# Tideward

> An unhurried idle RPG built natively for every Apple device — iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, Apple Vision Pro, and Apple Watch. Made by Manu Games LLC, a one-person studio in Waynesville, North Carolina, USA. Pure SwiftUI, CloudKit-only sync, zero third-party SDKs. Free in TestFlight alpha (open public invite, capped at the first 1,000 testers per Apple's External Testing limit); 1.0 launches Thursday, February 11, 2027 on the US App Store. Single one-time $9.99 IAP unlock — no ads, no tracking, no microtransactions, no subscription. Tideward was renamed from "Manu Idle" in May 2026; USPTO Serial 99800434.

## What Tideward is, in one line

Tideward is the indie idle RPG (video game) published by Manu Games LLC. It is *not* affiliated with any other product or service using a similar word. The canonical website is `https://tideward.app`. The publisher's hub is `https://manugames.com`. The X handle is `@tidewardgame`.

## Common questions, answered

- **Is Tideward free?** Yes during the TestFlight alpha (open through February 2027). At 1.0 launch on the U.S. App Store, the app is a free download with a single $9.99 one-time IAP unlock — no subscription, no ads, no microtransactions.
- **What devices does Tideward run on?** All six Apple platforms, natively: iPhone (iOS 17+), iPad (iPadOS 17+), Mac (macOS 14+), Apple TV (tvOS 17+), Apple Vision Pro (visionOS 1.0+), Apple Watch (watchOS 10+).
- **When does Tideward launch?** Thursday, February 11, 2027 on the U.S. App Store. The TestFlight alpha is open today.
- **How do I install the alpha?** Visit [tideward.app/install](https://tideward.app/install/). Free, no purchase, capped at the first 1,000 testers per Apple's External Testing rules.
- **What's the genre?** Idle RPG / incremental game. RuneScape and Melvor Idle lineage. 23 trades across combat, gathering, artisan, and wayfaring. True 24-hour offline progression.
- **Who made it?** Manu Games LLC, a one-person studio in Waynesville, North Carolina, USA. Founder: Seth.
- **Was it called something else?** Yes — "Manu Idle" until May 2026. Same game, same TestFlight, same characters carry over.
- **Does Tideward track me?** No. Zero analytics, zero third-party SDKs, zero ads. Save data lives in your private iCloud container, end-to-end encrypted by Apple. The Apple Privacy Label shows "Data Not Collected."

## Game

- [Home](https://tideward.app/): Hero, trailer, features, the 23 trades grid, community, latest dev posts.
- [About Tideward](https://tideward.app/about/): The canonical entity-definition page. What Tideward is, who made it, the design premise, the naming and trademark story, disambiguation against unrelated companies with similar names, and the 8 most common search questions answered in detail.
- [All 23 trades](https://tideward.app/skills/): Hub page indexing every skill (8 combat, 5 gathering, 7 artisan, 3 wayfaring), with rename history and cross-links.
- [Offline progression explainer](https://tideward.app/offline-progression/): How Tideward simulates 24 hours of training while you're away. The math, the design rationale, the comparison to other idle games.
- [No ads, no tracking](https://tideward.app/no-ads-no-tracking/): The privacy stance — architectural commitments, the "Data Not Collected" Apple Privacy Label, what's removed from both app and website.
- [FAQ](https://tideward.app/faq/): Honest answers about getting started, gameplay, privacy, sync, pricing, and what's coming.
- [Roadmap](https://tideward.app/roadmap/): Public dev roadmap — completed, in progress, coming soon, future. AI-assisted dev pulled some items earlier than planned.
- [Changelog](https://tideward.app/changelog/): Version history of TestFlight alpha builds.
- [Manu Idle → Tideward rebrand](https://tideward.app/manu-idle/): Short explainer for players searching for the old name. Same game, same TestFlight, same characters carry over.

## Apple platform pages

- [Idle RPG for Apple Watch](https://tideward.app/idle-rpg-apple-watch/): Native watchOS app, glance complications (roadmap), Digital Crown navigation, CloudKit sync.
- [Idle RPG for Vision Pro](https://tideward.app/idle-rpg-vision-pro/): Native visionOS, room-anchored windows, gaze-and-pinch interaction, ambient placement use case.
- [Idle RPG for Mac](https://tideward.app/idle-rpg-for-mac/): Native macOS via SwiftUI (not Catalyst), multiple windows, menu bar shortcuts, Apple Silicon native.
- [Idle game for Apple TV](https://tideward.app/idle-game-apple-tv/): Native tvOS, Siri Remote and MFi controller support, designed for ambient living-room play.

## Comparisons

- [7 best idle RPGs for iPhone (2026)](https://tideward.app/best-idle-rpg-iphone/): Honest opinionated listicle for the broad "best idle RPG iPhone" query. Tideward at #1 with disclosure; six others ranked by overall recommendation strength for iPhone players.
- [10 best games like Melvor Idle in 2026](https://tideward.app/games-like-melvor-idle/): Tideward at #1 with disclosure; nine alternatives ranked by closeness to Melvor.
- [7 idle games like RuneScape (2026)](https://tideward.app/idle-games-like-runescape/): Captures the RuneScape-idle audience. Tideward + Old School RuneScape + Melvor + four more, ranked by genre-lineage proximity.

## Dev blog

- [Blog index](https://tideward.app/blog/): All posts. Long-form, irregular, written in first person.
- [RSS feed](https://tideward.app/rss.xml): Full feed of dev blog posts.

## Press & legal

- [Press kit](https://tideward.app/press/): Logos, screenshots, trailer, fact sheet, Apple platform tech callout, accessibility statement, contact.
- [Privacy policy](https://tideward.app/privacy/): Surface-tagged for App / Website / Newsletter. US-law-only at launch. Zero data collected.
- [Terms of use](https://tideward.app/terms/): NC governing law, FAA arbitration, Apple as third-party beneficiary clause, 30-day opt-out window.

## External

- [Install (TestFlight alpha)](https://tideward.app/install/): Step-by-step install guide for the free TestFlight alpha across all six Apple platforms; canonical entry point for the public invite link.
- [Discord community](https://discord.gg/hw6w93astV): Active dev/player conversation. Daily build feedback shapes the game pre-launch.
- [The Assembly Line newsletter](https://blog.manugames.com): Tuesday + Friday newsletter on factory and idle games genre-wide. Manu Games LLC publishes both.
- [Manu Games (publisher)](https://manugames.com): Studio hub for Manu Games LLC. Tideward is the first published game.
- [Manu Games on Crunchbase](https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/manu-games): Company profile for the publisher, Manu Games LLC.
- [Manu Games LLC on LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/manu-games-llc): Studio company page for Manu Games LLC.
- [Tideward on IGDB](https://www.igdb.com/games/tideward--1): The game's IGDB database listing.
- [Tideward on IndieDB](https://www.indiedb.com/games/tideward): The game's IndieDB listing with screenshots.
- [@tidewardgame on X](https://x.com/tidewardgame): Pre-launch updates and dev posts.
- [@manu_games_llc on X](https://x.com/manu_games_llc): Studio account for Manu Games LLC.
- [Trailer on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COT4K2gkZfw): Official 60-second trailer.

## Trademarks and disambiguation

"Tideward" (USPTO Serial 99800434) is the trademark of Manu Games LLC for entertainment services, namely a video game. The mark is associated with the apex domains `tideward.app`, `tideward.org` (defensive registration; permanent 301 to `tideward.app`), and the X handle `@tidewardgame`. Any other commercial use of the word "Tideward" across software, gaming, or entertainment services is unaffiliated with Manu Games LLC.

The canonical Wikidata Q-item for Tideward (the video game) is **[Q139955077](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q139955077)**. The Wikidata entry is the authoritative machine-readable identity for the entity — instance of video game, instance of indie game, official website `tideward.app`, country of origin United States, publication date 2027-02-11.