How to play

The short rules. The in-game tutorial shows the rest.

A round

Every round has two phases: buying in the tavern and a fight against one of your opponents. Your board stays: wounds, buffs and summoned creatures carry over from round to round.

Your hero loses health from strikes in combat (and from the Demons' blood cost). Out of health — out of the game. A battle royale has up to 100 players; only one is left standing.

The tavern

Creatures are bought with gold, and every round brings more of it. The offers can be refreshed for gold or frozen until the next round.

Upgrading the tavern unlocks higher-tier creatures. A sold creature brings 1 gold and goes back into the shared pool.

Squads

Identical creatures stack into a squad: it hits harder, but damage kills its creatures one by one. The bigger the squad, the more dangerous it is — and the longer it lasts.

Combat

Sides take turns: each turn one creature strikes once. You choose who strikes and whom — an enemy creature, or the enemy hero when no Defender stands in the way.

Keywords change the rules of combat — see the list below.

Your hero

Your hero is your health in the match and a tree of nine skills. XP for enemies killed levels the hero up; skill points unlock combat, tavern and passive skills.

Keywords

Defender: While it is on the board, enemies can only attack Defenders — not other creatures or the hero.
Carapace: Fully absorbs the first damage it takes, then cracks. Restored at the start of every Buy Phase.
Ranged: Takes no retaliation damage when it attacks.
Inspiration: Strikes twice per combat: the second strike follows right after the first.
Swift: After this creature strikes, the turn stays with you: another of your creatures may strike at once.
Madness: Each attack is three strikes on random enemy creatures, each of which strikes back. Never attacks friends.
Cleave: Its strikes also hit the target's neighbours.
Vampirism: Heals for the damage it deals to enemies and infects a surviving target with Vampirism.
Poison: A strike that damages an enemy adds a poison stack equal to this creature's attack. The stack ticks at the start of the owner's turns: N, N−1, N−2 (never below 1), exactly 3 times. Unfinished stacks carry into the next combat.
Poisoned: Takes poison damage at the start of its side's turns until the stacks expire.
Regeneration: Fully restores its health at the start of every Buy Phase.
Healer: Striking an ally or your hero heals them by its attack (if wounded or poisoned) and removes all poison from the ally. The Healer's retaliation against an ally heals and cleanses too.
Invisible: Cannot be attacked while the enemy has other targets. Lost when it attacks.
Cannot Attack: This creature cannot attack.
Machine: A dwarf-made mechanism. Changes nothing by itself, but engineers empower it.
Legacy: When this squad dies, its gains over its base stats (one creature's attack and health) go to the neighbour on its left, else on its right.
Blood Cost: An extra purchase price paid in hero health together with the gold. You cannot buy if the hero would be left with 0 health.
Hero Aura: Received a bonus from a passive hero skill (once per creature).
Risen: Raised by necromancy. When it dies, it will not rise again.
Drowned: Until the end of combat. Every hit that lands on a Drowned creature heals the opposing hero by 1.