Your Chronicle is a free text based idle RPG by Samurai Games, released on Steam on 4 April 2021 and also playable in a browser. You start in a village with a father telling you to be strong and save your mother, and you progress by spending Action points on button driven tasks like picking weeds and chopping wood. More than 3,000 story actions sit behind it, across 19 documented areas that run from the starting Village to the Akashic Record.
This guide covers everything you need: core mechanics, the best builds, equipment worth investing in, location progression, and the tips that actually make a difference.
Core Mechanics
Action and Stamina costs
Almost every task spends Action, and looped tasks spend Stamina on top. Picking Weeds in the Village costs 0.40 Action for 0.505 Gold and one Weed, while Chopping Wood in the Forest costs 0.8 Action and 0.5 Stamina per log, so regeneration rate is the real bottleneck.
Habit points and Routines
Routines are passive actions funded by Habit points, and Habit can be refunded and reallocated at any time for free. The Routine menu splits into Sacred Ritual, Energy, Familiar, Will, Warrior and Gluttony tabs, with Worship acting as a morning routine that improves Sacred Ritual effects.
Sacred Ritual ranking
Sacred Ritual converts accumulated Exp into Rank. Each Rank adds one to your Habit cap and grants Inspiration, with higher Ranks granting more, and the scaling is logarithmic against an adjustable base.
Dark Ritual prestige
Dark Ritual is the prestige reset. It wipes Rank and basic Routine levels except Energy, and converts banked Next Talent into Current Talent, which permanently multiplies Sacred Ritual Exp gains.
A party of ten allies
You field up to ten allies. The first five fight using their stats, skills and passives while the last five contribute passives only. Allies come from research dropped by defeated enemies, and once an ally maxes out, spare research raises their Luck stat, which lifts research drops for the whole party.
For a deeper dive into how these systems interact, see our Your Chronicle combat guide.
Builds Overview
| Build | Tier | Playstyle | Key Stats |
|---|---|---|---|
| Energy Routine | A | Versatile approach | Balanced stats |
| Familiar Routine | A | Versatile approach | Balanced stats |
| Will Routine | A | Versatile approach | Balanced stats |
| Warrior Routine | A | Versatile approach | Balanced stats |
| Gluttony Routine | A | Versatile approach | Balanced stats |
For full build breakdowns with gear and stat priorities, see our Your Chronicle builds guide. For rankings, check the tier list.
Equipment Guide
| Equipment | Why It Matters | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| Wooden Sword | The first equippable weapon, adding roughly 10 percent physical attack. | The first few hours, before mana crystals are plentiful enough for anything better. |
| Steel Sword | A physical attack percent weapon that gains magic attack percent and Destiny regeneration as you feed it mana crystals, and picks up guard break at higher levels. | Mid game, once mana crystal income is steady. Players generally advise holding off before that. |
| Leather Shield | The starter defensive piece, adding defence rather than offence. | Early dungeon floors where an ally dying costs you the whole run. |
| Item Pouch | Increases resource capacity instead of combat stats. | Offline heavy play and Gluttony builds chasing capacity milestones. |
| Spirit Orb | Adds an extra damage effect and, more usefully, removes the need to sink Habit into elemental MP routines. | Players who want Habit points back for Energy or Gluttony instead. |
Wooden Sword: The first equippable weapon, adding roughly 10 percent physical attack. It levels with crystals up to level 5, where it picks up a maintenance ability.
Steel Sword: A physical attack percent weapon that gains magic attack percent and Destiny regeneration as you feed it mana crystals, and picks up guard break at higher levels.
Leather Shield: The starter defensive piece, adding defence rather than offence. It is cheap enough to slot immediately and rarely worth taking off afterwards.
Item Pouch: Increases resource capacity instead of combat stats. Capacity is a hard ceiling on idle progress, so it frequently outperforms a weapon in actual output.
Spirit Orb: Adds an extra damage effect and, more usefully, removes the need to sink Habit into elemental MP routines. The Habit it frees up is worth more than the damage it adds.
Full breakdowns in our Your Chronicle weapons guide.
Location Progression
| Location | Level Range | Key Rewards |
|---|---|---|
| Village | Chapter 1, your first session | Gold, Weed, Destiny, plus the Edge of Town, Riverbank, Waterfall and Dim Cave dungeons |
| Forest | First few hours | Wood, Wheat, Mushrooms, Apples, storage capacity upgrades, a cafeteria |
| Academic City | Mid game, after several Sacred Ritual ranks | New action types and resources beyond wood, weeds and wheat |
| Coastal City | Varies | Progression materials |
| Akashic Record | Endgame, many resets in | Reincarnation progress, Sin, retained nonhuman allies |
Village: The starting area and the one you return to most. It holds Pick Weeds, cooking recipes from Bread through to Cream Stew, donation actions that pay Destiny, and the loop actions Rest, Recover Stamina, Concentrate and Pray at two seconds each.
Forest: The second area, built around Chop Wood at 0.8 Action and 0.5 Stamina per log, alongside Harvest Wheat, Carve Wooden Statues, Milk Cow and Churn Butter. The Lumberjack Workshop here raises storage across four conversations.
Academic City: The third of the 19 documented areas, arriving straight after the Forest. City areas trade the raw gathering loops of the Village and Forest for study and crafting actions.
Akashic Record: The last of the 19 documented areas, past the Demon Kingdom and the Astral World. Progress here is one of the few things retained through Reincarnation, the reset layer that sits above Dark Ritual.
See our maps & locations guide for detailed area breakdowns and our walkthrough for the optimal progression path.
Tips That Actually Matter
- Habit points can be refunded and reallocated at no cost, so treat every Routine allocation as an experiment rather than a permanent commitment.
- Energy is the one basic Routine category that a Dark Ritual does not reset. Habit spent there survives prestige, which makes it the safest early investment in the game.
- Sacred Ritual converts Exp into Rank and each Rank adds one to your Habit cap. If your Habit cap feels tight, the answer is more Sacred Rituals rather than a cleverer allocation.
- The Exp counter in the Sacred Ritual menu can go negative for a while. The wiki confirms this is expected behaviour and not a broken save.
- Do not rush your first Dark Ritual. It zeroes Rank and basic Routine levels, and it only pays for itself once your banked Next Talent multiplier outweighs what you are giving up.
- Loop actions run on real timers: Rest, Recover Stamina, Concentrate and Pray take two seconds, Make Medicine four, Craft Potions ten and Craft Elixir forty. Queue the long ones before you close the client.
- Your party holds ten allies but only the first five fight. Put your five strongest stat and skill allies at the front and treat the back five purely as passive ability slots.
- Eight elements exist: Fire, Water, Wind, Earth, Thunder, Ice, Light and Dark, each with its own strengths and weaknesses. A party stacked into one element hits a wall the moment it meets its counter.
- When an ally reaches maximum level, further research raises their Luck stat, which lifts research drop rates for the entire party. Overlevelling a favourite ally is therefore not wasted.
- The Forest cafeteria sells three stat boosting meals at 200 Gold each and they are mutually exclusive. Pick the one matching your current Routine build rather than buying by price.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Performing a Dark Ritual early because it sounds like progress. It zeroes Rank and basic Routines and returns only the Talent you had already banked.
- Leaving Habit points unspent. They do nothing in reserve and can be reallocated at any moment, so idle points are pure lost output.
- Ignoring storage capacity. Resources stop accumulating at the cap, so a full bin can waste an entire offline session.
- Building a party from a single element because those allies happen to have the best raw stats.
- Buying all three Forest cafeteria meals expecting them to stack. They are mutually exclusive and cost 200 Gold each.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Your Chronicle free?
Yes. It is free to play on Steam, released 4 April 2021, with optional in app purchases and a Ruby premium currency used for shop upgrades such as Habit Efficiency plus, Seeds plus and Exp plus.
Does progress continue offline?
Yes. The game applies an offline bonus when you return and Routines are passive by design, so closing the client is part of the intended loop rather than a penalty.
What are the reset layers?
Three. Sacred Ritual converts Exp into Rank, Dark Ritual resets Rank and basic Routines in exchange for Talent, and Reincarnation sits above both, retaining nonhuman allies and their levels, Astral World and Akashic Record progress, and paying out Sin.
How many areas are there?
Nineteen are documented: Village, Forest, Academic City, Coastal City, Spirit Spring, Ancient Ruins, Desert Lodging, Smith's Village, Valley Village, Frozen Lake, Holy City, Evil City, Dragon Village, Magic City, Gourmet Town, Mountain Town, Demon Kingdom, Astral World and Akashic Record.
Is equipment worth the cost?
The cheap pieces are. The Wooden Sword, Leather Shield and Item Pouch pay for themselves quickly, while players generally advise holding off on the Steel Sword until mana crystals are plentiful. The Spirit Orb is valued mainly for freeing Habit points out of elemental MP routines.
More Your Chronicle Guides
- Your Chronicle Best Builds
- Your Chronicle Tier List
- Your Chronicle Walkthrough
- Your Chronicle Beginner's Guide
- Your Chronicle Tips & Tricks
- Your Chronicle Weapons Guide
- Your Chronicle Combat Guide
- Your Chronicle Boss Guide
- Your Chronicle Maps & Locations
- Your Chronicle Crafting Guide
- Your Chronicle Classes & Characters
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