Topics
How to play
Roads and places
Roads are fast, even through woodland and mountains.
The places on the map belong to whoever holds the land under them. Villages and mines bring gold, a castle protects the land around it, a watchtower sees far and shows how strong your attack on the enemies around it would be, and a world wonder makes the whole realm earn points faster.
One big volcano island lies in every world. A crater wall rings its summit, with three passes through it, and two narrow land bridges lead over from the mainland. Inside the wall rises the volcano itself, one great cone of dark basalt. Over its crater a fire crystal floats in chains. Whoever holds it strengthens his whole realm, but the volcano erupts again and again, and its lava burns the land on the slope.
Taking the fire crystal is the goal of every round: a card at the start says so. It glows in the colour of its holder, a flag over it stands out at every zoom, and a golden ring marks it on the small map. One key flies you there (V by default, see Controls).
Road
The wave flows 1.7x faster along it, also through mountains and woodland. Nothing can be built on it.
Castle
Shelters the land around it: there an enemy gets only 2 pieces of meadow per point.
Village
+0.5 gold per second for its owner.
Mine
+1 gold per second for its owner.
World wonder
The whole realm gains points 25% faster. Worth a fight.
Watchtower
Lookout on the map. Whoever holds it sees 120 pieces far; your land alone sees 24. Shows for every enemy with land in that range which share of his land your attack would take: the only source of the strength sign. It cannot be built: take the land it stands on.
Mercenary camp
Base of a band of mercenaries. They spread on their own and attack whoever borders them. Take it and you get 15 gold, once, and all the land of that band.
Fire crystal
Floats in chains over the crater of the volcano, reached through the passes of the crater wall. Whoever holds it gives his whole realm 20% more points and gold per second, and earns 1 gold per second himself. Mercenaries gain nothing from it. Lava never reaches it. It glows in the colour of its holder, and its flag shows that colour at every zoom. Press V to fly there.
Crater wall
No wave can cross it. Into the crater only through the passes. Nothing can be built on it.
Lava
About every 30 s the volcano erupts; the crater glows 4 s before. Lava runs down one or two of its channels in 8 s: every piece it reaches belongs to nobody, and what was built there is destroyed. Hot lava stops every wave for 20 s, then it cools to dark rock. 1 point takes 12 pieces. Nothing can be built in a channel.