torpak

A land-grab of dice, wars and cards

torpak is a turn-based land-grab for two to six players on a hex map of farms, hills, rivers, ruins and mountains. Roll to take land, fight your neighbours for theirs, and spend your gold on cards that turn a roll, a war or a whole round.

The roll

Every turn you roll. The face times your multiplier is your points, and points buy land: any cell touching the land joined to your capital. Plains cost one, hills and rivers two, a farm pays you gold every round you hold it, a ruin pays a bounty once, a shrine scores while it is yours, and a mountain is never taken. Unspent points are lost, so every roll is a small puzzle of what to take first.

The war

Or skip the roll and declare one war on a neighbour's cell. Both of you roll the same die. The difference, times your multiplier, is the right you spend on their front line, chaining cell after cell. A tie rolls again. A defender who wins spends the right on your land, in your turn. Hills are natural cover, a Fort holds, a capital that falls moves rather than dies.

The cards

Gold from your farms and your capital buys cards from a private row dealt every round, at the same time as everyone else. Twenty-eight cards in five kinds: Openings played before you roll, Reactions committed blind in a hidden window while the dice are in the air, Tactics that move a cell's price, Traps set face down on your land, and Structures built on it. Rare cards wear their own finish.

The table

Two to six seats, any mix of people and AI.

Online over Steam: create a room with a password, quick match, or browse the open rooms. Quick chat and text chat at the table.

A dropped connection is not the end: rejoin your seat, and the game goes on if the host leaves.

A local game against the AI at three strengths, with three board sizes, eight to eighteen rounds, and turn timers.

Keyboard and mouse, or a gamepad.

Free to play

torpak is free to download, free to play against the AI, and free to join any table a friend hosts, with every card and every seat. The host's pass unlocks hosting a table online.

The end

When the rounds run out, the land joined to your capital wins, cut-off land counting half, shrines on top. Lose your last cell and you watch the rest from the side. Fun with two, best with three or more.