Hold the line
Waves close in from every side. Survive the night, level up mid-run and plant your banner for a bonus zone around you. Between fights, two altars offer a world event — your choice, your risk.
Browser roguelite · Open Beta
Banner of
the Vanguard
Rise of the Dragon Lord
Face endless hordes, gather the shards of a shattered banner, and survive long enough to stand before the Dragon Lord. Free in your browser — no install, no account.
- English
- Deutsch
- Kills by the community
- —
- Lords to hunt + the Dragon Lord
- 9
- Heroes with their own kit
- 4
- Languages: EN · DE
- 2
- Challenge with leaderboard
- Weekly
- In your browser
- Free
The trailer
Play now
It runs in your browser
The game runs right here in this window — no install, no account. Survive as long as you can and beat this week's challenge.
What it is
A survivor with a reason to fight
Every run brings more enemies, new abilities and a little more of the banner back together.
Heroes with identity
Fighter, Archer, Necromancer, Paladin and Alchemist — every hero brings their own abilities and pixel art. Pick a new power after every boss: six per hero, and the right pair at level 3 fuses into a secret Master Power.
Nine lords, one Dragon Lord
Fight your way across the regions, take down each lord of the Hollow Banner — and whatever is waiting at the very end.
Shards that stay
Collect shards, rebuild the Banner of the Vanguard and turn a lost run into permanent progress for the next one.
Weekly challenge
A new challenge every week and a shared leaderboard, now with achievements and titles. Every run ends with a result card you can share — points come from level, bosses, kills and gold.
Play anywhere
Desktop, laptop or phone — it runs in the browser. Two languages included: English and German.
The Vanguard
Four heroes hold the line
Each of them fights differently — shield, bow, flask or bone. These are the first four; more are already in the works.
Available
-
Captain Aldor
The Iron Wall
Frontline · shield and hammer
Story & playstyle
The Banner Bearer. Where he stands, no one retreats.
Captain of the Order of the Golden Phoenix, the knights who guarded the Banner of the Vanguard for centuries. When the Dragon War began, the Order placed the banner in his hands. He was the first to offer Xe’roth his hand instead of his sword. Under his command, twelve strangers became one Vanguard.
Playstyle: Shield, holy power and a protective aura. The toughest of the Twelve.
-
Dr. Corvus
The Plague Specialist
Alchemist · flasks and plague
Story & playstyle
Brilliant, banished, and slightly unpredictable.
Once the brightest mind of the Royal Academy, until his experiments burned down half of it. Exiled and mocked, he kept working in secret. When Aldorath’s monsters came, his forbidden mixtures were suddenly the kingdoms’ most valuable weapon. No one knows exactly what is in his flasks. Sometimes, not even he does.
Playstyle: Poison, acid and explosions, with a random surprise every round.
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Xe’roth
Riser of the Fallen
Necromancer · raises the fallen
Story & playstyle
Executed as a traitor. Returned as a protector.
The most learned member of the Circle. He decoded the rituals meant to bring Aldorath back, and was the only one who saw the truth. For his warning, the Circle executed him. With his final spell he bound his soul to this world and rose again as a skeleton. People feared him, until he defended their villages and saved their refugees. Now he fights as the twelfth hero under the banner, driven by a guilt he will never lay down.
Playstyle: Soul magic. Every 10th shot raises fallen enemies as servants.
-
Thorne
The Forest Sentinel
Ranged · bow and forest
Story & playstyle
The hunter of the Thornwood. He never misses twice.
He grew up in the forests on the border, where Aldorath’s hordes struck first. His village burned in the first night of the war. Since then he has hunted the creatures of the other world, faster and from farther away than anyone else. He knows every track in the Thornwood, and every weakness of the beasts that crossed into it.
Playstyle: Ranged combat. Fewer shots, but every one hits hard.
Coming soon
-
Bjorn Bloodaxe
The Untamed
Berserker
-
Halldor Thornroot
Keeper of the Ancient Woods
Druid
-
Arthur Shade
The Blade in the Shadow
Assassin
-
Kaelen Stormweaver
Master of the Storm
Storm Mage
-
Joel Silvernote
Voice of Heroes
Bard
-
Kael Emberbrand
Bearer of the Flame
Pyromancer
-
Mordren Bloodbane
The Cursed Warlord
Blood Warrior
-
Victor Cogsmith
Inventor of Damnation
Engineer
Click a portrait to see the full character sheet.
Announcement · November 16, 2026
Something big is waking up
On 16 November 2026 something big awakens behind the shattered banner. The countdown is running.
00Days
00Hours
00Minutes
00Seconds
Gallery
Straight from the battlefield
Click an image to enlarge.
Kickstarter · until November 20
Help a dad and his kids build the real thing
Banner of the Vanguard started as an evening project and grew into a game the whole family plays. The campaign funds the next step: new worlds, new enemies and special abilities for every hero.
- €25 and up: your pledge includes a Steam key.
- Boss Patron: design your own boss and have it hunt everyone else.
- Closed test server for backers, before updates go live.
The Banner universe
One banner, more stories
Banner of the Vanguard is a saga told in chapters. Rise of the Dragon is the first — the next three are already in the works.
- 01 Rise of the Dragon Chapter one — playable in your browser now Playable now
-
02 Last Bastion In the works
-
03 Forsaken Depths In the works
-
04 Festival of Heroes In the works
The stories for the upcoming chapters are being written right now.
Community
Where the Vanguard hangs out
Found a bug, beat a record or just want to see what's next? Say hello.
Press kit
Everything you need to write about it
Short description
Banner of the Vanguard: Rise of the Dragon is a pixel-art survivor roguelite for the browser. Slay hordes of enemies, collect the shards of a shattered banner and fight nine lords and the Dragon Lord.
Long description
The Vanguard has fallen and its banner lies in pieces. Armed with a weapon and a handful of abilities, you hold the line against waves that never stop coming, level up between fights and gather the shards that make the next run a little easier.
Behind every region waits a lord — nine in total, plus the Dragon Lord at the end. A weekly challenge and a shared leaderboard keep the competition alive, and the whole game runs in the browser on desktop and phone.
Factsheet
- Developer
- Cannotplay — Michel Hubrich, Germany
- Art
- Louis (sync)
- Status
- Open Beta, in active development
- Platforms
- Browser (HTML5) — desktop and mobile
- Price
- Free in the browser (open beta)
- Languages
- English, German
- Genre
- Survivor roguelite, bullet hell, pixel art
- Store page
- bannerofthevanguard.itch.io