Tzar is still in a very basic stage. As such, there is no plot. Simply create a character and wander around. Since this is in alpha, it is still quite easy. These are the default commands:

h/j/k/l) Move left/down/up/right, in the grand tradition. These will also scroll in some menus.

y/u/b/n) Move NW/NE/SW/SE.

i) Display inventory.

</>) Go upstairs/downstairs.

v) Examine items at current spot.

V) Examine items at other spot (use h/j/k/l to move).

,) Pick up items.

w) Wield an item.

u) Use an item.

d) Drop an item.

W) Wear armor.

U) Remove armor.

O) Wield an item in offhand or wear a shield.

M) Create monster (by name).

R) Force a refresh of the screen.

Q) Quit the game.

S) Save the game.

f) Shoot a ranged weapon (use h/l to choose target and f to confirm).

At the start of the game, you will be prompted to enter a name, then to generate a character using a point buy system. Use h/l or </> to navigate around your stats and items, and use j/k or +/- to modify them. Your current points (starting at 200) are listed in the top right. Each stat increase or purchase costs points, but you can refund them by lowering the stat or selling the item. When you are done, use shift + q to start the game.

These values above are just the defaults. You can edit them, and many other values, in a configuration file. The configuration file, named .tzarrc is found at $HOME/.tzarrc, although the present working directory will also be searched. This file is composed of configurations of the form name=value (one per line). Comments are marked with the # sign (which must be the first non-whitespace character), and whitespace is ignored (as is case for the name side of the statement. For example, a sample configuration might look like:

#Don't use the standard hjkl movement
move=42867913<>
 
#Use pretty colors
color=on

This tells tzar to use the numberpad for movement (see below for why the keys are in such strange order), and to use colors. Option names are converted to lowercase, and the entire line is stripped of whitespace (meaning that the space character cannot be assigned to a command), so the following lines all do the same thing.

#Use pretty colors
color=on

#Use pretty colors
COLOR = YeS

#Use pretty colors
C    ol  OR        =1