How to play World Order

Eight countries share one map. None is stronger than the others, but each is short of something. You'll win by what you build, what you agree to, and who you trust.

World Order is a political board game played in real time. There are no turns. You give orders whenever you like, and every order takes time to finish: an army takes hours to build, an attack takes hours to arrive, a deal has a deadline. A game can last one hour or twenty-four days, and the rules are the same in every length. Only the clock runs faster.

This guide covers what a new player needs for their first game. The full rules have the exact numbers.

1. Know your country

You command one of eight countries: Arkon, Norland, Kesh, Miran, Dravik, Selene, Veloria or Talos. Each has a capital and four outer regions, and there are forty regions on the map in all. Each region produces one main resource, shown by its icon, so everyone can see who is rich in what.

There are three resources:

Energy is fuel and power. Ships and especially planes need a lot of it.
Wealth is money. Land armies are mostly paid for in wealth.
Intelligence pays for spies and covert operations. It doesn't count toward winning, but it decides what you know.

Every country is clearly short of either energy or wealth. You can't swap one resource for another, so the only way to fix a shortage is to trade with another country. That's on purpose: from the first minute, you need your neighbours as much as you fear them.

2. Your first hour

Every game opens with a peace time, the first twelfth of the game, when nobody can attack. Use it well:

Read the map. Find your borders, your coast and your capital. Capitals have no coast, so they can only be invaded overland.
Look at your shortage. Your country screen shows what you earn per hour. Decide who has the resource you lack.
Open a conversation. Messages cost nothing and bind nobody. Ask what your neighbours need.
Make your first deal. A simple trade, such as wealth every hour for energy every hour, builds trust and income at the same time.
Build a defence. Land units are cheap and quick to build. A border with nothing on it is an invitation.
Read your secret missions. You have three, and they'll shape everything you do.

New players start in the practice World, a short game against computer opponents that teaches each action step by step. It never counts toward your record.

3. Deals: the only promises that bind

Anything said in a message can be a lie. A deal is different: it is built from set terms, and the game enforces it automatically for as long as it lasts. Terms include:

sending resources now, or paying every hour for a set time;
a peace promise, so neither side attacks the other;
a defence pact, so your armies help them automatically when they are attacked;
joining an attack, carrying their army across the sea, or letting their armies through your land;
sharing spy reports, or spying on a target for them;
a penalty paid if you break it, so your word carries weight.

The other side can accept, decline or send back a changed offer. Unanswered offers expire.

Any deal can be broken at any time. Breaking one is a clear choice, the other side is told at once, and your Reputation drops. Reputation is a public number from 0 to 100, from Treacherous up to Trusted. It never recovers with time, only through what you do. A country with a bad Reputation will find few partners.

4. Alliances

Two to four countries can form an official alliance. Members automatically get a peace promise, shared vision and the right to move armies through each other's land. Adding a member needs a majority of the current members. You can leave with notice and keep your good name, or leave at once and pay for it in Reputation. Attacking a fellow member costs the most.

Remember that only one country can win. Every alliance is temporary, and the best players know when theirs will end.

5. Spies and secrets

You see other countries only roughly: their armies as a range, such as “Land: 150 to 250”, and never their exact savings. To learn the truth, spend Intelligence:

A spy report reveals a country's real numbers. A cheap one can be fooled by a cover story; a high-confidence one can't.
A cover story makes your own country look stronger or weaker than it is.
Sabotage halves a region's production for about a day. Siphon quietly takes a share of a rival's wealth. Incite stirs unrest in a region someone captured.
Counter-intelligence catches operations against you. You choose whether to expose the culprit in public.

6. War

When peace time ends, countries can attack. There's no luck and no hidden dice: each side destroys enemy units worth half of its own strength, and the side with more left wins. Land armies are worth 1 strength point each, ships 4 and planes 8, and every point costs about the same to build.

Only land armies capture regions. Ships carry them across the sea and fight along coasts.
Planes can strike anywhere but never capture.
Every attack travels for hours before it lands, and everyone can see it coming. That's your warning time, long enough to build defences, call on allies or offer a deal.
Every unit sent into battle costs 10% of its price, and every unit you keep costs upkeep each hour. War is expensive, so choose your fights.

For days-long games, auto-defence sends help from your neighbouring regions when you are away, and a caretaker plays your country if you stay away too long, until you return.

7. Read the Gazette

The World Order Gazette is the game's newspaper. Every few game hours it reports battles, broken promises, new alliances and exposed spies, and it runs breaking news when a capital falls or a new leader rises. Players can also publish in it: a warning, an offer to trade, or proof of a betrayal. It's where Reputation is made and lost.

8. How to win

A country dominates an area when it ranks first in it with at least 30% of the world total. There are four areas:

Territory: the regions you hold, out of forty.
Military: the strength of every unit you own.
Energy and Wealth: your savings at the end.

Your score is the areas you dominate (0 to 4) plus credit for your three secret missions (0 to 3). The live leaderboard shows areas only. Missions are revealed when time runs out, so the final ranking can change in the last moment. Only one country wins.

Tips from the first playtests

Trade early. A country that solves its shortage in the first hours builds faster all game.
Put penalties in your important deals. A promise that costs something to break is a promise people believe.
Watch the attack lines on the map. A large army heading toward a neighbour is news for you too.
Don't overbuild. Upkeep is about 2% of an army's price every hour, so an idle army costs as much as a new one in about two days.
Plan for your missions, not only the leaderboard. Three completed missions are worth as much as three dominated areas.