F A C E T

Objective

Win by Regicide (capture the enemy ♚ Monarch), Coronation (hold all Throne tiles for a full round — your opponent gets one chance to contest before you win), or Elimination (capture all enemy agents, leaving a bare monarch).

The game is a draw if the side to move has no legal moves (stalemate), or by mutual agreement — either side can offer a draw, and the opponent may accept or decline.

Terrain tiles

A stone's move is granted by the tile it stands on — not by the piece itself. Moving to a different tile type changes what you can do next turn.

• • Field — step 1 square in any direction (8 neighbours)
• ♜ Tower — slide any distance horizontally or vertically (rook)
• ♝ Spire — slide any distance diagonally (bishop)
• ♞ Gate — leap in an L-shape, 2+1 squares (knight); jumps over pieces
• ♛ Throne — slide any distance in all 8 directions (queen) + win objective

The Monarch ♚

Each side has one Monarch (center of the back row). The Monarch ignores terrain — it always moves exactly 1 step in any direction, regardless of the tile it stands on. Losing your Monarch loses the game.

Capture

Land on an enemy stone to capture it (remove it from the board). You may not land on your own stones. Sliders (Tower, Spire, Throne) are blocked by any piece in their path — they stop on or before it. The Gate leaps over everything.

Optional modes

Terrain decay — when a stone leaves a special tile, the tile degrades one tier (Tower → Spire → Gate → Field). Thrones never decay. Power is a resource: every slide spends the tile you left.

Fog of war — you see only around your own stones (radius 2, monarch radius 3). Thrones are always visible. Enemy stones you spotted earlier linger as faded ghosts where you last saw them — they may have moved since. If your slider runs into a hidden enemy mid-path, you bump: the slide stops there and captures it. The AI plays under the same fog, with the same kind of memory you have.

Momentum — a stone that leaves a special tile keeps that tile's rank for one more move, on top of what its new tile grants. The retained rank shows as a small badge on the stone (for both sides — it's public information) and expires after the next move. Leaving a Throne keeps the queen-slide for a move, so throne raids have an exit. Not combinable with decay or fog.

How to play

Choose your side before starting: white moves first — first move is a real advantage, so playing black is the harder game (Random keeps you honest). Your stones always start at the bottom. Tap/click a stone to select it — legal destinations light up green. Tap a green square to move. The AI plays the other side automatically.

Each stone's icon shows the move it currently has (from its tile). The faint watermark on each tile shows which move that tile grants.

Strategy tips

• Watch the tile, not the piece — the same stone is a Field-walker one move and a rook the next, purely from where it stands.
• The Gate ignores everything in its path — in cramped, piece-dense positions it's often the only stone that can reach a square this turn.
• Never let the Monarch's safety rest on "they probably won't find a way in" — Regicide ends the game outright, no matter your material lead.
• Coronation gives the opponent exactly one turn to contest a Throne you're locking down — that turn is your last chance to break the hold.
• Running the enemy down to their last non-Monarch piece is just as final as capture — count remaining agents, not just position.
• In Fog, a ghost marker is memory, not certainty — don't slide a valuable piece through a square you merely remember being empty.

Quick reference

Tile	Grants	Tile	Grants
• Field	step 1	♞ Gate	knight leap
♜ Tower	rook slide	♛ Throne	queen slide
♝ Spire	bishop slide

Rule	Value
Win conditions	Regicide, Coronation (hold all Thrones 3 plies), Elimination (bare Monarch)
Monarch move	always 1 step, ignores terrain
No legal move	draw (or by mutual agreement any time)
Decay chain	Tower → Spire → Gate → Field (Thrones never decay)
Fog sight	radius 2 (ordinary), 3 (Monarch); Thrones always visible
Momentum	retained rank lasts 1 extra move; not combinable with Decay/Fog