Rivalgrid

Raising the banners

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A medieval strategy game you play one day at a time

Rivalgrid

Three houses march on one crown for fourteen days, and each of those days takes you about five minutes of gathering, building, training and marching.

The realm of Rivalgrid

Emberhold, Mistmere and Saltmere ring the Crown Keep, and every road between them is yours to march.

The realm

Your host

    Build queue two slots

      The rules, in plain words

      1. Each villager brings home 15 food or 15 wood, or 10 stone or 10 gold, every day, and your house craft adds 5 to one of them.
      2. Buildings open troops, so the barracks trains spearmen, the archery range trains archers and the stable trains riders.
      3. Every squad carries a strength you can read: spearmen and archers bring 6, and riders bring 7 because a charge hits harder.
      4. The triangle doubles the side with the edge, because spearmen beat riders, riders beat archers and archers beat spearmen.
      5. Ground helps whoever holds it, adding 2 at villages and hills and 1 in forests and fords, and a commander adds 3 on ground they know.
      6. The higher total wins and a tie goes to the defender, so with no dice and no hidden numbers the same orders always give the same result.

      How a day works

      Five moves, then the realm moves with you

      Every house plays the same day, so you give your orders whenever it suits you, and at dusk every march resolves together while the report scroll tells you what happened, sum by sum.

      1. Gather

        Send your villagers to the fields, the woods, the quarry and the mine, and whatever they carry home is waiting in your stores at dawn.

      2. Build

        Spend wood and stone on a building, because each one opens something new for your house: troops, trade, stronger walls or sight across the border.

      3. Train

        Turn food and gold into a squad of forty under your banner, knowing that every kind of squad beats one other kind and falls to a third.

      4. March

        Send a squad down a road to a neighbouring place, and your scouts will show you who holds it before you have to commit.

      5. Report

        At dusk every battle resolves by one plain rule, and the scroll prints each sum so you always know exactly why you won or lost.

      Houses and commanders

      Three houses, one crown

      Every house starts with the same six villagers, the same stores and the same keep, and what sets them apart is the ground their commander knows and the craft their villagers are proud of.

      Units and the counter triangle

      Five kinds of squad, one triangle to learn

      Spearmen beat riders, riders beat archers and archers beat spearmen, while scouts see far ahead and siege engines break walls, and every house fields all five in its own armour.

      The side with the edge counts its strength twice, which is the whole secret of the triangle.

      A fight, counted

      Forty Anvil Guard of House Forge march on Ashford Mill, a walled village held by the riders of House Tide.

      House Forge

      • Spearmen6
      • They beat riders, so double12
      • Brenna at a village+3
      • Total15

      House Tide

      • Riders7
      • Village palisade+2
      • Total9

      Fifteen beats nine, so Ashford Mill flies the anvil banner by nightfall, although the same riders would have won sixteen to nine against archers.

      The economy

      Four resources, all of them won in play

      Food, wood, stone and gold come from your villagers and the places you hold, and they are never sold, while your stores keep 400 of each so a missed day costs a little and never everything.

        1. Villagers
        2. Stores
        3. Buildings
        4. Squads
        5. Places held
        6. Renown

        Every place you hold sends 15 of its resource home each day and adds to your renown, which means a good march quietly pays for the next one.

        The buildings of your seat

          Seasons and prizes

          Fourteen days, then a siege for the crown

          A season runs for two weeks while the border places change hands and the houses grow, and on the last two days the gates of the Crown Keep open to whoever can break them.

          Day fourteen, with all three houses gathered on the ridge before the Crown Keep.

            How renown is won

            • Each border place you hold at dusk gives your house 2 renown.
            • Each battle your squads win adds 1 more.
            • Holding the Crown Keep at dusk on days 13 and 14 gives 10 renown each night.

            The siege of the Crown Keep

            The keep has walls worth 6 and siege engines count 12 against walls, so the house that builds a workshop in time has the strongest claim, as long as spearmen guard engines that break easily in the open.

            When the season ends

            The map resets for a fresh start, while your banners, your house history and the name of every season winner stay in the hall for good.

            Every ranked season rewards its best players in $GRID

            The top players of each ranked season are rewarded in $GRID, and the prize tiers are announced before the first dawn, so every house knows what it is fighting for before a single villager goes to work.

            Competing never costs you anything, because there is no entry fee and no wagering, and nothing you can buy with $GRID moves you a single place up the standings.

            • Champion tier

              Shared by every active player of the house with the most renown at dusk on day fourteen, with a larger part for the players who carried it.

            • Top tier

              The highest ranked players of the whole realm, whichever house they marched for, take their places on the podium with the largest single prizes of the season.

            • House honours

              The leading players inside each of the three houses are rewarded too, so a house that loses the crown still has every reason to fight to the last dusk.

            • Contributor titles

              Four titles honour the work behind a victory: the best commander, the best defender, the best scout, and the siege master who held the walls of the Crown Keep.

            From the last dusk to your prize

            1. The siege ends. The report of day fourteen closes the realm, and the crown ceremony shows the winning house with every player's standing beneath it.
            2. Standings are checked. During a short verification window the team looks over every listed account, and any player can raise a fair play report about a day and a place.
            3. Prizes are sent. $GRID goes to the address each winner linked before the season began, and the full list of winners is published for anyone to check.
            4. Names enter the hall. The champion house, the podium, the house honours and the four titles are written into the Hall of Fame beside each player's banner.

            • One person, one account

              Each player keeps a single account in a realm, and an account that plays for the benefit of another loses its place on the prize list.

            • Play the whole season

              Prizes go to players who sealed their report on most days, so an account that stops playing cannot sit quietly on an early lead.

            • No deals between houses

              Feeding places or victories to a rival house removes both players from the prizes, and every battle behind a prize can be replayed line by line.

            Banners and cosmetics

            Fly your own colours

            The coin unlocks banners, heraldry frames, unit skins and scenario slots, and all of it is cosmetic, because nothing you unlock changes strength, stores, speed or sight, and none of it is needed to win.

            Field
            Charge
            Heraldry frame

            Plain frames and every house field and charge are free for everyone, while gilded, chequy and ermine frames unlock with $GRID.

            • Banners

              Your flag flies over every place you hold, on every squad token on the map and at the head of every report.

            • Heraldry frames

              Gilded, chequy and ermine borders wrap your crest and banner wherever the realm shows your name.

            • Unit skins

              Ashen steel, winter court and sunlit harbour armour give your squads new paint and exactly the same strength.

            • Scenario slots

              A slot lets you publish your own map and rules for friends and leagues, and playing them is always free.

            The coin

            $GRID crowns the champions and colours the realm

            $GRID is the coin of Rivalgrid, and it does two jobs that never touch a battle: it rewards the top players of each ranked season, and it unlocks the colours, stages and records that make the realm feel like your own.

            Five ways to enjoy the realm, and none of them buys strength

            • Compete for the crown

              The top players of each ranked season are rewarded in $GRID, invitational seats go to the players whose standing won them, and competing never costs a thing.

            • Fly your colours

              Gilded heraldry frames, unit skins and a season title for your commander unlock with $GRID, and a skinned squad fights with exactly the strength of any other.

            • Build and host

              Publish a scenario to a slot or host a private league, and the creator fund rewards maps that people love, while playing them always stays free.

            • Have a say

              A seat on the house council carries one vote on the next season's theme, banners and featured scenario, and balance and the rules of ranked play are never on the ballot.

            • Keep the record

              The replay vault keeps every season you played day by day, so you can study it and share it without revealing anything the fog still hides.

            What $GRID never buys

            • Food, wood, stone or gold, in any amount
            • Squads, buildings, villagers or faster training
            • Extra orders, a look through the fog, or a change to any battle
            • Renown, a place in the standings, or a seat in a ranked season
            • A skip up the season track or a vote on the rules

            Food, wood, stone and gold are gathered by playing and stay inside the game, which means a player who never touches $GRID can still win every season and every prize.

            What comes next

            From one day to a whole realm

            1. The War Room

              A full fourteen day season in your browser against two rival houses led by the realm's own commanders, saved on your device with a replay scrubber for every day. It is single player and never pays prizes; open the War Room and play your first day now.

            2. Shared seasons

              One realm holds three houses of real players, orders close at dusk, and the report arrives with your morning so you can plan over breakfast.

            3. Leagues

              Realms are matched by size, so no house ever wins a season on numbers alone and every podium is won against an equal field.

            4. Creator banners

              Heraldry designed by players can be flown by anyone who unlocks it, and the designer is credited on every banner that carries their work.

            5. The scenario workshop

              Your own maps, places and rules can be published to a scenario slot, ready for friends and leagues to play whenever they like.

            The War Room puts you up against two rival houses for fourteen days, with every day saved on your device and ready to replay.

            Questions

            Asked at the gate

            How long does a day take?

            About five minutes, because you set your villagers, queue a building, train a squad and choose a march, and the rest happens on its own at dusk.

            Is there any luck in battle?

            None at all, since strength, the triangle, the ground and the commander decide every fight, the same orders always give the same result, and the report shows the sum.

            Do I need the coin to win?

            No, because every house plays with the same villagers, buildings and squads, and a player who never touches $GRID competes for every prize on exactly the same terms.

            How are season prizes decided?

            The pool and its tiers are announced before the first dawn, the standings are checked once the siege ends, and then the prizes are sent and the names written into the hall.

            What if I miss a day?

            Your villagers keep working and your squads hold where they stand, and because stores cap at 400 of each resource a missed day costs a little and never your whole house.

            Which house is strongest?

            None of them, since Forge is strongest at walls, Ghost in the forests and Tide at the fords and the coast, so where you march decides more than who you are.

            Can I play on my phone?

            Yes, everything works by touch, by mouse and by keyboard, and on a small screen the map pans under your finger while the minimap shows where you are.

            What happens when a season ends?

            The map resets and a new season begins, while your banners, your house history and the names of past winners stay in the hall for good.