Screenshots
Watch trailer on Steam ↗The Spirit Engine DX
Mark Pay, Aquellex · Published by Aquellex · Official site ↗
Last updated 4 Oct 2026
What happens when one woman's scientific ambitions go unchecked in a world dictated by magic? The upheaval of three lives who'd have otherwise never met each other in this JRPG-inspired, sidescrolling autobattling adventure with real-time pausing & tactics!
Indie, RPG, Strategy · 2026 · More free games
Explore a world where science collides with magic through The Spirit Engine DX, an indie RPG and strategy game that blends JRPG-style autobattling with tactical real-time gameplay.
About this game
The Spirit Engine DX is a complete rewrite of the cult classic indie title from 2003 by Mark Pay. Instead of using a traditional turn-based system, an auto battler with real-time pausing is opted to allow players to switch tactics at their own pace without constant menu prompts.
Caution: Controller support is not available yet!
Gameplay & Features
Choose 3 characters from a roster of 9 (that's 27 permutations!) to embark on this journey, each of them bringing their own personality and specialisations to the fight. They'll also converse with each other in different ways depending on whom you select!
Clara, Pippa, and Eisfford are Mages who excel in offence and defensive shielding, but have limited means of healing from taking damage.
Peter, Edward, and Samuel are Riflemen who take the most direct approach in their dead-ahead tactics whilst being able to restrain enemies and patch up their own wounds, but cannot hit enemies instantly like the other classes can.
Clemetas, Zepher, and Matthieu are Priests who take up their rifles from their oaths to their denominations and are masters of support, increasing everyone's effectiveness, restoring their allies' health and mana, and putting the Undead back where they belong. They however, lack adequate AoE damage.
4K, 32:9, 21:9 and 16:10 widescreen support with pixel scaling
Rebindable hotkeys & hotkey overlays (also you can now sprint, making the game less of a walking simulator!)
Have up to 3 'quick-select' attacks per character with hotkeys!
You no longer need to set up attacks through a separate menu - just set them directly within the battle via radial menus
Discord Rich Presence
Difficulty settings! Switch to 'Easy' to enjoy all the story, or lock on 'Hard' and skip the dialogue to focus on the combat gameplay. Try the brand-new 'Absurd' mode featuring enemy-rotating logic & Absurd-exclusive moves by completing the game at least once!
System Requirements
Will my PC run this? →Minimum
- OS: Windows 10, 11
- Processor: 64bit Intel compatible Dual Core CPU
- Memory: 2 GB RAM
- Graphics: Intel HD Graphics
- DirectX: Version 11
- Storage: 200 MB available space
- Sound Card: Realtek High Definition Audio
- Additional Notes: 1080p or greater recommended. Requires Microsoft Visual C++ 2015-2019 Redistributable (x64). Game logic runs on delta time, capped at 1000 FPS.
Supported Languages
Latest news
Community & EventsOfficial
New Music & Returning to ANZ Indie Fest 2026!
We're featured in ANZ Indie Fest!The Spirit Engine DX is part of ANZ Indie Fest, and now is a great time to get involved!"Advance Release" PlaylistTo celebrate the rebirth of The Spirit Engine, we are publishing music ahead of the soundtrack release on a special playlist. Click here to listen & follow the Playlist on your platform of choice. Right now you can jam to "this Place is Cursed," the re-imagination of Homestead, and "Failstate," the evolution of Security Breech. Thanks for the support — and thanks to ANZ Indie Fest for featuring the game. Listen to the "Advance Release" Playlist9+ Studio Musicians and counting!Right now over nine studio musicians have supplied their talents to our soundtrack, and there are more coming. We have a few surprises along the way! Fans of GunGirl 2 will be pleased, but that's not all...If you click this little 🎵 emoji in our discord server, you could be enjoying even more exclusive WIPs from the soundtrack! We'e shared demos of Demoxius Phase, The Granael, The Mana Tidebreak, and tons of other little tidbits, including sheet musics!I heard there was gonna be flutes...Game Development ProgressThe game is fairly close to being complete. We are polishing some final details and preparing for our pre-launch marketing beats which we hope to serve hot towards the end of this year.We are extremely grateful for the support we've received so far - but the need for Wishlists in our attention-hungry global economy is real, so if you have the courage to support Frontier Corp. in our goals for world domination, please share the game with your friends!At some point in the future we'll have a new trailer, and we've been chatting in the discord about updating the demo to feature more content and some new music ahead of upcoming festivals. Come cheer us on!p.s. if generative AI is pizzicatoin' you off, us too! I made this in Blender with my fists! Did you get this far? Teleport inside of the game and help us fight A.I. :ok! run away, this place is...Read full article on Community Announcements (bluekangaroo)AnnouncementsOfficial
Soundtrack Reboot!
Same Music - New Sound - Real Musicians Fans of the original game will remember the Original Soundtrack to the Spirit Engine was crafted with digital samples and a retro flavor. The original composer (that's me!) returns to merge the retro sounds with studio musicians to take the vibes to a whole new level of production and quality, and to breathe new life those old tracks.Upon release, the game will feature the new and old soundtracks with a classic "choose your adventure" toggle in the settings menu.he's really floored about the whole thing! Soundtrack Singles on Streaming Platforms In true 2026 marketing fashion, I'll be releasing singles from the new soundtrack every 3-4 weeks as best I can manage.Today was the first release of HOMESTEAD's Theme, called "this Place is Cursed:"🎧 Stream it now: https://joshwhelchel.com/releases/cursed Weekly Previews on Discord Every week I'll be dropping previews of the new soundtrack (with highlights from the studio musicians) on Discord, with our first previews being of Homestead and Security Breech (the World 5 battle theme).🐸 Join our discord: https://discord.gg/5mrXzyh2zJ There will be LOLsTo promote the game and its soundtracks, I've been crafting a series of short reels that place me in the world of The Spirit Engine. You can help support us and increase the game's reach by following me on those social networks that you find an affinity for. (RIP your attention span).- 🐸 Instagram: www.instagram.com/josh.whelchel- 🧛🏻 TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@joshwhelchel- 😎 YouTube: Thanks for humoring me!~ Josh WhelchelRead full article on Community Announcements (soundofjw)AnnouncementsOfficial
Participating in Flash Game Vibes + how to access World 2 in the demo
Alright guvnors? Participating in yet another festival, only this time its aesthetic is Flash Game Vibes! Kudos to Amy from Rogue Duck Interactive for selecting us! Take a look at all the other games participating, too!I still find it interesting that the original Spirit Engine was made during a time whilst Flash was taking off, other middleware such as Multimedia Fusion (now Clickteam Fusion), Game Maker and RPG Maker were still getting started with their communities!Now, if you've completed the demo, why not try reloading into Giant's Top and getting to the World Complete screen, then Shift-Clicking the End Demo button? All of World 2 is actually buried in the demo! Have fun outrunning the blob!~aqxRead full article on Community Announcements (bluekangaroo)AnnouncementsOfficial
The Spirit Engine DX is also a part of ANZ IndieFest 2025!
G'day! Overlapping festivals!?Special thanks to Bec over at The Indie Brew for letting us in with this fitting opportunity, as an Aussie myself! But what is this game now? 50% British (Mark), 50% Aussie (me)?Little fun story: here are scans of the very magazine I discovered the original Spirit Engine from as a kid! This was when dialup was still common throughout Australia, and it would still be another few years till my family got ADSL2+. The Sonic Adventure DX demo on the same disc was also another highlight, and my poor old PC back then could not run the FarCry demo 😭Alas, I've lost the original disc & case! (peep the bottom left corner!)Go check out the other Aussie & Kiwi games here! I think I spot a couple of international titles too 🧐And while you're at it, if you haven't yet, go give the demo a try! And why not peep the compendium, too?~aqxRead full article on Community Announcements (bluekangaroo)AnnouncementsOfficial
Demo is now LIVE! + Best Indie Games Fall Showcase!
Alright, guvnors? We're pleased to announce that we're a part of Best Indie Games' BIG Fall Showcase, a moment we feel privileged to be a part of!Take a look at the showcase premiere!And check out the Steam event, too! Extreme kudos to Clemmy for the amazing opportunity!The demo is now LIVE! Fly, my pretty, fly!Read full article on Community Announcements (bluekangaroo)
