Press Kit · Updated May 3, 2026

Cover Tideward.

An Idle Almanac for every Apple device.

Everything you need to write about, stream, or feature Tideward — a peaceful idle RPG built natively for iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, Vision Pro, and Apple Watch.

Quick Facts

Title
Tideward (subtitle: An Idle Almanac)
Developer
Manu Games LLC (solo, one-person studio)
Headquarters
Waynesville, North Carolina, USA
Founded
2026 — NC-formed LLC
Genre
Idle RPG / Incremental
Platforms
iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, Apple Vision Pro, Apple Watch — single Universal app
Languages at launch
English (US App Store)
Pricing model
Free download with $9.99 IAP unlock (single one-time purchase, no subscription, no ads, no microtransactions)
Engine / language
Pure SwiftUI, SwiftData, CloudKit private database — zero third-party dependencies
Status
TestFlight alpha (open invite, capped at first 1,000 testers per Apple's External Testing limit); 1.0 launch February 11, 2027
Trademark
USPTO Serial 99800434 (TIDEWARD, filed May 2, 2026)
Press contact
support@manugames.com
Review keys / TestFlight
Open public link below until 1,000 spots fill; press requests after that go through support@manugames.com (priority slot reserved). Link remains accessible through launch +30 days.
Website
tideward.app (game) · manugames.com (publisher)
Social
@tideward · Discord

About — short

Tideward is a peaceful idle RPG for every Apple device — iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, Vision Pro, and Apple Watch — where you tend a small coastal world through 23 trades, even while you sleep, with zero ads and complete privacy.

About — 150 words

Tideward is an unhurried idle RPG built natively for the Apple ecosystem. Players tend a small coastal world through 23 trades — combat, gathering, artisan, wayfaring — that progress in real time and continue training for up to 24 hours of true offline progression. Built in pure SwiftUI for iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, Vision Pro, and Apple Watch as a single Universal app, Tideward uses CloudKit for seamless cross-device sync without requiring accounts or servers. The app ships with zero third-party SDKs — no analytics, no crash reporters, no advertising libraries — earning Apple\'s App Privacy Nutrition Label "Data Not Collected" rating. Pricing is a single one-time purchase ($9.99 unlock) with no subscriptions, no microtransactions, and no ads, ever. Currently in TestFlight alpha; 1.0 launches Thursday, February 11, 2027. Built by a one-person studio in Waynesville, North Carolina.

Key Features

  • True 24-hour offline progression. Close the app, your character keeps training. No throttle, no ad-watch button, no premium gate. How it works.
  • 23 distinct trades. 8 combat, 5 gathering, 7 artisan, 3 wayfaring. RuneScape-rooted skill design with modern indie sensibility. Full list.
  • Single Universal app across six Apple platforms. iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, Vision Pro, and Apple Watch — one purchase, one character, CloudKit sync.
  • Zero third-party SDKs in the binary. No analytics, no crash reporters, no advertising networks. Apple App Privacy Label: "Data Not Collected." Privacy stance.
  • Native SwiftUI everywhere. Not a Catalyst port, not a web wrapper, not a Unity build. Pure Apple-framework architecture top to bottom.
  • Premium one-time purchase. $9.99 unlock, no subscription, no microtransactions, no FOMO mechanics, no battle pass.
  • Community-driven development. Active Discord with weekly TestFlight builds shaping the game pre-launch.

Apple Platform Tech

Built natively in Swift and SwiftUI for iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, Vision Pro, and Apple Watch as a single Universal app. iCloud sync uses CloudKit private database — no account creation, end-to-end encrypted by Apple. SwiftData drives all persistence. Live Activities and Smart Stack widgets surface current XP and offline-progression status on the Lock Screen and StandBy. App Intents expose key actions to Shortcuts and Siri. Game Center integration is on the roadmap before 1.0 for opt-in leaderboards. The watchOS, tvOS, and visionOS builds use the same SwiftUI codebase as iPhone with platform-appropriate idioms (Digital Crown navigation on Watch, Siri Remote / MFi controller on TV, gaze-and-pinch + room-anchored windows on Vision Pro). The app is offline-first; CloudKit sync resumes silently when a network is available. Zero third-party SDKs, zero analytics, zero advertising libraries.

Accessibility

Tideward\'s primary tasks are designed to be fully usable with VoiceOver, Dynamic Type, Reduced Motion, Larger Text, Bold Text, and Increase Contrast. All animation is purely decorative and is suppressed under Reduce Motion. The game is fully playable with one finger and never requires multi-touch, gesture chaining, or time-pressured input. There is no audio-only or motion-only information path. Color contrast meets WCAG AA across UI states. Haptics are tied to a single Settings toggle. Game Center milestones (when active) are announced via VoiceOver. The first launch experience is fully usable with VoiceOver and Larger Text from 17pt to 56pt. Accessibility Nutrition Label support is in active audit before 1.0 submission.

Description — long-form

Tideward is the rare premium idle RPG built without compromise. Most games in the genre are F2P mobile titles built in Unity or a similar cross-platform engine, ad-supported, with offline-progression caps and "watch a video to extend" patterns that train players to never own their experience. Tideward goes the other way: pure SwiftUI for the entire UI, CloudKit private database for all data, zero third-party dependencies in the binary. Apple\'s App Privacy framework rewards this with a "Data Not Collected" label that almost no game in the same App Store category can honestly earn.

The game itself is built around three principles: respect for your time (24-hour true offline progression with no throttle), respect for your privacy (no tracking, no analytics, no advertising IDs, ever), and respect for your intelligence (deep RPG systems with real choices — 23 trades, the combat triangle, equipment specialization). Players coming from Melvor Idle, RuneScape Old School, or NGU Idle will find the genre DNA familiar. Players who\'ve never touched an idle RPG before will find the onboarding and pacing designed for them too.

The cross-platform scope is what most differentiates Tideward from the rest of the category. The same Universal app — and the same one-time purchase — covers iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, Vision Pro, and Apple Watch. Train Forging on iPhone at the bus stop, switch to it on Vision Pro at your desk, check progress on Apple Watch on a walk, end the day with Hearth on Apple TV. Same character, same save, same purchase.

Brand Assets

Logos, app icons, screenshots, and key art for editorial use. Please don\'t modify the logos or use them in misleading contexts. Tideward is a USPTO-filed word mark (Serial 99800434).

Tideward app icon (dark variant)

App Icon (Dark) — Full Res PNG

Tideward app icon (light variant)

App Icon (Light) — Full Res PNG

Screenshots

Raw in-app captures, no marketing text overlay. Use as-is or compose into story context.

Tideward on Mac — combat interface with offline progression summary Tideward on iPad — Forging trade with full almanac visible Tideward on iPhone — Woodcutting trade progression and inventory

Trailer

Official 60-second trailer. Embed below; YouTube and direct link available for editorial use.

YouTube: youtu.be/COT4K2gkZfw

Quotes

[Reserved for review snippets at launch +14 days. Pre-launch coverage and TestFlight feedback may be shared by request.]

Studio Bio (~80 words)

Manu Games LLC is a one-person studio based in Waynesville, North Carolina. Manu Games builds quiet single-purchase software for Apple platforms — small games and small tools, made in Swift, made to last. Tideward is the studio\'s first published game, with launch planned for February 11, 2027. The studio has no investors, no publisher, and no plans to ship outside the Apple ecosystem. Press, reviews, and TestFlight requests: support@manugames.com.

Contact