How to Play

Two Wards. One board.

Wardlock is chess-like: two armies take turns, one move at a time. But each side is led by a Ward — a golden-bordered champion, different every game — and you win the moment one Ward falls or reaches the far side. Here’s everything you need for your first game.

The goal

Two ways to win

Slay their Ward

Destroy the enemy’s golden champion and the battle ends at once.

March yours home

Or walk your own Ward onto the enemy’s back row.

The basics

A quick, honest board

5 × 7 A compact board — no sprawling midgame.

30 sec Per turn, hard cap. The clock keeps it moving.

No draws Every game ends decisively — someone always wins.

Your army

Meet your pieces

You start with five Pawns, two Sentinels, two Archers, and your Ward. Each moves its own way.

Pawn

Marches straight forward, but captures only on the diagonal. From its home row it may step two.

Sentinel

Your sturdy guard. Strikes any adjacent tile — even sideways, where a Pawn can’t — and charges two tiles straight, leaping over blockers to run down a ranged attacker. Shields nearby allies from spells.

Archer

Deadly at range, helpless point-blank. It steps one tile, but only strikes targets two or more tiles away.

Ranged fighters — the Archer and the mage Wards — can’t hit point-blank. Get right next to one and it’s helpless.

Your champion

The Ward

One piece wears the gold border: your Ward. It’s drawn fresh each game from the rotation below, so no two matches play the same. It’s immune to spells — but not to enemy pieces, so it’s both your win condition and the piece you’ll defend hardest.

Beast

Ward

Steps one tile up, down, or sideways — then stomps every tile around it when it lands. Corners are the only safe approach.

Sun Mage

Ward

Moves one tile any direction and hurls a cross-blast of fire two tiles away. Stand on a diagonal and you’re safe from it.

Moon Mage

Ward

Moves one tile, then fires a piercing beam in five directions — forward, the forward diagonals, and straight out to the sides.

Fuel

Mana & the center row

The glowing center row is a vein of the world’s core. At the start of your turn, every piece you hold there harvests +5 mana — on top of the +5 you gain each turn anyway.

Mana is the only thing gating your spells. Contest that row and you’ll always out-cast a passive foe.

Magic

Three spells, drawn at random

Each game deals three spells — one cheap, one mid, one costly — and both players get the exact same three. Nothing is chosen and no hand is luckier than the other; it comes down to who casts them at the right moment.