The goal
Two guilds, Ember and Tide, build on a 5×5 cliff-top square of the city. Each guild has two builders.
You win the moment one of your builders moves up onto a level-3 roof (from level 2). You also win if your opponent, on their turn, has no legal move-and-build.
The pieces
- Tiers stack on a square: level 1, then 2, then 3. On the board each tier is a smaller, lighter block on top of the last, with its level number in the corner.
- A cap (the round blue dome with a lantern) finishes a spire. Nobody can ever stand or build on a capped square.
- The box holds 22 level-1 tiers, 18 level-2, 14 level-3 and 18 caps. When a kind runs out, nobody can build that level any more. The counts left are in ⋯ → Game info.
Setting up
The starting player places both of their builders on any empty squares, then the other player places both of theirs. Everything starts at ground level.
Your turn: move, then build
- Move one of your builders to one of the 8 squares around it (straight or diagonal). The square must be empty and not capped. You can go up at most one level, and down any number.
- Then that same builder builds on one of the 8 squares around its new position. The square must be empty (no builder) and not capped. Building adds one level: ground → 1 → 2 → 3 → cap. You may build on the square you just left.
You must both move and build. If you can't do both, you lose. Moving up onto level 3 wins at once, so you don't build that turn.
Tips
- Standing on level 2 is powerful: any level-3 square next to you is a winning step.
- If a rival builder on level 2 is next to a level-3 square, cap it (build on it) or you'll lose next turn. Such squares are marked with a red corner.
- Don't build a level 3 next to a rival builder standing on level 2.
On this screen
- Tap one of your builders (they pulse when it's your turn), then a gold square to move there. A star marks a winning move.
- Then tap a violet square to build. Changed your mind? Tap Cancel move before building.
- The last move is drawn as an arrow, and the square just built on has a ring.
- The ⋯ menu has Undo (takes back your last turn), Game info (pieces left, the board key and the log) and New game.
- ⋯ → Play a friend online gives you a link to send. Your friend opens it and you play on your own devices. Undo and the computer are off in online games.
Talents (optional)
Turn on Talents in ⋯ → New game and each guild gets one special power. Dealt gives each side a random talent. Draft offers three: the player who moves second picks first, then the starting player picks one of the other two. Tap a talent's badge beside a player's name to read it during the game.
Computer levels
Easy looks one turn ahead and often misses your threats, so it's a good first opponent. Normal looks three turns ahead. Hard searches as deep as it can in half a second.
How the levels did against each other in test matches (base game):
| Match | Games | Won |
|---|
| Easy vs a careful beginner | 40 | 60% |
| Normal vs Easy | 20 | 100% |
| Hard vs Easy | 20 | 100% |
| Hard vs Normal | 20 | 95% |