Beckoned to Battle

## Story

Summoned by the king in a time of dire need, thou, the noble knight, art called to face a realm besieged by war, with the treasury nearing emptiness and but a few loyal soldiers at thy command. March forth, gather thy forces from the villages, seize the resources and loyalty of lands held by thy foes—the dull Azure Duchy, the vile Golden Barony, the feared Teal Resistance, and the overbearing Purple Throne. Let not the enemy outmaneuver thee in battle nor exhaust thy coffers. With fortitude and valor, strive for victory, for in this grave hour, no silver-tongued peace shall sway the determined hearts of thine adversaries.

## Controls

**Movement**: Click with the left mouse button on the desired location to move your knight and accompanying troops.

**Summon Troops**: Automatically recruit peasants as troops over time from your own (red) villages.

**Capture Villages**: Click on enemy villages to begin capture; a loader bar will display the time remaining until the village is yours.

**Combat**: Engage enemy knights in combat by approaching them; combat outcomes are determined by a simple numerical advantage and result in gradual troop casualties. Be careful of not challenging opponents that outnumber you, for your army will be defeated by those. There is no shame in tactical retreat!

## Economics

**Gold Income**: Villages under your control contribute to your treasury, funding troop salaries.

**Expenses**: Maintaining your army requires gold. If your coffers run empty, you'll face defeat.

## Winning the Game

**Military Victory**: Achieve total domination by destroying and subjugating all opposing forces.

**Peaceful Victory**: Peace can be brokered if no aggressive actions (like combat or village capture) occur for a continuous minute near enemy units. Be vigilant to avoid unintentional skirmishes or village captures when intending merely to pass by.

## Strategies and Tips

* Monitor your gold reserves closely and manage village captures to ensure a steady income.

* Choose your battles wisely; unnecessary combat can deplete your forces and jeopardize peace negotiations.

* Experiment with both aggressive and passive strategies to fully experience the dual paths to victory offered by the game.

* Pay attention to which players are at peace with you at the moment. Various factions present in the game will behave differently, some will never attack you first (unless by accident), some will easily snatch your villages under your nose in acts of unprovoked aggression.

### Will you forge a kingdom through war, or will you unite the land under a banner of peace? *The choice is yours!*

## Credits

**Studio Nebulate.me**

@Firellon - in-game pixel art and animations, programming, game design

@Kutase - programming, design, technical support

The cover image, as well as intro/outro art are generated by DALL-E with the support of ChatGPT 4.