Between Candles and Dreams: Chapter 1

The market closes.
The monitor flickers.
And before Robert can place one last trade, he wakes up somewhere else.
Between Candles and Dreams is a story-driven fantasy RPG where the emotions of trading — greed, fear, euphoria, panic, hope, and despair — take physical form. Charts become magic, market creatures become enemies, and the strange world around Robert is shaped by risk, loss, momentum, and the will to keep going.
You play as Robert, a worn-down trader pulled into a surreal fantasy realm built from his own watchlists, worries, and dreams. To find his way home, he must explore strange lands, uncover hidden abilities, defeat bizarre market-born monsters, and learn how to survive a world where every path feels like a trade.
Explore forests, ruins, caves, swamps, towns, and stranger places as the journey expands. Along the way, Robert will discover equipment, unlock traversal abilities, solve environmental puzzles, and battle creatures inspired by the language and emotions of the stock market.
This is not a trading simulator.
You do not need to know anything about trading to enjoy the game.
The market references are there if you get them, but at its heart, Between Candles and Dreams is about fear, failure, growth, and getting back up when the world tells you to quit.
Gameplay
Explore a fantasy world filled with secrets, enemies, hidden paths, and strange characters.
Open chests, find new gear, equip weapons and armor, and use different tools to progress through the world. Some areas may require special items, helmets, mounts, or abilities before you can move forward.
Combat mixes melee attacks, dodging, blocking, special abilities, and enemy-specific encounters. Some enemies are simple obstacles, while others represent larger forces in the world Robert has been pulled into.
As you progress, you will discover new ways to move through the world, including mounts, flight-based abilities, powerful jumps, underwater exploration, and other traversal upgrades.
Features
Story-driven fantasy RPG with a stock-market-inspired world

Exploration through forests, caves, towns, ruins, swamps, and other themed regions

Melee combat with weapons, dodging, knockback, and special abilities

Equipment system with weapons, armor, helmets, and traversal gear

Chests, pickups, inventory, storage, and item interaction

Rideable mounts

Flight, super jump, underwater, and other traversal mechanics

Environmental puzzles involving switches, pressure plates, locked paths, and hidden areas

Strange market-inspired enemies, bosses, and creatures

Stylized comic-like callouts and effects

Music, lore, and world-building tied to Robert’s journey

The Prologue / Chapter 1
The first release focuses on the opening part of Robert’s journey.
You’ll be introduced to Robert, his world, and the strange fantasy realm he is pulled into. The first chapter will focus on exploration, early combat, equipment, traversal, puzzles, and the first major pieces of the story.
The prologue/chapter is planned to include:
The opening story setup

A forest-based fantasy region

Early weapons and equipment

Chests, inventory, and item pickups

Puzzle areas and locked paths

Rideable mount gameplay

Early enemies and combat encounters

At least one boss or major story encounter

A self-contained chapter that leads into the larger adventure

The Full Game
The full version of Between Candles and Dreams will expand the world with more regions, enemies, bosses, abilities, characters, and story chapters.
Future areas may include places inspired by market fear, greed, liquidity, volatility, dark pools, margin, options, and other forces that shape Robert’s surreal journey.
Each new region is planned to introduce new mechanics, new equipment, new traversal options, and new characters who help reveal what this world really is.
Wishlist Between Candles and Dreams to follow development and get updates as the game grows.