clean and the lanes open; cross them once and the scanners never forget your transponder.
Belt-born mutual aid
Your people — a fractious web of independents who keep each other breathing. Loyalty buys safe harbor and cheap fuel; betray the Drift and the whole Belt closes its doors.
Scavenger-raider clans
They live in the deep Scatter where the law won't follow. Smuggling and salvage make them rich friends and worse enemies. Everything they touch comes back hot.
The MVP isn't a small version of the whole game — it's the smallest build that answers one question: does making a living in a dangerous Belt feel good on a phone? No combat, no crew, no colonies yet. Just the economic-exploration spine, made to feel great.
Jump between stations and sectors. Travel costs fuel you have to plan for.
Buy low, sell high across stations. The core economic loop.
Spend earnings on cargo, fuel efficiency, speed. The progression hook.
Hand-authored deliver, fetch, and courier jobs for money and standing.
Factions react to who you trade with and serve. The world remembers you.
Six two-week sprints, no padding. Phases are outcomes, not calendar promises — each ends with a playable build and an honest go / no-go. If a sprint slips, scope gets cut before the feel does. The economic spine is the product.
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Build-in-public updates as Beltborn comes together — design notes, milestones, and the occasional dead end. Newest first.
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