Play the alpha

Online alpha · Windows · invite only

An HD-2D anime action MMO. Pixel-art heroes in a lantern-lit city, eight callings that each fight their own way, and combat judged on the frame you press.

Play the alpha See it move
  • v0.1.6live now
  • 8callings
  • 60frames a second, on the server too
  • 100players in one world
In game

What's new

Live 2 October 2026

v0.1.6 Every calling in its own light, and more of you

Each of the eight callings has its own effects now, drawn in its own shapes and colours: moonlight on steel, ink and smoke, the weave, the stage, the reaper, expedition tech, clockwork and the garden. In a crowded fight your own effects lead, everyone else's play softer, and an enemy's warning always shows through.

The creator grows too: marks and makeup, an accessory in every slot, seven hairstyles and eight fringes, new ears, horns and tails, and outer layers worn over your outfit.

Meet the callingsThe new creatorRead the patch notes

Before that 1 October 2026

v0.1.5 Openings, Mythic gear, every stat counts

  • Now and then an opening forms in Whisperwood or on Saltglass Shore. The weather goes wrong around it, and then something comes through. Bring friends.
  • The Mythic tier: eight pieces for each calling, at level 22.
  • Six new stats, ailments that reach heroes, and parries and dodges judged the way you saw them online.

Lunemere

A city built in the Engine's light

Lunemere grew up around an Engine nobody remembers building. It was already running when the first families arrived, and the beasts kept their distance from its light. So they built a city in that light, and hung a lantern in every street to be sure.

Sixty-five years ago the sky broke over the city. The airships lost their lift, morning never came back to Lunemere, and over the rooftops the moon has shown in three pieces ever since. The old remember that night. The young were born under it.

You are a Lanternbearer. The Wardens send you out past the last lamp: into Whisperwood, along Saltglass Shore, and down into the Gearvault beneath the city, where the ticking never stops.

Most nights, nobody looks up.

Lunemere at night from high above: rooftops full of lit windows, and the Lune Engine's glowing rings at the top of the city.
Lunemere from above. In game.
  • Lantern Square from above at night: the Moonwell fountain, rows of lit townhouses, and the Engine's light rising behind.

    Lantern Square

    The centre

    The Moonwell, the night market and stage, shops, houses and most of the townsfolk. Somewhere off the square, the Whisper Court.

  • The Lune Engine on the Heights: a drum of lit ports inside its rings, a beam of light rising from it, lamps round the court.

    Lune Heights

    North, up the Grand Stair

    The Engine Court and the Lune Engine, Aubyn Hall, the AetherWorks and the gearlift down into the Depths.

  • The Milk and Honey House at night: a timber manor with lit dormers and a turret, gardens and lamps below.

    Lanternbloom Vale

    South, over the canal

    Housing plots around a lake and a waterfall, the Mirrormere, and the Milk & Honey House on its garden hill.

  • Eastward at night: the Lanternbearers' Guild hall, and an airship resting in its cradle on top of the docks mast.

    Eastward

    East, to the docks

    The Bounty Hall, the Guild Hall, Brannoc's forge and the crafting yard, and the airship mast on the docks.

  • Rootward at night: a great tree with a house in its branches, lamps along the paths below.

    Rootward

    West, into the trees

    Where the city grows into the forest: tree-houses, rope bridges, root arches, and Captain Rourke's drill yard.

The eight callings

Each calling asks its own question

Every few seconds of a fight, each calling asks you something different. Eight skills each, ranked up to five, an ultimate with its own cut-in, and a choice of two traits at four levels.

A Moonblade in the class outfit, as the game draws it: a pixel-art hero with a katana.

Counter tankKatanaResolve

Moonblade

Wait, draw or counter?

A duelist of the drawn blade who stands in front. Challenge from the sheath, meet the blow with a parry or a held guard, and spend Resolve on the draw that matters.

  • Mirror ParryMeet a blow in its opening and answer with a riposte. Hold it to stand in Stillwater Guard.
  • Moonlit ChallengeFlick a crescent from the sheath. Everything it touches turns to face you.
  • Guardian's DrawFlash to an ally and take the next blow meant for them.
  • TsukuyomiThe ultimate. Step between moments, cut through the field, and return to where you began.

New in 0.1.6 Moonlight on steel. Silver hairline crescents, and razor-line draw cuts that appear a beat after the swing.

In game: the Moonblade's skills
A Shade in the class outfit, as the game draws it: a pixel-art hero with a twin daggers.

Wound assassinTwin daggersKi

Shade

Where do I stand when it swings?

An ink-and-smoke assassin with twin daggers. Your cuts leave Shadow Wounds that keep bleeding after you leave. Draw the swing, sidestep it, and strike from the Opening, even on the largest foe.

  • Shadow StepVanish and drop behind the enemy carrying the most of your wounds.
  • FadebackBackflip away and leave a decoy. Press again to trade places with it.
  • Shadow BloomEvery wound you have left erupts at once.
  • Thousand CutsThe ultimate. Disappear, and unseen blades carve everything in reach.

New in 0.1.6 Ink and smoke. Black ink brush strokes with a pale edge, real smoke, and an ensō on the foe when an Opening is yours.

In game: the Shade's skills
A Aetherist in the class outfit, as the game draws it: a pixel-art hero with a orrery stave.

Recipe casterOrrery staveAether

Aetherist

Which recipe, and where?

A scholar of the Lune Engine. Weave Ember, Frost and Volt into three strands, then place the recipe they make: three of one, two and one, or one of each.

  • ConvergenceRelease the weave as one of ten recipes, from an Inferno to an Aurora Road. Hold to place it.
  • Gravity WellPull a pack together, then let it implode.
  • BlinkSix metres in an instant, with a burst of volt where you stood.
  • Starfall CascadeThe ultimate. Rise into the channel while meteors fall, then the great star.

New in 0.1.6 The weave. Pale braided threads that gather, then release: ember flame, frost hexagons, violet volt, a form for each recipe.

In game: the Aetherist's skills
A Muse in the class outfit, as the game draws it: a pixel-art hero with a war fans.

Rhythm supportWar fansHarmony

Muse

Can I keep the beat?

A war-dancer of the aurora who fights with kicks, palms and fans. Strike on the beat to build Harmony. At full Harmony a Cadence circle bursts from your feet to rally or mend the party.

  • CadenceSwitch between Valor and Renewal with a flourish. The circle follows the song you are in.
  • Grand JetéA soaring leap onto your target, landing in a starburst.
  • Dance FloorLay down a stage. Allies on it recover faster, and your beat windows widen.
  • Aurora WaltzThe ultimate. Six sweeping waves that cut foes and heal friends, then haste for everyone.

New in 0.1.6 The stage. Silk ribbons, petals and footwork trails. Her fields are small spotlights and a petal border, all on the beat.

In game: the Muse's skills
A Abyssal in the class outfit, as the game draws it: a pixel-art hero with a crescent scythe.

Scythe reaperCrescent scytheGloam

Abyssal

Bring the blade to me, or me to the blade?

A reaper with a crescent scythe. Reap wide to build Gloam, hurl the blade to lodge it in the enemy and shoot soul bolts from an empty hand, then call it back through everything or step to where it waits.

The blade remembers everything it has cut, even the things that should not have been there.

  • Crescent ThrowHurl the scythe. It lodges and keeps cutting. Press again and it tears home along the line.
  • GloamstepBlink into a spin cut, or step straight to wherever the blade is waiting.
  • Black MeridianA line cut out of the world. Everything on it is slowed and sliced.
  • Harvest MoonThe ultimate. The blade comes home, and you leap into a crescent slam.

New in 0.1.6 The reaper. Wide crescents with a void body and a violet hairline edge, a ghost edge a beat behind, rifts where the blade lodges.

In game: the Abyssal's skills
A Phalanx in the class outfit, as the game draws it: a pixel-art hero with a aegis shield and lunetech pistol.

Shield tankAegis shield and Lunetech pistolCapacitor

Phalanx

Which way is my shield, and what do I spend?

A field guard of the Evaltel Consortium, trained for the digs in the ruins far to the west, where old machines still wake. Hold the line behind an Aegis shield, shoot and bash between the blows, and put the fight where you want it.

  • Aegis GuardTurn the shield toward the blow. Meet it in the first frames and the block rings out.
  • Gravity RoundLob a shell that drags a pack together, then pops.
  • SentryKneel and deploy a Lunetech sentry. Call it to your side and it overcharges.
  • Expedition BastionThe ultimate. Plant the shield and raise a hard-light dome over the party.

New in 0.1.6 Expedition tech. Honeycomb shields, tracers and muzzle flares, targeting brackets, and a dome that settles to its outline.

In game: the Phalanx's skills
A Timekeeper in the class outfit, as the game draws it: a pixel-art hero with a chime rod and pocket watch.

HealerChime rod and pocket watchMoments

Timekeeper

Heal now, or save it?

A keeper of the Lune Engine's clocks. Catch wounds as Echoes before they settle, ward an ally a heartbeat before the blow lands, and turn back the seconds when a fight goes wrong.

  • Stitch in TimeWard an ally a heartbeat before the blow. The whole hit is caught.
  • Stilled MomentA chime, and the clock stops for everything close by.
  • RewindSend an ally back along a ghost trail to where they stood three seconds ago.
  • Toll of HoursThe ultimate. Three great tolls that take back every fresh wound in the party.

New in 0.1.6 Clockwork. Brass and ivory clock faces with hands that tick, gears, falling sand, and counter-turning rings for Rewind.

In game: the Timekeeper's skills
A Briarcaller in the class outfit, as the game draws it: a pixel-art hero with a thorn bow.

Garden archerThorn bowSap

Briarcaller

Which plant do I shoot through?

An archer who grows the battlefield. Loose seed-pods from a thorn bow, feed the garden with every shot, shoot through your own plants to turn them into weapons, and walk the roots to wherever you are needed.

  • Thornling SeedPlant a walking bodyguard. Grown, it becomes a Briar Treant that holds the enemy's eye.
  • RootwalkSink, travel your roots, and rise where you aimed.
  • HarvestReap a plant for its harvest. Its sap runs through the roots to the rest of the garden.
  • Heart of the GroveThe ultimate. An Elder Treant walks with you, and every plant stands fully grown.

New in 0.1.6 The garden. Plants grown in code, stem, leaf and flower, outlined in light so the garden reads on a dark forest floor.

In game: the Briarcaller's skills

Combat

Every press lands on the frame you pressed it

A fighting game's frame data at sixty frames a second. Combos cancel into skills, dashes cancel almost anything, and the big moments stop the world for a heartbeat.

A Moonblade's four-hit combo, frame by frame

0 / 120 frames · 2 seconds

  • Wind-up
  • The blow lands
  • Hit-stop: the world holds
  • Cancel into the next move

Waning Cut lands on frame 8, Crescent Return on 9, Half-Moon on 16 and Full Moon Descent on 21. Each blow freezes the fight for 4 to 8 frames, heavier for the finisher. These are the real numbers from the game.

Four callings, one fight. In game.
  • Parry

    Answer the blow

    Meet a swing in its opening frames and the Moonblade ripostes, the Phalanx's block rings out. Online, the server judges it the way your screen showed it, on connections up to about 150 ms.

  • Dodge

    Perfect dodges

    Every dash is invulnerable. Dash through an attack at the last moment and time slows, your next strike is a sure critical, and the monster is wide open.

  • Impact

    Hit-stop and super flash

    Every blow that connects holds the fight for a few frames, by its weight. Signature skills darken the screen around you before they land, and ultimates play their own cut-in.

  • Read

    Warnings you can trust

    Every big enemy attack is drawn on the ground first, at its true size: arcs, lanes, rings with a safe middle, marks under your feet. Step out, parry, or dash through.

  • Place

    Hold to aim

    Tap a placeable skill to cast it at once. Hold it and its real footprint appears, steered with the same keys or stick you move with.

  • Roles

    Tanks, healers, threat

    Enemies keep a threat table. Tanks hold their attention and their facing, the Timekeeper takes back fresh wounds, and backstabs are something the party earns.

Beyond the lamps

Where the light runs out

Past the west gate the forest glows on its own. Past the east docks the sea keeps its own hours. Under the Heights the city keeps its oldest machinery, and something in it is still keeping time.

Glowcap Hollow in Whisperwood: giant glowing mushrooms, and a hero fighting a pack of small mushroom creatures.

Level 1 and up · west gate

Whisperwood

A forest that glows on its own. Glowcap Hollow, Thornback Ridge, Whisper Lake and the Fairy Tree branch off the lantern trail, the rangers keep their post by the glade, and the Mycelord waits in the Heartgrove.

Saltglass Shore at night: a campfire on the sand, a waystone glowing, the sea beyond.

Level 6 and up · east docks

Saltglass Shore

The one place near the city with a real day. Tidepools, a lighthouse, a chapel the reef swallowed, the Tidewatch camp in the dunes, and Mareva, the Tidewyrm, off the coast.

The Gearvault's Furnace Hall: three glowing furnace doors throwing orange light across the floor.

Level 12 and up · a run for your party

Gearvault Depths

Down the gearlift under the Heights. Halls that lock behind you, a run of your own for every party, and the Brass Colossus at the bottom.

Raid · level 20 · parties of up to four

The Trial of the Moon

The end of the main story, behind a door in the Engine's drum that only the Warden can open. Bring your party. Bots fill any empty places.

Day, night and weather

The same sky for everyone

One clock runs the whole world, and every player sees the same hour and the same weather. A day on the shore lasts a hundred minutes.

Saltglass Shore at first light. Saltglass Shore at noon. Saltglass Shore at dusk. Saltglass Shore under the moon, lamps lit.
The same spot on the shore at four hours. In game.

A long night, and a real day

Lunemere and Whisperwood stay in their long night. Saltglass Shore has first light, noon, dusk and a moonlit night, with lamps and fireflies that come out after dark. Walk west toward the city and the daylight fades into the twilight around it.

Weather that stays

Rain, drizzle and downpours. Storms with lightning, sea fog and mist, snow and hail, gales and sandstorms, each where the climate allows. The ground stays wet after rain and dries slowly, snow settles on what faces the sky, and the trees lean in the wind. Fronts take the better part of an hour to pass.

Once in a long while, the weather goes subtly wrong.

Rain over Lantern Square at night. Snow settled on the Milk and Honey House and its garden. A storm over Saltglass Shore, the lighthouse lit.
Rain in Lunemere, snow in the Vale, a storm on the shore. In game.

Your hero

Make someone worth following

Pick a body, a face, hair and its colours, ears, a tail, horns, accessories and outfit dyes, then a calling. Every part sits right at every size and through every swing: fox ears grow from the skull, tails grow from their base, hats let ears and horns through the brim.

  • Start dressed for the job. A new hero starts in their calling's outfit or a general one, and dyes are free.
  • Find the rest. Outfits come from quests, rare boss patterns, shore chests, Madame Trevanion's rack and the Trial of the Moon.
  • Change any time. The Wardrobe swaps between outfits you own, anywhere. Madame Trevanion's salon restyles the rest.
The hero creator: a hero on a glowing dais beside the list of eight callings.
The hero creator. In game.

New in 0.1.6

More of you

  • Marks and makeup. Eleven face markings, from a star to an old scar, and six kinds of makeup, from blush to winged liner, each in a colour you choose. Your right eye can have its own colour, and eyes and brows have five shapes each.
  • An accessory in every slot. Head, face, neck, back and waist all at once, with seventeen new pieces: wings, a wide-brimmed hat, a masquerade mask, a bell collar, a hip lantern and more.
  • Seven new hairstyles, and eight fringes that go with any style.
  • More heritage. Wolf, rabbit and fin ears, ram horns, antlers and crescent horns, and wolf, rabbit and spade tails.
  • Outer layers. Wear another outfit's coat, cape or robe over the one you have on, dyed on its own, for six colours in all. Every class garment also gets real hems, trims, buttons and metal that catches the light.
The 0.1.6 creator's Eyes and Skin page: a hero with pink hair and white wings, eye colours and shapes beside her.
The Marks and Makeup page, with whisker marks on a hero with long twin tails.
The Adornment page, with a slot each for head, face, neck, back and waist.

The creator in 0.1.6. In game.

Playing online

One world, shared

The city and the wilds are one world for everyone, up to a hundred players during the alpha. The Gearvault and the Trial are yours: every party gets its own run.

  • Parties of four

    Invite from the social window or the chat. Your party travels together into its own runs, and the Trial waits for everyone's cutscene before the fight begins.

  • World bosses

    Everyone who fights earns the kill and rolls their own loot. They come back ten minutes after they fall.

  • Trading

    Swap items and crowns face to face. Anything you have never worn can change hands.

  • The Aether Exchange

    List gear at Clerk Tamsin's counter. Buyers pay by the Pneumatic Post while you are out adventuring.

  • Bounties

    Daily contracts on the Bounty Board. Each pays once a day, and the board resets at midnight, US Eastern time.

  • Chat and emotes

    Say, party, world and trade channels, whispers by name, dances in the square. /report and /block are built in.

  • Saved on the server

    Your heroes live on the server. If the game or your connection drops, enter again within a minute and you are back where you stood.

  • Found a bug?

    Type /bug and what happened in the chat. The team gets it with your zone, where you stood and your version.

Controller

Pick up a pad

Pick up a controller and the game switches to it and hides the mouse. Touch the keyboard and it switches back. Prompts follow your pad, Xbox or PlayStation, rumble lands on the big hits, the map pans on the sticks, and an on-screen keyboard handles chat and names. The Handbook has a chapter for it, drawn with your pad's own buttons.

Keyboard and mouse: WASD to move in eight directions, J to attack, K or Space to dash, U I O P for skills and Shift for the next four.

The Handbook open on Playing with a Controller, the moves drawn with the pad's own buttons.
The Handbook's controller chapter. In game.
The controller layout X attacks, A dashes, Y, B, RB and RT are skills one to four, LB with the face buttons gives skills five to eight, LB and RB together is the ultimate. The left stick moves, the right stick zooms, the D-pad talks, drinks a tonic, opens emotes and the journal, and View opens the map. YXBALBRB Y · B · RB · RTSkills 1–4 A · Dashtalks when it's quiet X · Attackhold for the combo Right stick · Zoom LB + face buttonsSkills 5–8 · LB + RB ultimate View · Map Left stick · Move D-padtalk, tonic, emotes, journal
The default pad layout, as the Handbook draws it.

Patch notes

What changed, and when

Straight from the game's changelog. The newest release is first.

The patch notes load from the game's changelog. Read CHANGELOG.md

Play the alpha

A key, a download, and you're in

L.U.N.E is in an invite-only online alpha while the servers are tested with real players. Keys go out in small waves. Everything you do is saved on the server. Things will change, and the team wants to hear what breaks.

For Windows

Alpha
Checking the latest build…
Version
…
Download
…
SHA-256
…
  1. Get an invite key. Ask the person who sent you here. The team hands keys out in small waves.
  2. Download and unzip anywhere you like (not Program Files), then run Aetherlune.exe. The program still carries the game's old name.
  3. Create your account in the game with your key, make your hero, and step into Lantern Square.

The game checks for updates every time it starts and installs them itself. If an update ever fails, download the latest zip here and unzip it over the old folder. Your heroes live on the server.

What you need

  • SystemWindows 10 or 11, 64-bit
  • GraphicsA card with Vulkan support: NVIDIA GTX 900 series, AMD RX 400 series, Intel Arc or Iris Xe, or newer
  • Memory8 GB
  • DiskAbout 400 MB
  • NetworkBroadband. Parries and dodges stay fair up to about 150 ms ping
  • InputKeyboard and mouse, or a controller

Stuck, or something's wrong?

Type /unstuck, or choose Unstuck in the system menu, to be set down at the nearest waystone. It works once an hour, outside a fight. Type /bug and what happened to tell the team. To flag a player, /report Name and why. /block Name silences them for you.

FAQ

Questions people ask

What is L.U.N.E?

An HD-2D anime action MMO for Windows: heroes drawn as pixel art in a high-definition world, combat with a fighting game's frame data, eight callings, and an online world shared by up to a hundred players during the alpha. It is in an invite-only online alpha.

The game says Aetherlune when I open it. Is it the same game?

Yes. L.U.N.E is the game's new name. The download, the program and the update windows still carry the old name, Aetherlune, for now. Your account and your heroes are the same.

How do I get an invite key?

Keys go out in small waves through the people already playing and the channel you were invited through. Ask whoever sent you here.

Is my progress kept?

Your account and heroes are saved on the server. This is an alpha, so balance, items and systems will change as the game is tested, and the patch notes say what changed.

Can I play on a Mac, Linux or a console?

Not yet. The alpha is for Windows 10 and 11, 64-bit.

Can I play with a controller?

Yes. Pick up a pad and the game switches to it, with Xbox or PlayStation prompts, rumble and an on-screen keyboard.

How do updates work?

The game asks the server for the latest version every time it starts. If there is one, it downloads only the files that changed, installs them and restarts. Some updates are required, because they change how the game talks to the server.

An update failed. What now?

Download the latest zip from this page and unzip it over your old folder. Your heroes are on the server, so nothing is lost.

Can I play alone?

Yes. The story, the wilds and the bounties work solo. The Gearvault and the Trial of the Moon are built for parties, and the Trial fills empty places with bots.

What does L.U.N.E stand for?

Nobody in Lunemere can say. The letters are older than the city.

Play the alpha