The beta queue is open

From today, anyone can ask to play Orebound. Sign-up for the beta is live at orebound.app/beta, and the rule is the simplest one we could find: first come, first served. Your place in line is the moment you signed up, and we let players in a wave at a time, in that order.

How it works

1. Sign up. Enter your email at orebound.app/beta. You can also type it straight into the sign-in card on orebound.app: while the beta is invite-only, an address that isn't on the list yet is offered a place in the queue.
2. Confirm. We mail you a link. Open it and press the button within 72 hours. Your place was set when you signed up, so confirming tomorrow instead of tonight costs you nothing. No mail? Look in the spam folder, or sign up again with the same address after ten minutes for a fresh link.
3. Wait for your wave. The link in that mail is also your status page: open it any time to see where you stand. Early on, it simply says you're on the short list.
4. Play. When it's your turn, you get a mail that says "You're in". Sign in with the same address: we mail you a one-time code, no password. The mails for a big wave go out one after another, so yours can take a little while — your status page says you're in the moment you are.

Why a queue, and why waves

We could have opened the doors and hoped. A queue is fairer: nobody has to refresh a page at midnight, and nobody loses their spot to someone with a faster connection.

The waves are for us. Each one shows us how the servers hold up with more players on them, so we can fix what strains before the next wave goes in.

One place per person

A place belongs to the email address it was given to, and it can't be passed on. We keep an eye out for bulk and automated sign-ups. Anything that looks off is held for one of us to look at, and it keeps its place in line while we do — someone who signed up honestly loses nothing.

To spot bulk sign-ups, we keep the IP address and browser name a sign-up came from alongside the email. We delete them 90 days after we have decided on the sign-up, and a sign-up that is never confirmed is deleted after 72 hours.

Behind the scenes

Alongside the queue, we've built support systems for running the beta: the tools we use to look after sign-ups, look one up when you write to us, and let each wave in. If something about your place looks wrong, write to contact@heightmapgames.com.

If you joined our waitlist

If you put your name down on this site's waitlist before today: thank you. That list now carries the devlog and beta news, and it isn't a place in the queue. To get in, sign up at orebound.app/beta.

The beta is the game as it stands: a factory you build with friends in a browser tab, still changing every week. Expect rough edges — that is what a beta is for — and tell us about them. See you in line.