About Pixel Vigil
Pixel Vigil is a free survive-the-night horde game you play right in your browser. You are a lantern keeper on a dark field, and the creatures of the night are coming: bats, wisps, ghouls, bog slimes, charging boars, hex eyes and hollow knights, more of them every minute, until hundreds fill the screen. You only walk. Your weapons fire on their own, and every choice you make is about where to go next and which card to pick.
A night lasts fifteen minutes. Gems level you up with a choice of cards, chests evolve your best weapons, a campfire every three minutes opens a shop, bosses come at five, ten and fourteen minutes, and when dawn breaks the night is yours. The gold you bring home buys permanent upgrades and new keepers for the next night.
How to play
- Walk. Arrow keys or WASD, a gamepad stick, the touch stick, or hold the mouse button to walk toward the pointer.
- Let your weapons work. They fire on their own; keep the swarm in front of them and do not get boxed in.
- Collect gems to fill the XP bar, and pick one of three cards at every level-up.
- Build up to six weapons and six passives; weapons reach level 8, passives level 5.
- Evolve: a level 8 weapon plus its paired passive turns into something far stronger when you open a chest.
- Shop at the campfire every three minutes, or keep the gold to bank it at dawn.
- Read the warnings: a boar shows a ! and a line before it charges, hex eyes glow before they shoot, bosses slam inside a red circle that fills up.
- Survive until 15:00 and dawn wins the night.
Controls
| Action | Keyboard / mouse | Phone / tablet | Gamepad |
|---|---|---|---|
| Walk | ← ↑ → ↓ / WASD, or hold the mouse button | Stick, or DRAG anywhere (OPTIONS) | Left stick or D-pad |
| Pick a card | ← → and Enter, or click it | Tap it | D-pad and A |
| Reroll cards | R or click REROLL | Tap REROLL | X |
| Pause | P / Esc | Pause button | Start |
| Mute | M | Sound button | – |
Weapons and evolutions
| Weapon | What it does | Passive | Evolution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spark Wand | Bolts at the nearest foe | Clockwork | Star Storm |
| Moon Sickle | A crescent that flies out and back | Wide Lens | Eclipse Scythe |
| Ember Ring | A burning ring around you | Hearth Stone | Sun Halo |
| Star Orbs | Stars circle you for a while | Hourglass | Constellation |
| Thunder Bell | Lightning on random foes | Four-Leaf | Storm Cathedral |
| Frost Shards | A fan of ice that slows | Twin Mirror | Blizzard Crown |
| Sun Flask | Bursts into a burning pool | Moss Charm | Everspring |
| Thorn Lash | Lashes sideways through a crowd | Iron Heart | Bramble Tempest |
The other passives are Feather Boots (speed), Lodestone (pickup range), Bark Skin (armor) and Owl Quill (XP). Every recipe is also in the game's COLLECTION screen.
The three nights
- Moonlit Meadow: grass, graves and the first horde. Open from the start.
- Hollow Crypt: flagstones and candles; foes have 25% more health and you earn 25% more gold and score. Survive ten minutes to open it.
- Ember Wastes: cracked, glowing earth with lava vents that erupt under your feet; 50% tougher foes, 50% more gold and score. Reach dawn in the Hollow Crypt to open it.
Tips
Move in wide circles
Walk in long arcs around the swarm instead of back and forth. The horde trails behind you in a line, right where your weapons hit hardest.
Plan an evolution early
Pick a weapon you like, take its paired passive when the card shows up and keep leveling it. The first elite arrives at 1:15 and the first boss at 5:00, both with chests.
Break the lanterns
Lanterns drop honey cakes, gold, magnets, sunbursts and frost clocks. A sunburst saved for a swarm ring is a lifesaver.
Spend or bank?
A campfire trinket makes this night easier; banked gold makes every future night easier. Early on, a Whetstone or Trail Bread is rarely a bad buy.
Read the full Pixel Vigil guide for every keeper and every danger of the night. Want more? Grow from minnow to shark in Pixel Gulp, fight ragdoll duels in Splat Swords, or read about games to play when the internet is down.
Pixel Vigil FAQ
Is Pixel Vigil free?
Yes. Pixel Vigil is a free survive-the-night horde game in your browser, with no download and no account. Signing in is optional and only adds the online leaderboards, daily quests, cosmetic skins and keeps your gold and upgrades with your account.
Can I play Pixel Vigil offline?
Yes. Open the page once while you are online and your browser keeps the game. After that every night plays with no connection at all, and your gold, upgrades, keepers and longest nights are saved on your device.
How do I attack?
You do not: your weapons attack on their own. You only walk, and where you walk is the whole game: lead the swarm round, pick up gems, break lanterns and stay out of the circles and lines that warn of an attack.
How do level-ups work?
Defeated foes drop gems. Walk over them to fill the XP bar at the top; every full bar is a level and the game pauses to offer three cards (four with luck): a new weapon, a new passive, or a level for one you already have. You can carry six weapons and six passives. Weapons go up to level 8 and passives to level 5.
How do I evolve a weapon?
Get a weapon to level 8, own its paired passive (any level) and open a chest. Glowing elites and bosses drop chests. The Spark Wand evolves with Clockwork into the Star Storm, the Moon Sickle with the Wide Lens into the Eclipse Scythe, and so on: every recipe is listed in COLLECTION on the title screen.
What is the campfire?
Every three minutes a campfire burns the swarm away and opens a shop for the gold you have collected that night: trinkets that add stats (many with a downside too), a feast that heals you to full and a polish that levels up a weapon. Gold you do not spend is banked when the night ends.
What does banked gold buy?
Permanent UPGRADES on the title screen (might, vigor, armor, recovery, speed, magnet, luck, growth, greed, haste, reach, an extra projectile, a second wind and rerolls) and new keepers. NEW GAME on the title screen starts over: it erases gold, upgrades and unlocks but keeps your longest nights, your collection and your high scores.
Who are the keepers?
Eight keepers, each with a starting weapon and stats that help and hurt: Wren the Lamplighter (Spark Wand), Bram the Woodcutter (Thorn Lash), Mira the Moonwitch (Moon Sickle), Oss the Bellringer (Thunder Bell), Kai the Frost Ranger (Frost Shards), Nell the Herbalist (Sun Flask), Sol the Ember Monk (Ember Ring) and Orla the Star Seer (Star Orbs). Some are bought with gold, others join you after a feat.
How does the scoring work?
A night scores 1 point per foe defeated and 5 per second survived, plus 1,500 if you reach dawn, multiplied by the night: x1 in the Moonlit Meadow, x1.25 in the Hollow Crypt and x1.5 in the Ember Wastes. The Pixel Vigil leaderboards keep your best night, with a separate Hardcore board.
How do I play on a phone?
Tap the game to play full screen and turn the phone sideways. An analog stick walks; there are no attack buttons because your weapons fire on their own. Prefer to steer with your finger? OPTIONS > CONTROLS: DRAG lets you touch anywhere and slide, and the keeper follows your finger from where it already is. Level-up cards and the campfire shop are tapped directly.
Can I turn off the damage numbers?
Yes: OPTIONS > DAMAGE NUMBERS. They are small and short-lived and never drawn over your keeper, but you can switch them off for a cleaner screen.
Related guides
- Pixel Vigil Guide: Keepers, Weapons, Evolutions and DawnHow to play Pixel Vigil, the free survive-the-night horde game: controls, level-up cards, weapons and evolutions, campfire shops, upgrades and keepers.
- Games to Play When the Internet Is Down (No Wi-Fi Needed)What you can actually play when the Wi-Fi drops: games built into your browser, offline-ready web games, and how to prepare so the next outage isn't boring.
- Free Browser Games With No Download and No Sign-UpWhat "free" really means for browser games, how to spot the catches, and an honest look at how NoInternet Arcade is paid for: ads, an optional pass, no paywalls.
Last updated: · NoInternet Arcade
