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The Metaware map: a painted walled town on a river among farms and vineyards, with a clock and menu buttons
The painted map of Metaware in our playthrough.Screenshot: Arcanum RPGs, captured 28 Oct 2026

Metaware

A web RPG with an AI game master that plays like a visual novel — a painted map, scripted story threads and open play in between, a visible dice roll behind the combat, and top-ups that can only be paid in Cardano's ADA.

Best for: Players who want a story-first RPG with a painted map, quests, an inventory and a visible to-hit roll — and who are comfortable paying with a Cardano wallet once the free credits run out. Last reviewed: October 2026
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Metaware is a browser-based RPG with an AI game master, made by Ofir Geller and played at ofirgeller.com. Its front page offers one line of pitch — “an RPG with an AI game master” — and one line of setup: you have no idea who you are or what brought you to the western edge of the crumbling empire. Behind a free sign-up, you play on a painted map of a walled town on a river, among farms and vineyards, with a clock that counts hours and dates in the game’s own calendar.

It feels more like a visual novel than a game board. Some events and quests are scripted to give you a proper thread to follow; for most of what you do, you are in control. Around the story sit an inventory menu, a quests menu and a heads-up display. When a fight starts, the game shows its working on screen: the roll, the number you needed to hit, and the reasons behind that number.

We played as an ordinary free player, on the free tier alone. Free credits limited us to about two hours of play over two days. Within that time, three things stood out, and each has its own section in our first look:

  • The look and the theme hold up. The opening is atmospheric and consistent, and the painted map sets the tone well.
  • The polish thins out as you collect things. Looted items have no pictures, and equipping an item swaps its picture for a blank square with the item’s name.
  • Payment is ADA only. Once the free credits run out, credits can only be bought by sending Cardano’s ADA to an address from a wallet. The purchase page sets a minimum of $10 and a maximum of $1000 per purchase, and credits are non-refundable.

Models

The game’s public pages do not say which AI model runs the game master, so we cannot name one. We will add it if the developer publishes it.

Pricing

Metaware is free to start, and free credits run out. After that, credits are prepaid and bought in a single way: you pick an amount between $10 and $1000 USD, then send ADA to the address shown (or scan the QR code) from any Cardano wallet. According to the purchase page, payments usually confirm within minutes; credits match your quote 1:1 while ADA’s price stays within 5% of it, and larger moves are credited within 5% of the market rate instead; a request expires after 3 hours, and a late payment is still credited at the market rate when it confirms. Credits are prepaid service credit: non-refundable, non-transferable, and not convertible back to ADA.

We have not seen a price per turn or per hour of play, so we cannot say what a session costs. We will add a pricing table if the developer publishes one.

We haven’t rated Metaware, and won’t while it is in this early state. See our first look for what two hours showed — a rated review follows once we have played enough to test it properly. (Metaware is an independent project by Ofir Geller; Arcanum is unaffiliated with it. Cardano and ADA are named only to describe the payment method.)

Building an AI RPG platform, or part of the team behind Metaware? See how to work with Arcanum.