A haunted-house party game for 3–6 friends

Candlewake: a haunted house board game you play online, free

The house remembers you. Explore a mansion that builds itself as you walk it, share what you find, until the night turns and the house deals out secrets.

Open the front door

What is Candlewake?

Candlewake is an original haunted-house exploration game by Rucksy for 3 to 6 players. Everyone plays on their own phone, and a TV or laptop can show the house for the whole room. Short on friends? AI investigators fill the empty seats. A night takes about 45 minutes, and it is free.

It plays like a board game: rooms laid out tile by tile, cards to draw, dice to roll and a track for every trait. The game does the bookkeeping, so the table can argue about the important things, like whether to open the next door.

How a night goes

Explore
Open doors together. Every room you reveal joins a house that is different every night.
Discover
Draw Events, find Items and uncover Relics. Roll the bone dice against your traits and live with what they say.
Survive the Turning
One Relic too many and the house turns. Secret goals are dealt, and someone at the table may not be on your side.

A house that is different every night

There is no fixed map. Every door you open reveals a new room, and it joins the house where you found it. One night the music room is next to the foyer; the next night it is down in the cellar, or not there at all.

The cards change the house too. An Event might be a breathing cupboard, a crooked clock or a portrait that blinks. Items help you. Relics are the things the house wants back, and each one you find brings the Turning closer.

When the house turns

Find one Relic too many and the house wakes. One of 48 different finales begins, each with its own story, read aloud by the narrator. Some have a known traitor, some a hidden one, and some leave every investigator for themselves. Secret goals land on each player’s own phone, so nobody can see yours.

That is the moment the game is built around: an hour of working together, then a sudden question about who is still on your side. More on the hidden traitor.

The investigators

Ten to choose from, each with one clear strength, one weakness and their own voice.

Mara VossThe Unflinching Surveyor
Eliot WardThe Patient Archivist
Rhea OkaforThe Night Medic
Jonas ReedThe Lockbreaker
Tamsin ValeThe Signal Listener
Silas MercerThe Reluctant Medium
Beatrice ShawThe Practical Curator
Noah PikeThe Runaway Cartographer
Aurelio BassiThe Stonemason
Ines CalderThe Piano Tuner

Made for playing together

Phones as hands. Your cards, your choices and your secrets stay on your own screen.
A TV as the board. Put the house on a big screen so everyone can watch it grow. The TV view only shows; nobody plays on it.
Sound. A narrated story, a voice for every investigator, and sound for every room and card.
Apart works too. Everyone has their own phone, so you can play in one room or over a video call.

At a glance

Players	3–6 (AI investigators fill empty seats)
Length	About 45 minutes
Cards	Events, Items and Relics
Endings	48 different finales
Where	Any browser: phones, tablets, laptops; a TV can show the house
Price	Free
Download or account	None needed

Host Candlewake free

Questions

Is Candlewake free?

Yes. Candlewake is free to host and free to join, in the browser.

How many players do we need?

Three to six seats. AI investigators fill any empty ones, so a small group still gets a full game.

Do we need to download anything?

No. The host opens a room on rucksy.fun, everyone joins with the room code on their own phone or computer, and a TV can show the house.

Is it scary?

It is spooky rather than gory: strange rooms, unsettling Events and a narrator who knows more than you do. The tension comes from the house turning and not knowing who is on your side.

How long is a game?

About 45 minutes for a full night, from the front door to the finale.

The Hollowing and Candlewake are original games by Rucksy.