About Cleaver Duel

Cleaver Duel is a small, independent browser game about reading your opponent, committing to a throw, and making one more good decision than they do.

What it is

Two players join opposite halves of a circular arena. Each starts with 700 HP. A cleaver hit takes 100 HP, and the last player standing wins the round. The rules are intentionally simple: movement, one attack, two once-per-round abilities, and a mid-wall that disappears when someone reaches their final life.

There are no accounts, no downloads, no loot boxes, and no chat. You create a room, share a five-letter code or invite link, and play. A third visitor can open the same link to spectate.

How it works

Matches run directly between two browsers using WebRTC. One player's browser is the host and owns the simulation; the other predicts its own movement and interpolates the opponent. A small signaling service on Cloudflare Workers and Durable Objects helps the two browsers find each other. Game traffic does not pass through it.

That design keeps the game cheap to run and keeps the latency low on a normal connection. It also means the host has a small authority advantage, and a determined host could cheat. For a free game between friends, that is a trade-off we accept. If you want a competitive match, take turns hosting.

Art, sound, and code

The arena, characters, cleavers, effects, and interface are drawn procedurally in Canvas or built from original shapes. The game does not include third-party game assets. Sound effects are CC0 files; their credits are listed in the sound credits.

The client is TypeScript with no UI framework, built with Vite. The game simulation is a pure fixed-step module with unit tests. The signaling worker is a Cloudflare Worker with a Durable Object per room.

Why no accounts?

Because a duel should start in seconds. There is nothing to sign up for, nothing to verify, and no profile to maintain. Your sound and hotkey settings are stored in your browser's local storage only. If you clear site data, they reset.

Fair play

Play the game as intended. Do not use modified clients, automation, or exploits to gain an advantage. Do not harass other players or attempt to disrupt the service. There is no chat, but usernames and room codes are shared between players, so treat them with the same respect you would use anywhere else.

Feedback and bug reports

Cleaver Duel is a small project and improves from specific reports. If something feels wrong, tell us what happened, what you expected, which browser and operating system you used, and the room code if you have it. The contact page explains what to include.