You are a PhD candidate, unlocking the secrets of an apocryphal medieval manuscript. Each monastery on the Holy Mountain received a single fragment for safekeeping. Separated, the pages were harmless. Together, they told a different story.

Your thesis has stalled. Every primary source you need is behind those walls. But those secrets are not for you to know. The monks are watching.

Don't get caught.

The Athos Codex is a roguelike word puzzle for people who love words, and reading. Each monastery run is a unique sequence of deciphering challenges: guess the hidden word in six tries, but every wrong try raises the monks' suspicion. Pick your path, manage the risk, and finish your thesis, one deciphered fragment at a time.

A WORD PUZZLE WITH STAKES
Solve the hidden words in the monastery archives. Six guesses. Every wrong guess draws the monks' eyes. Too many wrong guesses, and you're kicked out of the monastery, to try your luck and skills, elsewhere.

ROGUELIKE MONASTERY RUNS
Each monastery is a branching path through 3 chambers: Outer Archive, Inner Sanctum, Forbidden Chamber. Choose your route, weigh the risk, and know when to chicken out and slip away to another monastery.

NAVIGATE A REAL MAP OF MOUNT ATHOS AND LEARN
Travel freely between the twenty true monasteries of the Holy Mountain, on an authentic geographic map. See what they look like, learn their history. Each destination brings new words, new dangers, and deeper secrets.

UNLOCK PARTS OF A REAL BOOK
Every victory reveals an excerpt from an actual published work on ethics. The thesis builds chapter by chapter. Read the real story you're piecing back together, as your scholarship deepens.

PLAY IN MANY LANGUAGES
Play in your own tongue, or sharpen a second one, word by word.

HEAR THE HOLY MOUNTAIN
An eclectic selection of authentic Greek Orthodox Byzantine hymns and chants, performed by some of the finest choirs ever recorded. Most tracks are provided by the Choir of Simonopetra, one of the 20 monasteries.

THE CHRONICLE
Runs, win rates, streaks, achievements, unlocked and upgraded cards, codex fragments and more are tracked during your journey. Set the difficulty tier you're comfortable with in the language of your choice, and see how you stand against the players who chose the same.

PLAY OFFLINE, ANYWHERE
No account, no login, no connection required — the Athos Codex plays fully offline. Every puzzle, every monastery, every fragment of the codex lives on your device, ready on a plane, in a tunnel, or anywhere your signal drops. (Watching an ad for a hint or comparing your run on the leaderboards needs a connection — but the game itself never does.)

Made by a single independent developer and free forever. When you're stuck, you can watch an ad or spend coins for a hint, but in-app purchases are completely optional and never block your progress. You set the difficulty you enjoy. You always have a way out.

The pages are scattered across the mountain. The monks are watching.

Decipher the codex.

Some pics to start