How to play

The rules as they are in the code today (main of 2026-10-09, v0.5 base). Exact numbers in Balance.

At a glance


Match	Tournament of 8 commanders at 100 HP. At 0 you are out; last one standing wins.
Mode	Pure PvP: no Chimera, no runes (out of the game since Oct 4).
Board	4 rows × 7 columns per side (the fight plays on 8 × 7) + a bench of 9.
Round	50 s of planning → automatic fight of up to 40 s → result.
Reserve	36 Axies: 18 cost-1 · 12 cost-2 · 6 cost-3.
Level	1 to 9; each level is one more Axie on the board.

The round

Planning (50 s). Collect gold, buy from the shop (5 Axies per roll), place on the board, level up or reroll. When you grab an Axie the tiles light up, brighter where it fits (melee in front, ranged at the back).
Fight (up to 40 s). Axies fight on their own. The pace rises over time: ×1.0 at the start, ×1.3 at 35 % and ×1.6 at 72 % of the time. If the clock runs out, whoever keeps more % of HP wins.
Result. The loser's commander takes damage: sum of stars of the enemy Axies still standing × (1 + (round − 1) / 3) — ×1 in round 1, ×2 in round 4, ×3 in round 7, ×4 in round 10. A win pays +2 gold; a loss, +1.

The layers of each Axie

Class (9) — base stats and the main synergy (2 / 4 / 6 Axies of the same class).
Body (7) — passive stats and a sub-synergy (2 / 4 / 6). The silhouette tells the role: BigYak holds, WetDog hunts.
Horn (36) — the ultimate: cast automatically at 100 mana (+10 per basic that lands, +5 per hit taken; you start with 10 to 30 depending on class), plus its own passive.
Parts (eyes, ears, mouth, back, tail) — each part has a class and adds its stats; they weigh more on expensive Axies (×1 · ×1.5 · ×2 by cost).
Class advantage — a triangle: each class deals +15 % to 3 classes and −15 % to another 3.

Economy

Gold: start with 4. Passive per round: 2 (rounds 1–3), 3 (4–6), 4 (7–9), 5 (10+).
Interest: +1 per 10 gold saved, up to +5.
Streaks (wins or losses): 2–3 in a row +1 · 4 in a row +2 · 5 or more +3.
Shop: cost 1 = 1 gold · cost 2 = 3 · cost 3 = 5. A reroll always costs 1.
Sell: ★1 returns 1× its price · ★2 5× · ★3 9×.
Merge: 3 identical copies = ★2 (stats ×1.8); 3 ★2 = ★3 (×3). Synergies count each Axie once, whatever its star.
Level: +5 XP per round; buying XP costs 4 gold for 4 XP. Level 2 to 9 takes 112 XP. Higher levels roll pricier Axies (table in Balance).

Decks

The shop draws from your 36-Axie reserve. There are three base decks, the same for everyone (classic, frontline, backline: they change which Axies land at each cost, not their stats) and your own deck built in the editor (caps 18/12/6), saved between matches.

How to get in

Browser: the game's web build. ARENA → FIND A MATCH puts you in an 8-seat room (bots fill empty seats); it needs the server on. ARENA → DEMO = you against 3 bots, no server.
Windows: the desktop build (see the home page).