New to Pact or Peril? This page gets you playing in a few minutes. For the full ruleset,
see Game Rules.
🎥 Looking for the video walkthrough? It's on the Home page.
You command an empire on a map made of connected territories grouped into continents
(groups). Win by one of three routes — the lobby picks which one is live:
- Global Domination — own every territory on the map.
- Capital Conquest — own every capital on the map (from round 3).
- King of the Hill — everyone votes on one territory, the Hill, before round 1. From
round 3, holding it when a round ends scores a point; first to the points target wins.
In an online match there's a fourth, universal finish: whichever route the lobby picked, the
game ends the moment you're the last side still in it — you don't have to hunt down the
territories a quitter left behind.
See Win Conditions.
- Each territory you control produces armies and can attack or be attacked.
- Two territories can fight each other only if they are connected — by a shared land
border, a shipping lane, or an open portal.
- Continents (groups) give bonus armies every turn if you own the whole group.
Every turn runs through the same loop:
- 🪖 Reinforce — You receive new armies (more territory = more armies, plus continent
bonuses) and place them on territories you own. You can also trade in card sets here
for extra armies.
- ⚔️ Attack — Attack adjacent enemy territories with the dice. Attack as many times as
you like. Win a battle and you move armies into the conquered territory.
- 🏰 Fortify — Make one army move between two connected territories you own, then
your turn ends.
Capture at least one territory during your turn and you'll draw a card at the end of it.
See Game Rules → Turn phases for the details.
- Attack from a territory with 2 or more armies against a connected enemy.
- The attacker rolls up to 3 dice; the defender up to 2 (capitals defend with 3).
- Dice are matched highest-vs-highest. The defender wins ties.
- Roll more dice when you have more armies. With 4+ armies you can Full Send — an all-in
barrage that keeps rolling until you take the territory or run out of attackers.
Full details: Combat & Dice.
At the start of each turn you get:
territories ÷ 3 armies (rounded down), with a minimum of 3, plus- continent bonuses for every group you own completely, plus
- +2 per capital you own (Capital Conquest mode only).
Full details: Game Rules → Reinforcements.
If pacts are enabled, you can offer a non-aggression pact to another player. It's a
social agreement, not a wall — nothing stops either side from attacking. It does buy one
concrete thing: while the pact holds, you and your partner can see each other's total troops
and territories, even through Fog of War — though never where
those armies actually are. Use pacts to buy time, scout a fogged map, gang up on a leader, or
lull a rival. See Pacts.
- Hold whole continents. A complete group pays a bonus every single turn — that compounds.
- Don't over-extend. Every territory is a border you have to defend. A smaller, solid
empire often beats a sprawling, thin one.
- Cards are tempo. Capturing even one territory a turn keeps cards flowing, and trade-ins
can hand you a huge reinforcement swing.
- The defender wins ties, so attacking at even odds is a slow bleed. Build an advantage
before you commit.
- Capitals defend harder (3 dice) and are worth +2 armies/turn — protect yours, hunt
theirs.