To start playing, click the SWORD & HAMMER logo above/left and enter a name for your character. If this is your first time playing and you are prompted for a password, that name is probably already taken. Press ESCAPE to return to the name prompt and try a new name. Continue through the prompts until you are launched into the game. If you are unsure what to do at any step, just press ENTER to accept a default / random choice and move forward.
The upper left part of the game screen is a map showing the world around you. This is Genoa Station, where all adventurers begin their journey. Your character, represented by two letters, will always be in the center. Other characters should be moving around, such as Mm Militia Men, Iw Iowyn the healer, Bf Beastly Fidos, or other players.
Press the arrow keys ↑ ↓ → ← to move around the map. Diagonal movement is possible by pressing two arrow keys at the same time. Pressing ↑→ will move ↗, or northeast. Rapidly pressing arrow keys will build up a movement queue. Each step is shown in reverse color on the map to indicate where your character is going. Press the space bar to immediately stop what you're doing.
Besides arrow keys, many other keys will do things when pressed. Try i to see your inventory (items you are carrying), s for your score sheet, and n to bring back the list of nearby entities. The area of the screen in which these are shown is called the context window.
Messages are displayed across the bottom; this area is called the chat box. Press " (double quote), type a message, and hit enter to send a chat message to all players in the game. Say hello! Similarly, ' (single quote) is used to speak just to those nearby on your map.
Sometimes the chat box is too small, and important messages scroll away too quickly. Press ` (back-tick, over by your ESC key) to toggle large-chat mode back and forth. You won't be able to see much else, but a longer message history is available.
Hot keys are actually shortcuts for commands. For example n is a shortcut for :nearby. Commands are entered by pressing : (colon), typing the command name, any arguments, and pressing ENTER. Try entering the :help command to see a list of help topics in the context window.
At the top right corner of the context window you will see numbers like 1/3. This means you are viewing page 1 of 3 pages about help. Press the + and - to scroll through the pages. _ and = work too so you can just hit those keys without worrying about whether you're holding SHIFT or not.
Every command has a help file, for example :help attack will tell you more about :attack. Many other topics are available too (try :help death).
A list of hot keys and the commands they invoke can be viewed with :keys.
Find the entrance to the Goblin Cave in the northwest corner of town. It looks like a black hole in the ground surrounded by dirt and will show up on your nearby list as well. Walk into the black hole, and you will appear in the first level of the Goblin Cave. Once there, look for a rock. It'll appear as :r on the map. Walk on top of a rock and press g to grab it. Now wear (equip) it by pressing w, type rock, and hit ENTER.
This your first example of a hot key that provides a partial command: it needs more input to be completed. The final command should be :wear rock. Press e (:equipment) to confirm you are now holding the rock.
Go whack a goblin! Look around for a gg character and walk up to it. Avoid any Great Goblins, GG; they will attack on sight and are too ferocious for you to handle right now. Once standing next to a suitable goblin, use the a hotkey to attack. :attack needs to know what/where to attack, so continue by typing gg or an arrow key and hit ENTER.
Watch your HP (hit point) bar located just below your name in the top right area of the screen (status window).
After fighting the goblin for a while, run back to town and find Iowyn to heal you. If you're brave, you can fight to the death, but you're taking a risk! You die when your HP are depleted; you will start over with a new character. Unlike many other games, death carries a heavy penalty here, it really is the end of the road.
Enter :reward as a gift for following the tutorial this far. Find Burleyman in his shop towards the southeast corner of town. Stand next to him and use the :shop command to see what's for sale. Use B \s to buy a short sword. Entities like objects can be referred to using their symbol (\s, case-sensitive), their name ("short sword"), or sometimes aliases (short or sword). If multiple objects on the list match, the one lowest on the list is picked, so be specific when needed.
Just like you did for the rock, w \s will equip your new sword. Now you're a little more dangerous. Go back to the Goblin Cave and try fighting another Goblin. Or, head out east from town into the Murky Wood.
Explore the world!
Your character dies when they run out of hit points (HP). Inventory is dumped on the ground and your is equipment left on your corpse. Most of your experience and any levels you gained are lost. Depending on how much XP (experience points) you gained while adventuring, you make be entered into the leader board (:leader). Death is inevitable in this world; the goal is to see how far you can go before it cactches up to you.
Death is a means of renewal, beginning again with a new adventure. While dead, a number of commands are available for customizing your character:
If you find you aren't happy with your current character and want to start over, use :retire.
Remember that every command has a help file, for example :help swap will show more information about the swap command.