✥ The Star Chart — Each run starts with one combat calibration, then the routes divide. Select a reachable planet to inspect its threat, enemy type, payout, and downstream routes; CONFIRM JUMP commits travel. COMBAT floors pay credits, ELITE planets hide a Vault Warden, FORTRESS worlds hold an Enemy Foundry that assembles hostiles until wrecked, SHOP planets sell repairs/protocols/recruits, and ANOMALIES offer a risk/reward choice. And somewhere in every galaxy, one routine patrol is not what the chart says it is: a rival operative is waiting — win the SHOWDOWN and steal one of their protocols.
■ The Battlefield — An 8×8 deck with missing tiles and raised platforms. Attacking from high ground deals +1 damage. Each turn you get movement (teal cells), one attack ✦, and any cards you can afford.
⚔ Stats — Every unit has ATK / DEF / MOV / range. Damage = ATK − DEF (min 1). Only units with the COUNTER trait strike back when attacked.
🔍 Scouting — Tap any unit to read its full stat card, traits, and a damage preview — then decide whether to ENGAGE.
🎥 Camera & Movement — On touch: drag the right half of the screen to move the board, drag the left half to spin and tilt, pinch to zoom. With a mouse: drag to spin and tilt, right-drag or scroll to pan. Moving spends the number of cells travelled; you may move again while MOV remains. Attacking commits the unit and spends any movement left.
⟲ Rewind — Misclicked? The UNDO button (or Z) rewinds your last move and refunds the movement — once per turn. Attacking, playing a card, or using a skill locks the move in.
Traits — Drones shoot from range. Reavers JUMP over units and gaps. Brutes shield adjacent allies. Vents can't move but burn anyone beside them.
🤝 Recruits — Squad-focused operatives draft defectors after sectors; lone-wolf operatives hire them at shops or find them through anomalies. Tap a glowing cell to choose where they deploy. Tap a recruit to control it (or press Tab), then move and attack like the hero. When recruits fall, they're gone for good.
⭐ Legends — Every shop planet also carries a class-exclusive legend: a unique crew member only your hero can hire (the Ronin's duelist, the Hunter's spotter-killer, the Militia's reclaimed Warden). One per run, premium price, one-of-a-kind skill.
⚠ Scouting threat — Tap any enemy to see its stat card and a red overlay of every cell it could attack next turn. Check before you commit a move.
✦ Enemy types — Every hostile fights in one of five styles: MELEE (close/fast, like the Ronin), RANGED (attacks from a distance, like the Hunter), ARMORED (tough formations, like the Militia), ARTILLERY (shells splash 1 damage around their target — spread out!), and SUPPORT (buffs its allies). Most floors lean heavily toward one type — announced on arrival, shown on every stat card.
⚠ Vents — Plasma Vents are hazards, not targets: the gate opens once all fighting hostiles are scrapped. Scrap vents only if you want the bounty.
▣ Structures — Barricades and fuel silos block movement (use them as cover or chokepoints). All are destructible for scrap. Silos explode when destroyed — 3 damage to everything adjacent, friend or foe. Lure enemies close, then shoot the tank.
▮▮ Protocol Deck — You start with a lean 5-protocol deck and earn the rest: each cleared combat offers one new protocol, and shop planets sell more. Each sector the deck is shuffled and your hand dealt from it. Drag a card from the hand onto the board to play it (swipe sideways to scroll a long hand; a plain tap will not fire the card). Keyboard QERF still arms/plays. A played card is spent for the round; its slot refills next turn (or use Recompile). Cards cost stamina ⚡: 3 per turn early, 4 from sector 4, 5 from sector 7, and 6 from sector 10. Credits ⬡ are for shopping only.
✦ Unit Skills — Every unit has one signature skill (the teal card; drag onto the board, or key X). Free to use, but recharges over several turns.
⚛ Extraction — Scrap every fighting hostile and the gate appears at the far edge. Step through to reinforce your hull, claim a protocol cache, and return to the Star Chart. Vault Wardens appear on ELITE planets and in the Ghost Vault.
⬢ Vault Cores — Earned on every run (even deaths). Spend them at HQ.
PC controls — ↑↓←→/WASD step · Tab switch unit · QERF cards · X skill · Z undo move · Space end turn · Esc cancel · drag to spin · scroll or right-drag to pan · pinch or Ctrl+scroll to zoom · the camera follows your selected unit
Controller — left stick/d-pad step your unit (menus: move the highlight) · right stick moves the board cursor · A select/tap · B cancel/close · X skill · Y switch unit · LB/RB cycle protocols · LT undo · RT end turn · Start pause
