Almost every decision in a run is one of three: play a new card, stack a copy on a plot you already have, or unlock another plot. This guide covers what each of those does, with the numbers the game uses.
How a card levels up
Play a card onto a plot that already holds the same card and the plot gains a level. That is the whole rule. A plot starts at level 1 and stops at level 3 unless something lifts the limit, so the third copy is the last one that does anything on a normal plot.
A few cards play by other rules. Lab Rat has no cap at all and Reinforce goes to level 50. The one-shot cards, Migration, Swords, Shields, Echoform, Gigantify, Haste and X-Ray, have a single level, so a second copy on the same target does nothing extra.
A troop card adds a fresh batch of units with each level, the same number it started with. Archers come 9 at a time, so a level 3 Archer plot is 27 of them. On top of the bodies, every level multiplies the plot's stats, and the multipliers stack on each other: a level 3 Archer has its level 1 HP times 1.25, then times 1.25 again.
The takeaway for early turns is simple. A second copy of a troop you already placed is usually worth more than a new troop on an empty plot, because it brings the same units and makes every unit already there stronger.
What a level is worth
Levels are not equal across cards, and reading the level line on a card page tells you where to spend copies. Some cards gain mostly attack, some mostly bodies, and a few gain almost nothing.
A Wizard gets x1.75 attack a level but only x1.25 HP, so levelling it widens the gap between how hard it hits and how easily it dies. A Dispenser gets x1.7 attack and nothing else. A Lab Rat gets x1.02 HP and attack, which is next to nothing per level, and that is the point: it has no level cap and levels itself whenever a plot beside it levels.
Prioritise copies on the cards with the big multipliers, and do not chase level 3 on a card whose level line is thin.
| Card | Units per level | HP per level | Attack per level |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wizard | +9 | x1.25 | x1.75 |
| Paladin | +3 | x1.1 | x1.5 |
| Imp | +13 | no change | x2 |
| Elf | +3 | x1.2 | x1.2 |
| Ballista | +3 | x1.3 | x1.3 |
| Lab Rat | +2 | x1.02 | x1.02 |
Getting past level 3
Several cards and decrees break the cap, and most long runs are built on one of them. Futurism lets every troop level to 99. Speculation does the same for Vaults. Progressive lets every King of Progress card level once more: Executioner, Defender, Lab Rat, Converter, Recycler, Concabulator, Overhaul, and Reinforce up to 51. The Chaos versions of those cards are left out. Ingenious lets your base level 3 more times.
Two lifts on one card do not add up. Futurism replaces a troop's cap with 99 rather than raising it, so a Progress troop with Progressive and Futurism still stops at 99, not 100.
Rainbow cards go further. X-Ray levels the plots diagonal to its target beyond max level, Patronage adds 3 levels to your base even past its limit, and the Transcendence decree removes the base's cap entirely.
Regression is the quiet one. It takes a plot back one level and keeps all its current stats, so the same plot can be levelled again and collect the level bonus a second time. Use it on a maxed plot, never on one that still has room.
What counts as adjacent
Most buildings act only on adjacent plots, and adjacent means the four plots sharing a side. Diagonals do not count. The game confirms this itself: the Distillery decree exists to make Cauldrons reach the diagonal plots as well, and X-Ray is special because it targets diagonals.
The yearly buildings all work this way. A Forest adds 2% HP, a Blacksmith 2% damage and a Beacon 2% attack and movement speed to the plots beside them, every year. A Farm adds a unit to one adjacent troop. A Library copies an enchantment from an adjacent troop half the time.
So the best plot in a kingdom is the one with four useful neighbours. Decide which plot is being grown before placing buildings, and keep that plot away from the edge where it has fewer sides. Warehouse and the Overwork decree multiply these effects, and they only pay if the buildings are already touching the right plot. On a building beside a Warehouse the two add together. The Warehouse itself is the one support building Overwork skips, so it never repeats more than its own level allows.
Unlocking plots
A kingdom starts with some plots locked, and a locked plot cannot be built on. The standard way to open one costs 30 gold. The construction pit in years 15 and 25 opens plots as well, and the Exploration decree lets you pick 3 more, up to three times.
Cards do it for free. Earthworks unlocks the plots around its target and returns up to 3 copies of that plot's cards. A Dwarf unlocks any locked plot it walks onto. Wilderness unlocks 3 random plots and drops a level 3 Forest on each.
Do not unlock plots just because you can. Yearly percentage buildings pay more the earlier they go down, so an early plot with a Forest on it beats a late plot with a troop on it. One plot can also only hold 4,999 troops, which a swarm build will reach, so a second troop plot becomes worth having once the first is close to full.
Mistakes to avoid
Spreading copies thin is the common one. Three level 1 troop plots share every Farm, Blacksmith and enchantment between them, while one level 3 plot takes all of it.
Placing buff buildings late is the second. A Forest placed in year 3 has added its 2% thirty times by year 33. The same Forest placed in year 20 has done it thirteen times.
The third is forgetting Concabulator. When it reaches max level it levels up every plot you own, so it is worth three copies even though the building does nothing until then.
