[Web/Mobile] Aetherbound (Open Beta) Semi-Idle, Incremental Roguelite with copious amounts of sarcasm

Hey everyone,

I've been working on Aetherbound for going on a year now I think. I've been running it through some private testing with friends and family, but I finally hit the point where I need more eyes on it because otherwise I'ma just keep fixing shit that don't need to be fixed chasing that "perfect" v1 release.

So I'm pulling the trigger and putting it out as an Open Beta and I thought I would post here first.

What is Aetherbound?

• The Core Loop: You start on the Wilds surface gathering Aether (click to kick things off, then automate with wisps and upgrades). Spend it at the Smithy to forge gear and push into Deep Earth for basalt/obsidian while working through the Chant-gated research projects. Wrap up by taking a geared hero into the Abyss to start a roguelite dungeon that runs automatically once you've completed a floor once (floors, relics, random events, bosses).
• Progression: Early game is a "prophecy" ladder (tutorial) that walks you from first clicks → Smithy unlock → first forge. Mid-game opens the Spire research chain (chant walls, dungeon gate). The run goal is floor 100. Ascend at any time for Ascension Points and permanent upgrades on an Ascension tree, plus Town renown buildings between runs. Pick a class (Warrior/Ranger/Mage/Rogue) each dungeon run for different scaling. Also a journal thing of all the stuff you see, with descriptions and a 100% completion achievement that means nothing outside the game (yet).
• The Vibe: Active onboarding that eases into tab-idle macro play. Dark UI, sarcasm heavy system log flavor and beautiful images..
• Play Anywhere: Built with mobile in mind from day one. Fully PWA, install to home screen and it runs like a native app, or just play in the browser. Guest play works or Google sign-in for cloud saves + leaderboard.

Where it's at right now: It's playable, but it's definitely still a beta. You might run into bugs, and the balancing probably needs a lot of work. Most of the testing done so far has been done using dev/qa shortcuts, so in theory it should work but who knows.

Links:

• Play it here: https://aetherbound.app/play
• Feedback: I just pushed an update to make the feedback button dead simple to find in the UI (⚑ Report in the log header / mobile top bar). If you break something, hit a wall, or think a mechanic is bullshit, please use it. I'll also be checking in here since I'm trying to avoid actually working my 9 to 5 today.

AI Disclosure: Here is exactly how AI is used in Aetherbound:

• Code & Architecture: I use AI as a copilot/rubber-duck for debugging, bouncing architecture ideas around, and drafting boilerplate code.
• Art Assets: The current in-game supporter packages are AI generated while I wait on my design studio to finish the final art. The rest of the art was provided by the design studio.
• Text/Lore: AI is used as a sounding board to brainstorm and refine some of the system logs and lore text. It was also used to ensure I kept a consistent tone and "theme" throughout.

Thanks for taking the time to take a look and provide feedback.