Raise an army. Claim the relics. Break their keep.
Version aadceeef
Choose a game
Options
Computer skill
Fog of war
Game speed
Tutorial tips
Play online
Host a match
Players
Game
Join a match
Connection trouble?
If the code will not connect, try the manual route, where you swap two long codes yourselves (two player only):
Not connecting? Both of you can run a one-minute check of your network and browser, then send the report to whoever is helping you.
How to play
Quick controls
W A S D or the arrow keys move the view; the mouse wheel zooms; Tab shows the whole map.
Drag a box or click to select troops (V selects them all, double-click selects every troop of that kind). Esc deselects.
Right-click the ground to move, right-click an enemy to attack. G attacks the enemy keep, H calls troops home.
Ctrl + 1 to 9 saves the selected troops as a group (Shift + number works too, if your browser uses Ctrl + number for its tabs); press the number to select that group again. P or Alt+click pings the map.
T turns on click to send: a plain left-click sends the selected troops (handy with a touchpad).
Z / X keep upgrades, R repair, E Call to Arms. Troop upgrades and buildings are in the Troops and Keep rows.
The world
Each side holds a keep in a corner of an open battlefield. Every wave, fresh troops gather at your keep and wait for your orders. Earn gold, upgrade your keep to add new kinds of troops, and send your army across the field. Destroy the enemy keeps to win.
Game types
Pick one on the home screen: Tutorial, 1 v 1, Free for all, 2 v 2 or Online. Under Options you set the computer skill (Easy, Medium, Hard or Expert; every level gets exactly the same gold as you and only plays better or worse), fog of war, game speed and tutorial tips; they are remembered on your device. With fog of war on, the computers only know about the troops their side can see, just like you.
Four player match: four keeps, one in each corner. You are top left. Free for all, or a team game where every player picks team A or B and the host (or you, against computers) puts the computers on teams.
One against one: a smaller map with the keeps in opposite corners. You are top left.
Online: choose Online on the home screen, press Host a match and send your friends the 5-digit code; they type it into the code box and press Join. Everyone should use the same link, so you all have the same version. Empty seats are played by computers. Only the host can change the speed or end the game, and a player who leaves is replaced by a computer.
Watching: once an online match has started, anyone with its code can press Watch on the Online screen. Watchers see the whole map a few seconds behind the players and cannot give orders (up to 4 at a time).
Replays: at the end of a game press Save replay to download it as a small file, or Watch replay to see it again. The home screen can play your last game or open a replay file. A replay only plays in the same version of the game it was made in.
Colours: on the same screen everyone picks a colour. The first to pick a colour gets it, so nobody else can; the host picks the computers' colours.
Peoples: before every battle everyone picks a people. Each computer makes its own pick, which you can change.
Playing
Your people: each has a blessing and a basic melee troop that comes with every wave.
Keep upgrades: three steps, each a choice of two. Press Z or X to pick (or click the card). Every choice changes what your waves bring: from then on each wave is made of the new troop, while troops already on the field stay as they are. It also decides what the next step offers: the warrior path leads to knights or barbarians, then to holy or dark knights, warlords or giants; the ranged path leads to longbows or mages, then to siege engines, marksmen, archmages or healers. Hover a choice to see what comes after it. The steps cost , and gold.
Repair: press R to restore keep health (each repair costs gold more than the last, and not while the keep is under attack). Keeps never mend by themselves, so repairs are the only way to restore health; the keep must not have been hit for seconds.
Troop upgrades: Weapons, Armour, Vitality and Swiftness, four levels each, in the Troops row at the bottom: level 1 any time, level 2 after your first keep upgrade, level 3 after your second, level 4 after your third. Only troops trained after you buy them get the bonus; troops already out stay as they are.
Keep buildings: Watchtower (keep arrows hit harder and further), Barracks (one more troop in every wave), Market (more gold) and Walls (more keep health and armour), in the Keep row. Each has 4 levels: level 1 any time, level 2 after your first keep upgrade, level 3 after your second, level 4 after your third.
Arrows and shields: shots fly to where the shooter aimed, so a soldier that stops or turns can dodge them. Close-combat troops carry shields and take 15% less damage from arrows, bolts and blasts.
Retreating: troops walking away under a move order take extra damage from foes close behind them, so pull back before a fight turns, not in the middle of it.
Call to Arms: press E to send an extra wave of your current troops right away. Its price follows the size of your waves and rises by gold with every call, and you can call once every seconds. Useful for a big push, a desperate defence, or gold you have nothing else to spend on.
Counters: every troop belongs to one of three counter types, shown on its button: melee beats ranged, ranged beats heavy, heavy beats melee. The two choices at each step of the tree always belong to different types. (Mages, archmages and siege engines count as heavy: their blasts break melee crowds.) A winning matchup does % more damage and a losing one about % less: a clear edge, so a counter of the same level usually wins, though a much bigger army can still beat it. Look at what the enemy fields and pick what beats it.
Gold: income every 3 seconds, a little with every wave, a bounty for every kill, and gold for destroying a keep.
Troops: they wait at your keep until you order them. Click a soldier, or hold the left button and drag a box round several (Shift adds); drag to the edge of the screen and the view scrolls while you keep drawing the box. With troops selected, pick a Formation in the box on the right (Line, Column, Wedge, Box, Circle, Loose, or None) and every move order lines your troops up that way, facing where they are going: heavy troops at the front, ranged troops at the back or in the middle. Double-click one of your troops to select every troop of that kind you have. Click any troop or keep, yours or the enemy's, to see what it is and its stats at the side of the screen. Then right-click the ground to move them or an enemy to attack it. A move order is obeyed even in the middle of a fight; troops fight again once they arrive. V selects everyone, G attacks the enemy keep (fighting on the way), H sends them home, Esc deselects. P (or Alt+click) pings the map for your side; it is only a suggestion: nobody's troops are forced to move, and computer allies may or may not follow it. Ctrl + a number (1 to 9) saves a group and the number selects it again.
Healing: troops close to their own keep slowly heal (% of their health a second, once they have not been hit for seconds), but not while any enemy soldier is within of that keep.
Relics: seconds after the last one was taken, a new relic appears in the middle of the map; a countdown at the top shows when the next one comes, seconds ahead. While soldiers of two enemy sides stand within of it, it is contested and nobody can take it: clear the area first. Otherwise the first soldier to touch it gives their side a bonus for seconds: more damage, more speed, more armour, or healing. The computers go for them too.
Chat (online games): press Enter, type and press Enter again. The button next to the box switches between All players and Allies only. Swear words are blocked.
Camera: Move it with the arrow keys, W A S D or by pushing the mouse against a screen edge, drag with the middle button, or click the minimap. The wheel zooms, Tab shows the whole map and Home jumps to your keep.