Spirit is a bossrush style typing game. You need to fight a series of enemies by inputting certain commands, while also learning and avoiding their attack patterns. Here is a rundown of the core mechanics:

1. Movement

You position yourself on the battlefield by simply typing. When you input a letter you will instantly move onto the corresponding field. The letters you can input and their position varies level by level. 

Moving around will expend an energy called "Motivation". When you are out of Motivation you cannot move anymore. Standing still will regenerate your Motivation. The longer you stand still, the quicker it refills.

2. Executing Commands

Each letter you type is added together to form a word. This word is displayed as your current "Thought". When you hit the "Enter" key you will execute your current Thought. There is a limited list of possible Thoughts (think of them like CMD Commands) to execute, each with different effects. You will be introduced to the full list while playing the game. 

The most common Thought you will use is "ATTACK". By typing "A-T-T-A-C-K" and then hitting "Enter" you will deal some damage to your enemy's health. Completely depleting their health is the goal of each fight. If you make a typo or want to input a different command, pressing backspace will fully clear your current Thought. If you try to execute a non-existent Thought you will be stunned and unable to act for a short moment.

You can also use "Tab" to "Hold" your current Thought. This stores whatever you have currently input for later use and allows you to input a new command. Holding a Thought is very beneficial, since it allows you to prepare a situational Thought and immediately execute it when needed. However, you can only Hold one Thought at a time.

3. Enemy Attacks

Enemy attacks will be indicated by a yellow "X" which appears on the fields where the attack is going to land. Once the X turns red the field is currently being attacked and standing on it will damage you. You have 3 hitpoints in most encounters and being hit by an attack will always damage you by 1 hitpoint. Once you are out of hitpoints, you will need to start the fight from the beginning.

The key to avoiding attacks is timing and planning your inputs properly. For instance: you want to input "ATTACK", but you know the enemy is going to hit the fields containing the letters "C" and "K". You can start by inputting "A-T-T-A", then wait for the attack to hit, and continue typing "C-K" after the fields are no longer being attacked.

You can also "Dodge" attacks by hitting "Space". This will lock you in place, but give you a brief duration of invulnerability. Dodging consumes a large amount of Motivation so it should be used sparingly. Also some attacks last longer than your Dodge duration so you should be aware of enemy attack timings when using Dodge.

4. Parrying

Some enemy attacks can be parried. These attacks are always indicated by a yellow star, in addition to an audio cue. To parry an attack you use the "DENY" command. You need to be standing on a field which the attack is going to hit (indicated by the yellow "X"), and then execute "DENY" at the right moment. Successfully Denying an attack will stun the enemy. Some fights also offer additional rewards for Denying attacks. Denying is an important part of most fights so you should learn to make good use of it.

5. TL;DR

There is a tutorial ingame if you do not feel like reading all of this. Important: Time your inputs, learn enemy attack patterns, "ATTACK" and "DENY" are your best friends. Also there is autosave after every fight. This game can be janky and challenging at times. Enjoy