📖 Game Rules
Everything you need to know about cinderling matches — from setup to victory.
Overview
Cinderling is a simultaneous-action tactical RPG. Two players each command a team of cinderlings on an 8×5 grid. Every turn, both players issue commands at the same time — no waiting for your opponent. Matches last until one of three win conditions is met.
Match Setup
Each player brings a roster of 8 cinderlings — 4 start on the field as your active lineup, and 4 sit on the bench. When an active cinderling is knocked out, a bench replacement automatically enters at that cinderling's spawn point.
Teams start with 20 energy. Energy is shared across the whole team — every command that costs energy draws from the same pool.
The Board
The battlefield is an 8×5 grid (8 wide, 5 tall) with three types of special spaces:
Spawn Points
4 per team on opposite sides. KO'd bench cinderlings re-enter here.
Occupation Points
3 in the center. Control all 3 to win via Occupation.
Harvestable Spaces
Scattered across the board. Use Harvest to collect energy.
Win Conditions
A match ends immediately when any one of these is met:
Elimination
Knock out all 8 of your opponent's cinderlings — active and bench. Last team standing wins.
Occupation
Control all 3 Occupation Points simultaneously. A point is controlled when your cinderling stands on it for 2 consecutive ticks unchallenged.
Energy Accumulation
Reach 120 team energy. You start with 20 — harvest the remaining 100 from the battlefield.
Commands
Each cinderling gets one command per turn. There are three types:
Move
FreeMove one space in a cardinal direction (up, down, left, right). No diagonal movement.
Attack
Varies (1–3 energy)Use one of your cinderling's two attacks on a target position. Each attack has different damage, range, and energy cost.
Harvest
FreeGather energy from your current space (must be a harvestable space). Adds energy to your team's shared pool.
If your team has 0 energy, Attack commands are unavailable — you can only Move or Harvest.
Attack Reference
Every cinderling knows exactly two attacks. Here are all the attack types in the game:
| Attack | Base Dmg | ATK Scale | Cost | Range |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chip | 2 | ×0.2 | 1⚡ | 2 |
| Poke | 3 | ×0.3 | 1⚡ | 1 |
| Snipe | 6 | ×0.4 | 2⚡ | 2 |
| Strike | 8 | ×0.5 | 2⚡ | 1 |
| Lob | 10 | ×0.6 | 3⚡ | 2 |
| Slam | 12 | ×0.7 | 3⚡ | 1 |
| Nuke | 15 | ×1.0 | 3⚡ | 1 |
Damage formula: Base Damage + (Attacker's ATK stat × ATK Scale). Range 1 = adjacent only. Range 2 = can hit two spaces away.
Cinderling Stats
Every cinderling has three stats:
HP (Health)
How much damage the cinderling can take before being knocked out. Ranges from 40 to 120.
ATK (Attack)
Scales attack damage. Higher ATK means harder hits. Ranges from 5 to 20.
SPD (Speed)
Determines turn order — faster cinderlings act first. Ranges from 1 to 10.
Stats follow a budget constraint — no cinderling is best at everything. A tank with massive HP will be slow. A speedster that acts first will be fragile. Choose your team wisely.
Turn Resolution
Every turn follows the same sequence:
- Command Phase (30 seconds) — Both players issue commands to each of their active cinderlings simultaneously.
- Resolution Phase — All commands execute in Speed order (fastest first). Ties are broken randomly.
- Special Powers — Cinderling abilities trigger at their designated moments (start of turn, after commands, on damage, etc.).
- Cleanup — Knocked-out cinderlings are removed, bench replacements spawn, win conditions are checked.
Special Powers
Every cinderling has a unique special power that activates automatically during specific moments in the turn. Powers can heal, boost stats, drain energy, create terrain effects, and more. You won't see a cinderling's power listed upfront — discovering what each creature does is part of the game.
Tip: Pay attention to what happens during matches. If your opponent's cinderling keeps gaining health or dealing extra damage, they have a special power at work. Learning the library is how you get better.
Ready to build your first team?