A duel you cannot start

RIPOSTE RIPOSTE RIPOSTE

You cannot strike. Only return.

© 2026 Amaan Syed · Dawnlight Labs · Built with Claude · About the game

Choose your blade

Azure

The steadfast

Settings

Audio

MusicThe orchestral beds, the drums and the accents.
EffectsBlade, bolts, impacts and the orbs.
AmbienceRain, wind and thunder.
MuteSilence everything. M toggles it at any time.

Graphics

QualitySets everything below at once.
ResolutionRender scale. The biggest lever on speed.
ReflectionsThe court’s water mirrors the whole scene.
BloomThe glow around the blade, bolts and the eclipse.
RainHow much of it falls.
Film effectsGrain and colour fringing at the edges.
Screen shakeHow hard impacts move the camera.
Adaptive resolutionDrops the resolution by itself if the frame rate falls.

Display

FullscreenFill the whole screen. F toggles it at any time.
Frame rate counterShows frames per second in the corner.
LandscapeOn a phone the game plays best sideways and fullscreen.

Controls

Mouse or touchAlways on. Your pointer or finger is a point on the blade; the hilt trails behind it.
Ready
Phone as the saberPlay on this screen and swing your phone. Scan the code, hold the phone like a hilt with its top edge toward the screen, tap Recentre.

Starting…

GamepadRight stick aims, A confirms and sheathes, B goes back, Start pauses. D-pad moves through menus.
Press any button
Gamepad gyroDualSense over USB or Bluetooth, Chromium only. Experimental. Browsers do not expose Xbox motion.
Tilt to aimPlaying on this phone: tilt it to move the blade instead of dragging.
KeysSpace sheathes · Esc or P pauses · M mutes · F fullscreen · R recentres a gyro.

Game

InstallAdd RIPOSTE to your device as an app. It opens fullscreen and works offline.
Opening sequenceWatch the opening again.
TutorialBring back the guided first bolt.
Saved runNo run in progress.
Best score—
RIPOSTE

You cannot strike. Only return.

A game by

Amaan Syed

Studio

Dawnlight Labs

Direction, design notes and playtesting

Amaan Syed

Programming, shaders, sound design and score direction

Claude · Fable 5.2

Blind critics

Three independent Claude sessions who were told nothing and held nothing back

The Court

The Remoteas itselfThe Binaryas themselvesThe Lanceraims firstThe Bulwarkneeds twoThe MaestroconductingThe Hydraand its leashesThe Bastionbehind its shellThe Visitorjust lookingThe Mothsdrawn to the blade

Music

Composed by

Luis_Humanoide

The Path of the Forcethe menu

Secrets of the Jedibetween bouts · when a master falls · these credits

Star Wars Style Battle Musicbouts

Temple of the Dark Sidemasters

Used under the Pixabay Content License and edited into loops.

Adaptive mix

Each piece is split live into low, mid and high layers that follow the fight: bolts in the air, orbs alive, your streak, your last guard.

Timpani, low brass, cymbals and the four-note horn call

Synthesized in your browser, on your cue

Sound

The hum, the ignition, every bolt, every impact, the rain, the thunder and the orbs’ chatter are synthesized live. There are no samples.

Made with

three.jsrenderingWebGL 2every pixelWeb Audioevery soundVitebuildPeerJSphone as saberqrcodepairingCinzelengraved capitalsAzonixthe Dawnlight wordmark

Special thanks

Everyone who ever sent it back

No orbs were harmed in the making of this game. Several were returned to sender.

RIPOSTE is an independent work. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by any film or game franchise, or by Anthropic.

Thank you for playing

En garde.

Guard
BOUT I
0
×10 returned in a row
Tempo
The bout is over

Duelist

0

Bout reachedI
Bolts returned0
Ripostes0
Best streak0
Paused

Sheathed

Blade retracted. The court waits.

BoutI
Score0
Guard3
In a row0
Click anywhere for soundTap anywhere for sound
60

Turn your phone sideways

RIPOSTE plays best in landscape and fullscreen.

This needs WebGL2. Try a recent Chrome, Edge, Safari or Firefox.
DAWNLIGHT
Built with ClaudeFable 5.2
three.jsWebGL 2 · rendered live · no asset files
A game by
Dawnlight Labs · MMXXVI
Click to beginTap to beginBest with sound

Reading the sky0%