ACTIVE PLAYER SKILLS & POWERS
MATCH HISTORY & LOGS
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RULES & MECHANICS
- 1. Setup: The board begins empty. On Turn 1, Player 1 places their Astri anywhere on their designated half of the board. Player 2 then places their Astri on their respective half.
- 2. Turn Actions: On every turn, a player must choose exactly ONE of the following actions:
- - Action A: Evair (Movement): Move your Astri exactly one square orthogonally (Up, Down, Left, or Right—no diagonals). As your Astri exits a square, a Rai token must immediately be dropped onto the vacated square, creating an expanding trail.
- - Action B: Mora-dae (Fortification): Instead of moving, choose one of your existing Rai tokens already on the board and place a second token directly on top of it. This creates a double-stacked Fixed Rai, which becomes permanently immune to all standard board-clearing mechanics. (Happens once every 2 moves)
- 3. Core Laws & The Special Twist:
- - Impassable Terrain: Once a Rai token occupies a square, that square is blocked. No Astri can step onto a square that contains a Rai token, creating a narrowing, organic maze.
- - The Constellation Loop: If a player's movement causes their trail of Rai tokens to form a fully closed, unbroken loop (connecting back to itself, or using an Astrielle as a corner anchor), a Constellation Loop is achieved. Instantly, all of the opponent's unfortified Rai tokens trapped inside the boundary of that loop disintegrate into stardust, clearing those spaces back into empty terrain.
- 4. Winning Conditions:
- - The Gridlock: If an opponent's Astri is completely surrounded by Rai walls or the board edges, leaving them with no legal orthogonal moves on their turn, their fate runs out and they lose immediately.
- - Assassination: If a player constructs a Constellation Loop that physically encloses the enemy Astri piece itself, the enemy Astri is captured by fate, granting an instant, crushing victory.
THE BOARD'S CORE COMPONENTS
- - The Soleinta Grid: An 19 x 19 grid representing the open night sky. The board starts entirely empty.
- - The Astrielle: Four points scattered around the board they change each game that is played. These act as bonus abilities and grant an advantage to the player that takes them. In the Base game they act as 'Teleporters' that are linked allowing an extra move.
- - The Astri-la (Astri for short): The primary avatar representing a localized manifestation of a Star-Canopy. Player 1 commands the Gold/Light Astri; Player 2 commands the Silver/Dark Astri.
- - The Rai (Tokens): The Children of the Stars. These tokens are dropped behind the Astri as a physical trail of a player's path. Once placed, they harden into solid, impassable barriers.
- - The Onira Deck: At the start of the round each player draws a card from the deck which has different 'overturns' that can be played only once per game. These cards can sometimes make those impassable barriers disappear or be overwritten.
- - Timer: There is a 1 minute timer that counts down you must make your move before it ends.
TACTICAL VARIANTS
Base Board Game // Ardenia // Variant 1
- Patron Deity: Astro (Star of Order and Fate)
- Variant Title: The Perfect Order
- Note: This is the base / standard version of the game.
- Species: The species that mostly plays this version are Humans, Half-Elfs, Halflings, and Gnomes
Variant 2 // Asukaris
- Patron Deity: Sutara (Star of Serenity and Understanding)
- Variant Title: Sia-lyr Yumeia (Silent Twilight)
- Species: The species that mostly plays this version are Pandi, Lapins and Melon Bears.
- The Twist: Once per game, a player can invoke Lourital. For the next two turns, neither player drops Rai tokens when they move, and no Constellation Loops can be triggered. The board falls completely still, allowing players to reposition their Astri through tight choke points in absolute serenity.
- Bonus: There is a small chance that the Lourital grows in power created mirages of what was once lost. (Rai tokens that were supposed to be placed but never got to be) And chooses between 1-3 to actually activate.
Variant 3 // Aniccalis
- Patron Deity: Itri (Star of Change and Reflection)
- Variant Title: Lira Mythra (Your Story)
- Species: The species that mostly plays this version are Sylphs, and Papiliones.
- The Twist: Reflecting the fluid nature of the continent's landscape, the Astrielle drift. Every 5 turns, all unfortified Rai tokens on the board shift exactly one square clockwise around the center axis of the board, drastically rewriting safe routes and shattering existing loops.
Variant 4 // Chronos
- Patron Deity: Chion (Star of Winter and Solace)
- Variant Title: Erisle's Vael (December's Winter)
- Species: The species that mostly plays this version is Hiems Elfus (Winter Elves).
- The Twist: Every Rai token dropped on the board is instantly frozen solid by the environment. Frozen Rai tokens require two Constellation Loops to destroy instead of one. However, movement is dangerous—if a Astri attempts to turn 180 degrees backwards on its own path, it slips on the ice, losing its next turn.
- Bonus: There is a 30% chance a winter freeze appears every 5 turns re-setting the last 2 moves of both players.
Variant 5 // Elytheia
- Patron Deity: ---
- Variant Title: Vaelia (Gardenia)
- Species: The species that mostly plays this version are Angels, and Valkyries.
- The Twist: When a player successfully executes a Constellation Loop, the cleared squares do not just become empty—they bloom into Golden Fields. Any friendly, single-stacked Rai tokens adjacent to a Golden Field are instantly and automatically upgraded to double-stacked Fixed Stars for free, perfectly embodying the law that destruction yields renewal.
- Bonus: A Nael token is given to the player that completes the twist giving them one re-birth this only happends for one player on the board.
Variant 6 // Hazmora
- Patron Deity: Sutara (Star of Serenity and Understanding)
- Variant Title: (Hammer's Might)
- Species: The species that mostly plays this version are Laminae, and Dwarves.
- The Twist: Introduces a hammer to the board. The Hammer can be deployed to forge a 'wall' the wall stops the opponent from taking a certain direction. The wall after 1 turn turns into the players rai token. However it's durability will break down after 2 turns. If the enemy Astri takes it before the player does it turns into the enemies fortified rai token.
Variant 7 // Plvora
- Patron Deity: Nycto (Star of Shadows and Secrets)
- Variant Title: Aumoa Ellyria (Midnight Eternity)
- Species: The species that mostly plays this version are Moon Elves, Vampyrus, and Homunculi.
- The Twist: Introduces a Fog of War. A 5x5 grid centered around the opponent's Astri is cloaked in deep violet mist. You cannot see the enemy's recent Rai placements unless your own Astri moves close enough to Pierce the Veil, making this a game of extreme bluffing and hidden traps.
- Bonus: A player placed in the Fog will have a chance to activate one trap on the board. If the enemy Astri walks on it then they are stuck for 2 turns.
Variant 8 // Sirena
- Patron Deity: Astro (Star of Order and Fate)
- Variant Title: Ocean's Fate
- Species: The species that mostly plays this version are Merfolk, and Nymphae.
- The Twist: Introduces 'Drowning' to the board it can be used once per 3 turns and it temporarily drowns the opposing Astri making its moves 'lag' taking up more time on the timer (5 seconds). The drowned state makes the enemy's Rai tokens passable for 1 turn.
Variant 9 // Solaria
- Patron Deity: Opara (Star of Creation and Renewal)
- Variant Title: Solia's Nael (Sun's Cradle)
- Species: The species that mostly plays this version are Sun Elves.
- The Twist: During the game you can build up 'stacks' these stacks elevate your 'status' when your status reaches max (10) you get the chance to descend another 'Deity' which can either give you an advantage or disadvantage. This twist is all about luck. You attain stacks by fortifying your Rai. Whichever deity you pull will give a piece of their twist to the board.
- Bonus: A ~1% chance of the deity pulled being Raia (The eternal god). If Raia is pulled all is brought to nothing and the game is reset except the stakes become higher.
Variant 10 // Somniaris
- Patron Deity: Umbra (Star of Love and Memory)
- Variant Title: Lourital's Mylora (Longing's Longing)
- Species: The species that mostly plays this version are Blood Deers, and Beliarum Veteris.
- The Twist: When your Rai tokens are destroyed by an opponent's Constellation Loop, they are not deleted. Instead, they fade into Ghost Stars (glowing gold/rose tiles). Your Astri can freely move across your own Ghost Stars as open terrain, but they remain impassable walls to your opponent. Your past losses pave your future victory.
- Bonus: There is a 30% chance a winter freeze appears every 5 turns re-setting the last 2 moves of both players.
Variant 11 // Velathar
- Patron Deity: Mysentite (The God of Golden Tears)
- Variant Title: Golden Rain
- Species: The species that mostly plays this version are Caelitus Draconis, Lunatix, Water Dragons, and Dragonborn.
- The Twist: At the beginning of the game a 'Lunar Clock' appears. The clock counts down from 10 seconds if a move is not made within that time the clock strikes midnight forcing the game to a close. If a move is not made it gives the enemy the win.
- Bonus: The lunar Clock has a chance to strike 'Wealth' that wealth give thes player more time to decide their next move.
Variant 12 // Zannaria
- Patron Deity: Opara (Star of Creation and Renewal) + Bellona (The Goddess of War)
- Variant Title: Renewed Tide
- Species: The species that mostly plays this version are Jackilopes, Lapins, Melon Bears, Moon Bears, Vulpidae, Taureaus, Pandi, Umbratiles, Centaurs.
- The Twist: Any and all twists from other variants of the gamne can appear on this board at random. It can also effect players differently. War is a trade of strategies and the winner takes all.
- Bonus: A chance of the 'stand off' happening. It makes every Astri unable to move for 2 turns. In return it double's the stakes of the board adding in more uncertain elements. (about a 5% chance of happening)
ARDENIA LORE ARCHIVE
Long ago, the Primordial Aetherius, Raia, wove the stars from their own essence before falling into an eternal, deep slumber. From Raia's breath, tears, thoughts, shadows, and sighs, the Gods were born.
As these entities watched over the mortal realm, the mortals built civilizations in their images. In the high-density trading districts of Paria, merchants carved a grid into tavern tables to replicate the movements of space. They called it Aetherius's Nael or AEN for short, Aen also means Sanctuary which shows how much comfort Raia has brought into the world.
Over centuries, as the game spread across the oceans to the furthest continents, each culture reshaped the board to honor the Star from the stories that best fit them. Parents teach it to children as a wise moral tale: "Every step you take leaves a mark on the world (the Rai), so plan your path wisely so your Scion can guide you home."