Embers
a slow-burn board game for two
Roll, move, land somewhere, do what the card says. The room gets warmer as the night goes on, and it only ever gets as warm as the two of you agreed. Free, no ads, no accounts, nothing leaves your phone.
Download for Android How to install
Version 1.1.0 · Android 8 and newer · about 2 MB · for two consenting adults
A spiritual successor to Bliss
Years ago there was an Android game called Bliss, by a small studio called Games for Loving. Two players moved around a board, landed on locations, and drew dares that got bolder over the evening, with checklists for what you were wearing and what you had lying around the house. It was well loved. Then the studio stopped, the app left the store, and the version people still had stopped installing on new phones.
Embers is what you'd build if you missed that game and wanted it to exist again. It is not a copy and it contains nothing from Bliss: no dares, no artwork, no music, no data files. Every card was written fresh for Embers, the board and pieces are new, and the sounds were generated for it. What it borrows is the idea, which belongs to no one: a couple, a board, dice, and a game that knows how to take its time.
How it plays
Heat
Every dare has a level from 1 (flirting) to 9 (nothing left out). You each set a range. The game starts at the lower comfort level and climbs a notch every few dares, never past the lower of your two maximums.
Sparks
Completing dares earns sparks. If a card isn't for you tonight, tap Not tonight. It costs three sparks and no explanation, and it's free if you're out.
Clothes
Tell the game what you're wearing. Some cards take a piece off. Cards that need bare skin only appear once that skin actually is.
Props
Tick what's within reach: oil, ice, a scarf, a blindfold, a candle, whatever's in the drawer. Dares that need something you don't have never come up.
Twelve rooms
Spa, Kitchen, Art Loft, Dance Floor, Cinema, Garden, Gym, Boutique, Photo Booth, Bath House, Toy Chest, Bedroom. Each has its own deck.
Special squares
Tip Jar, Wildcard, Wardrobe, Slow Dance, Time Out, Rewind. Land on your partner's square and you draw a card for both of you.
Also in the box
- 194 original dares, plus an editor to write your own in the same format.
- Heart a dare to see it more often; hide one to never see it again. One-step undo for slipped thumbs.
- Timers with a bell that keep the screen awake; camera prompts that save to Pictures/Embers.
- Call the last lap when you want to wind down and get a summary of the night.
- Optional 4-digit PIN lock. Autosave and resume.
- Dice, whoosh and chimes, an optional fire crackle, and gentle haptics. All switchable.
- Built-in updater that checks this page and only downloads when you say so.
Install
- Download the APK above on your Android phone.
- Open it. Android will ask you to allow installs from your browser the first time. Allow it.
- Tap Install. That's all. Later updates arrive inside the app.
The app asks for no permissions. Internet is used only to check this page for a newer version, and only when the app is open.
What's new
1.1.0
- Tokens step square by square; the die tumbles before it lands; landed squares pulse.
- Dare cards slide in, with a colour-coded level ribbon and a ring timer.
- Heat-up moments, floating spark rewards, ember drift that thickens as the heat rises.
- Range slider with example dares for each end; body outline in the wardrobe; a count of dares in play.
- Favourites, hidden dares, undo, tonight's history, your own dares, and the last lap with a summary.
- Token colours, tap-a-square legend, haptics, fire crackle, screen stays on during timers.
- In-app updates.
1.0.0
First release.
Privacy
Embers keeps everything on your phone: your names, settings, the game in progress, your favourites and your custom dares. Photos you take go to your own gallery. The only network request the app ever makes is fetching embers.json from this site to see whether a newer version exists, and downloading the update if you ask for it. There are no analytics, no accounts, and no ads.