The mustached hero of Keepwatch raises his sword against a Chinese spearman, a Roman legionary and a Viking on a dirt road, a castle under a dark eclipse behind them.

A hero who lives above your taskbar.

An idle auto-battler RPG that runs quietly on your desktop. Build the camp, gear up your only hero, and let them hold the road while you get back to work.

Wishlist on Steam Play the free demo

Out November 16, 2026Windows8 languages

A cozy desk at dusk. The monitor shows the Windows desktop with Keepwatch running in a thin strip along the bottom: the hero walks past a stone castle.

a kingdom in a strip of your screen

Your desktop. Their kingdom.

Keepwatch lives in a thin band just above the Windows taskbar. You work, browse or play something else; your hero wanders, works and fights on their own.

Never steals focusIt stays out of your way and never interrupts what you are doing.
Glance in any timeSomething is always happening on the road when you look down.
Progress while it's closedThe camp keeps working even when the game isn't running.

the daily loop

Build by day. Hold the road by night.

Left, a sunny morning at camp: the hero chops wood next to his tent, forge and cooking pot. Right, night under the eclipse: the same hero clashes swords with a Viking and a Roman legionary.

sunrise to dusk

Gather, craft, build

Your hero chops wood, breaks stone and mines iron, then turns it into gear and new buildings back at camp.

after dark

Raiders march in

Enemy waves come for the camp. Your hero closes in, strikes and uses skills automatically. What wins is how you prepared.

five buildings · ten tiers each

From a patched tent to a timber hall

Every building grows with you. Here is the House, tier by tier, straight from the game.

House

Your hero earns experience here while idling around camp.

Ironsmith

Weapon and armor upgrades. Higher tiers raise your odds.

Kitchen

Recipes that feed your hero's endurance and recovery.

Workshop

Clothing, bags and potions for the road.

Vault

Keeps your gold and best loot safe.

crafting & upgrades

Gear worth the gamble

Gear doesn't just get better, it gets rarer. Early upgrades always land. Push further and an attempt can fail; push past the halfway mark and the item can burn back to +1.

A +10 weapon is a season goal, not an evening goal. Your forge tier and a pity counter keep the odds on your side.

Weapon upgrade ladder

+1 to +10

+10

Always succeedsCan failCan burn the item

+2%per forge tier, up to +18%

+7%per failure in a row, up to +42%

+55%maximum combined bonus

The hero stands ready with sword raised while a Viking and a Roman legionary charge in behind him.

enemies

Ten cultures. Read the silhouette.

Every night wave mixes raiders from ten cultures. Culture is cosmetic; the silhouette tells you the threat before the first blow.

ArabianBritishChineseFrankHoly RomanIberianJapaneseRomanTurkishViking

RaiderLight and fast. Dangerous in a crowd.

SoldierPartial armor, often a shield.

ChampionFully armored. Slow, and hits hard.

new in 1.0

Past the camp, the castles wait

A map four rings widerThe world map grows to 331 hexes. The outer rings are harder, and the further you travel from camp, the stronger the enemy.
Twelve castles to takeBreak the gate, hold off the sally waves, then beat the commander in the courtyard. A taken castle stays yours, pays tribute every dawn and becomes a forward base for your trips.
Field battlesEnemy armies muster in camps across the map. March out and break them wave by wave until their commander rides out.
Your friends' heroesCall AI-controlled copies of up to two Steam friends' heroes into a siege or a field battle while they play Keepwatch. Your hero can fight in their battles too.
Steam Cloud savesCarry on from another PC. Progress from the free demo carries over to the full game.