Arena Mode puts you against live players from around the world on a shared hex board. Climb from Bronze to Masters — one battle at a time.
Arena Mode is HexForge's competitive Player vs Player experience. Unlike Classic (survive the land alone) and Skirmish (fight a CPU opponent), Arena pits you against a genuine human opponent — matched by league rank — on a shared hexagonal board.
Turns are asynchronous: you play your turn whenever you open the app, then your opponent plays theirs. Push notifications keep you in the loop when it is your move.
| Mode | Opponent | Turns | Board | Ranking |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ⬡ Classic | None — survive the land | 10 | Your own board | Personal best scores |
| ⚔️ Skirmish | CPU AI | 7 | Shared — 2 towns | None |
| 🏆 Arena | Real player | 7 | Shared — 2 towns | League medals |
Finding an opponent is entirely automatic. Tap ⚔️ Enter Arena Queue from the Arena Lobby and the backend takes it from there.
God selection is locked when you join the queue — choose wisely, you cannot switch after matching.
The server first looks for an opponent in your exact league. If none is found it widens the search to adjacent leagues (e.g. Silver ↔ Gold).
When two players are matched a shared board is generated, starting inventories are assigned, and the earliest-waiting player is chosen as first placer by a coin-toss.
"⚔️ Opponent Found! YourName challenges you to an Arena battle — place your settlement!"
If no opponent is available, your entry is held and the app polls status every few seconds. You can leave the queue at any time with no penalty.
Every Arena player belongs to a league. Win battles to earn medals and climb the ladder. Your league determines who you are matched against.
| League | How to reach it | Matchmaking priority |
|---|---|---|
| 🥉 Bronze | Starting league — all new players begin here | Bronze first, Silver fallback |
| 🥈 Silver | Earn medals through Arena wins | Silver first, Bronze/Gold fallback |
| 🥇 Gold | Continue winning in Silver | Gold first, Silver/Platinum fallback |
| 🏆 Platinum | Win consistently in Gold | Platinum first, adjacent fallback |
| 💎 Diamond | Top performers from Platinum | Diamond first, adjacent fallback |
| 👑 Masters | Elite — the very best players | Masters only, Diamond fallback |
Before the first active turn, both players must place their town on the shared board. The player designated as first placer (chosen randomly at match creation) goes first. The other player is notified and places their town when they open the app.
Players alternate turns asynchronously. On your turn you can:
When it is not your turn the screen shows "Waiting for opponent…" and the game state is read-only. You will receive a push notification when they finish their turn.
| Outcome | Condition |
|---|---|
| 🏆 You Win | Opponent's population hits 0, or your final score is higher after Round 7 |
| 💀 You Lose | Your population hits 0, or opponent's final score is higher after Round 7 |
| 🤝 Draw | Scores are exactly equal after Round 7 |
| ⏱️ Timeout Win | Opponent makes no move for 3 days |
The Arena screen is split into two zones: the shared hex board and the dual resource bar showing both towns at a glance.
Both players' towns are displayed side-by-side at the top of the screen so you always know how your opponent is faring:
Both town tiles are visible on the same board. Your town tile is highlighted with a gold ring; your opponent's tile has a distinct border. All tile actions — including sabotage tools — are applied to this shared board, affecting whoever's town is closest to the target tile.
A god-power button in the bottom bar lets you use your one-time superpower. Once activated, select a target tile — the power fires immediately, cancelling any pending action on that tile. In Arena this can be used offensively to deny an opponent's key tile transformation.
God selection in Arena works the same as in Classic and Skirmish — it is locked in when you join the queue. Your god applies cost multipliers to tool purchases and determines your CPU AI behaviour in Skirmish. In Arena it shapes your entire economic strategy and your superpower.
| God | Style | Best for arena | One-time power |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🔱 Poseidon | Water & medicine | Swamp denial; water superiority | Tidal Surge — tile → Lake, neighbour → Riverbed |
| 🌾 Demeter | Farming & growth | Fast population growth; aggressive farming | Bountiful Bloom — tile → Fields, neighbour → Plains |
| ⚡ Zeus | Balanced | Flexible — adapts to any board layout | Wrath of Olympus — tile → Plains; +10 stone |
| 🔥 Hephaestus | Fire & sabotage | Aggressive sabotage; volcano exploitation | Volcanic Eruption — tile → Volcanic Rock; +8 stone +3 medicine |
Sabotage tools are designed specifically for competitive play. They convert high-value opponent tiles into hostile terrain, draining their food, water, or housing supply. In Arena — where every resource point counts — sabotage can be the difference between a win and a draw.
| Tool | What it does | Turns |
|---|---|---|
| 🍄 Rot Spores | Forest → Swamp (near opponent's town) | 3 |
| ☠️ Plague Thatch | Fields → Swamp — destroys their food supply | 4 |
| 🪣 Mud Dump | Lake → Swamp — turns their water source hostile | 3 |
| ⚔️ Siege Catapult | Plains → Ancient Ruins — lowers happiness & population growth | 2 |
| 💣 Lava Bomb | Fields → Volcanic Rock — scorches their farmland | 2 |
Place your town near high-yield terrain (Fields, Lakes) but far from your opponent so they cannot sabotage your core tiles in the early game.
Keep an eye on your opponent's food and happiness. A low food count means they are vulnerable — a single Plague Thatch on their Fields can finish the game.
Save the god superpower for a decisive moment — mid-game when the board state becomes clear, not the first turn when both towns are far apart.
The game ends on points after Round 7 — not just who survives. Population (×5) and Happiness (×3) are the heaviest weights. Prioritise them above raw resources.
You have 3 days per turn. Responding quickly keeps pressure on your opponent and signals activity — if you disappear, the timeout win goes to them.
Know the board before queuing. A Swamp-heavy map suits Poseidon. A Fields/Plains layout favours Demeter. An open board with ruins benefits Hephaestus.
To keep Arena games moving, a 3-day inactivity rule applies to each turn. If a player does not submit their turn within 3 days of their opponent finishing, the other player wins automatically.
This rule exists to prevent active players from having games stall indefinitely. Notifications remind you when it is your move — don't let them pile up.
Arena Mode uses all the same tile types, tools, resources, and god mechanics as Classic and Skirmish. For the full reference: