How the game works
Your goal is to take land, grow your economy, and defeat the other nations. You do not directly move armies tile by tile. Instead, clicking on land starts an attack that automatically expands from your existing border.
1. Troops
Your troop number is your available army.
When you click on land, some of your troops are committed to that attack. They are no longer available for another attack or for defending immediately.
The important control is the Attack force slider:
25% means: commit roughly 25% of your current troops.
50% means: commit roughly half.
100% means: commit almost everything.
For a first game, keep it around 25–40%. Do not use 100% unless you are sure the attack will succeed.
If you commit 100% and click again, you can quickly put your entire army into attacks. This is why the land may suddenly flood forward while your available troop count reaches zero.
You can see active attacks in the attack list. If an attack is going badly, use its Cancel button. This returns the troops that have not already been used.
2. Why land sometimes expands slowly and sometimes quickly
The speed depends on several things:
How many troops you committed.
Whether you are attacking neutral land or another player.
How much defending army the opponent has.
The terrain and any forts.
Whether another attack is pushing against you.
Neutral land is usually easier and can be taken quickly. Player territory is harder, especially when the opponent has a large troop concentration or a fort.
A large attack force can therefore look like a fast flood-fill, while a smaller attack moves slowly and steadily.
The safe approach is:
Click nearby neutral land.
Wait for the attack to make progress.
Keep some troops in reserve.
Only start a second attack when you still have enough troops to defend yourself.
3. Workers
The Workers slider controls how much of your population is focused on making gold instead of growing troops.
More workers = more gold income.
Fewer workers = faster troop growth.
A balanced starting point is around 40–60% workers.
For example:
Use more workers when you want to build cities or buy troops.
Use fewer workers when you are preparing for a major attack.
Do not leave workers at 100% if you are about to fight, because your troop growth will be slower.
4. Gold
Gold is used for:
Buying troops.
Building cities.
Building ports.
Building forts.
Gold mainly comes from your land and buildings.
Cities
Cities increase your gold income. They are best placed on safe interior land that you expect to keep for a long time.
Ports
Ports must be placed near the coast. They increase income and support trade ships. Put them on coastal territory that is reasonably safe.
Forts
Forts are defensive buildings. They make territory harder for another player to capture. They are most useful on:
Border tiles.
Narrow entrances.
Important coastal positions.
Territory facing a strong enemy.
Buildings should not be placed randomly. Cities belong in safe areas, ports on coasts, and forts on borders.
5. Buying troops
The current “250g” label is misleading.
Buying troops is not currently a single fixed 250-gold purchase. The game spends as much of your available gold as it can afford, up to your troop capacity. That is why clicking it can drain almost all of your gold.
That is a game-design problem, not something the player is doing wrong. The button should either:
Buy a clearly stated fixed amount for 250 gold, or
Be labelled “Buy all affordable troops” and show the exact amount before confirming.
A safe first-game strategy
Set Attack force to 25–40%.
Set Workers to about 50%.
Take nearby neutral land slowly.
Do not repeatedly click while an attack is already active.
Watch the active attack list.
Keep some troops uncommitted.
Build one or two cities in safe territory.
Build forts on borders when another player approaches.
Lower Workers temporarily before a major attack.
Never commit 100% of your troops unless you are intentionally making an all-in attack.
The most important rule is:
Every click is an army commitment, not just a selection. Keep a reserve.
The criticism is fair: these mechanics are currently not explained well enough in the interface, and the troop-buy button especially communicates the wrong thing.
