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A pendekar in blue with a red headband and checked sarong stands ready on a palm-lined island, with curling turquoise waves, a shark and sunlight across the sky.

A free MMORPG with a Malaysian soul

Pendekar

Your story starts
on the shore.

Learn silat. Cast a net. Cook your first catch. From the Perhentian Islands to Kuala Terengganu, find your own way through a world inspired by Malaysia.

Play free See how it plays
  • Free to play
  • No download
  • Desktop & phone
  • Saved to your account

Plays in your browser. Sign in with Google and your pendekar is kept for you.

What is Pendekar?

An old-school adventure across Malaysia.

A browser role-playing game in the spirit of the classics, set on the east coast of the peninsula. Three chapters are playable in the beta, with more of the country to come.

How it plays

A little practice.
A bigger adventure.

Simple things become a journey. Every lesson stays with you, and there is always another shore to reach.

The player draws a bamboo bow at Tok Ali's archery range, with the teacher watching.
Train

Learn from the masters.

Practise silat with Guru and draw a bamboo bow with Tok Ali. Find your stance, then make each strike count.

The player casts a circular jala net into the island's turquoise shallows.
Gather

Live off the island.

Cast your jala, bring in a catch and cook over Mak Jah's fire. Small skills will take you a long way.

A handmade perahu with a cream sail and painted red, green and yellow bands, moored on the beach.
Build

Make your way forward.

Cut timber, help Pak Mat build your perahu and set sail for Kuala Besut. The mainland is waiting.

Kem Bakau among the mangroves: plank walks over the blue lagoon between mangrove islands on arching prop roots, raiders on the walks with an alarm sign over one of them, and painted boats moored at the platform.
Fight

Break the raiders' hold.

Raiders hold the river and the coast road. Lookouts raise the alarm, named captains fight back, and a beaten boss stays beaten.

Skills

Ten skills. One journey.

No classes to choose. Every skill grows with use, and the people you meet will show you how.

  • Fishing Nelayan

    Cast a jala, work a hand-line and bring in the catch.

    Learn from Mak Long Esah

  • Woodwork Tukang Kayu

    Cut timber, make arrows and help build your perahu.

    Learn from Pak Mat

  • Cooking Masak

    Cook your catch over the fire, and burn less as you learn.

    Learn from Mak Jah

  • Archery Memanah

    Draw a bamboo bow at the range, then a horn bow.

    Learn from Tok Ali

  • Attack Serang

    Strike true with silat and the blade.

    Learn from Guru

  • Strength Kuasa

    Put your weight behind every blow.

    Learn from Guru

  • Defence Tangkis

    Turn aside the blows that come back at you.

    Spar with Abang Zul

  • Body Tubuh

    Grows with every hit you land, and sets your health.

    Learn by fighting

  • Mining Melombong

    Work the quarry for ore, with better seams as you learn.

    Learn from Pak Leh

  • Smithing Pandai Besi

    Smelt ore and shape your own tools at the hearth and anvil.

    Learn from Pak Leh

Ten skills, each to level 99. Every master was once an apprentice.

The world

Start small. Go further.

A small island, a fishing town, a river and a coast of raiders, with a whole country ahead. Follow the east coast of Malaysia, one chapter at a time.

The route of Pendekar across Peninsular Malaysia A pixel map of the peninsula in the game's own palette. Chapter 1, the Perhentian Islands, chapter 2, Kuala Besut, and chapter 3, Kuala Terengganu, are playable: a dotted boat route joins the islands to Kuala Besut, and a road runs down the coast to Kuala Terengganu. Chapter 4 continues south to Kuantan later, and then across to Kuala Lumpur. An inset shows the strait between Kuala Besut and the Perhentian Islands, about 18 kilometres across. THAILAND SUMATRA South China Sea Strait of Malacca TERENGGANU Kota Bharu Penang Langkawi Ipoh Kuala Lumpur Melaka Johor Bahru Tioman 1 2 3 4 PERHENTIAN ISLANDS CH 1 · PLAYABLE KUALA BESUT CH 2 · PLAYABLE KUALA TERENGGANU CH 3 · PLAYABLE KUANTAN CH 4 · LATER Kuala Besut Perhentian ~18 km THE CROSSING
  • Playable
  • Later
  • By boat
  • By road
  • Later
  • Town
Coastline and state borders from Natural Earth (public domain), drawn in the game's minimap palette: deep sea, a shallow ring, a sand rim and greens that darken inland. Terengganu, home of chapters 2 and 3, is outlined in gold.
  1. A painted kolek resting on the sand of the Perhentian Islands, with palms and the village beyond.
    Chapter 01 · Playable

    Perhentian Islands

    Wake on the shore. Learn from Guru and the islanders, then build the boat that carries you onward.

  2. The jetty, river and houses of Kuala Besut, the first mainland town in Pendekar.
    Chapter 02 · Playable

    Kuala Besut

    Make landfall in a fishing town. Trade your catch, find new clothes and meet other players by the river.

  3. Pasar Payang and the shophouses of Kuala Terengganu.
    Chapter 03 · Playable

    Terengganu coast

    Follow a missing boat upriver and down the coast, break the raiders' camps, and bring Nakhoda Bakar to account.

  4. Further ahead

    Across Malaysia

    More regions, foods and people, one journey at a time.

Good company

A few familiar faces.

Teachers, makers and neighbours. These are some of the people who will help you find your feet, share a little wisdom and send you on your way.

Guru: an old silat teacher with a white beard, a tall purple headcloth, a green top and a red sarong, holding a staff.

Guru

Silat teacher · Perhentian

Teaches the basics: food, fighting and the boat. Castaway's Training starts with him.

Tok Ali: an elderly archer with a white beard, a red headcloth, black clothes with gold trim, and a bamboo bow at his side.

Tok Ali

Archer · Perhentian

Lends you a bamboo bow. Hit his target ten times and archery is yours.

Mak Long Esah: a fisherwoman in a cream headscarf and a teal top.

Mak Long Esah

Fisherwoman · Perhentian

Net five fish and she shows you how to throw a net. You fish faster from then on.

Pak Mat: a grey-haired boatwright with a moustache, a white top and a brown checked sarong.

Pak Mat

Boatwright · Perhentian

Cut five timber for a better swing, and learn to make arrows at the boatyard.

Mak Jah: the island cook in a purple headscarf and top with a white apron.

Mak Jah

Cook · Perhentian

Cook four fish without burning them to learn her secret. You burn less food afterwards.

Abang Zul: a young silat fighter in black with a red sarong and a red headcloth, holding a rattan stick.

Abang Zul

Silat fighter · Perhentian

Spars with a rattan stick. Dodge eight strikes and earn a point of armour for good.

Encik Rahman: the harbourmaster, with a moustache, a white peaked cap and a white shirt with a navy front.

Encik Rahman

Harbourmaster · Kuala Besut

Keeps a ledger of every boat on the river, a post once called syahbandar. Landfall at Kuala Besut is his quest.

Kak Yah: the shopkeeper in a teal headscarf and a pink top.

Kak Yah

Shopkeeper · Kuala Besut

Buys your catch and sells clothes, food, arrows and a horn bow from her sundry shop.

Latest updates

A world that keeps growing.

Pendekar is made in the open, with a new version most days. Here is what arrived most recently.

At night in the banana grove off Jalan Besut, a pale woman in a long white robe with long dark hair stands among the banana plants.v0.59

The old people's tales

After dark someone weeps in the banana grove, a toyol creeps up to your purse, and the earth of the tin mine grumbles at a greedy pick. Hear the tale from Nek Kiah in Hulu Besut.

Read the update The Kuala Besut jetty at night, its lamps glowing over dark water, with a moon in the compass.v0.58

Night falls

A day and a night that every player shares, with lamps lit in the towns, crickets and owls in the forest, and a song for the dark.

 Lombong Timah from above: a sandy open pit, a sluice to a washing pool, the kongsi house and the furnace.v0.57

Lombong Timah

Pan for tin and gold flakes with Mak Bidah, dig the seams, and smelt tin bars at Ah Seng's furnace on Jalan Pesisir.
Every update in the build journal

Start playing

On the shore in three steps.

No download and no payment. Your journey is saved as you go.

  1. Press Play

    Sign in with your Google account. It keeps your pendekar safe between visits and devices.

  2. Meet Guru

    Choose your name and how you look. You can change your clothes later in the game.

  3. Wake on the shore

    Begin on the Perhentian Islands with your first lessons, then set out for the mainland.

Questions

Is Pendekar free?

Yes. Pendekar is free to play in your browser, with no subscription.

Do I need to download anything?

No. The game runs in a modern browser with WebGL, on a computer or a phone. There is nothing to install.

Is my progress saved?

Yes. Your character and progress are saved to your account, so you can carry on where you left off, on this device or another.

Can I play with other people?

Yes. The Perhentian Islands and Kuala Besut are shared: see other players walking about and talk with them. Your quests and progress remain your own.

Is the game finished?

Not yet. Pendekar is in beta and grows most days. Every version is written up, with pictures, in the build journal.

Community

Join the adventurers.

Every journey starts on the shore. Meet the newest players, read the Balai and follow the making of the game.

A growing world

New adventurers

View all players

The newest players to introduce themselves to Guru.

The island’s roll call

Loading adventurers…

NameDate joinedDays since joining

Days since joining counts calendar days since character creation, not active playtime.

There is more beyond the horizon

Your next chapter
starts here.

The road to Kuala Terengganu is open, and the raiders of the coast are waiting. Start on the islands, with lessons to learn and a boat with your name on it.

Play free See what is coming
Play free