VERDANTHOLM

The Sundered Continent — Lords of the Seven Kingdoms

A strategy game of conquest & intrigue — 7 players · ~15 min

Enter your name, Lord

New to Verdantholm? Read the Lore & Rules before your first game — knowing your kingdom's strengths is half the battle.

Configure Room

0

7 human lords required — share the room code with 6 friends.

Your Room

Share this code with 6 friends. Game starts automatically when all 7 lords arrive.

Waiting for players… 1/7

Join a Room

Waiting for Lords…

1/7 lords seated

Lore & Rules

⚙ The Sundered Continent

The name Verdantholm comes from the ancient Verdish tongue — Ver, meaning green, and Thal, meaning world. It was a fitting name for a continent of lush forests, fertile plains, and rivers that ran clear from the mountains to the sea. For two thousand years, seven peoples built their civilisations here, bound together by trade, language, and the memory of a common origin.

Long ago, the continent was united under the Verdant Throne — a seat of immense power whose holder commanded the loyalty of all seven kingdoms. The Throne was not merely political; it was said to be a physical object of tremendous power, forged at the moment the world was spoken into being by the seven first kings. "Neth-ilum thal-um kor-im veth-ilum" — from the void, the kings created the world. So begins the oldest verse of the Verdish creation myth, the Thal-Korim-Veth, still recited in ceremonial halls across the continent.

The last king of the unified Throne died without an heir. In the chaos that followed, the Throne shattered into seven fragments — one for each kingdom. The Seer of Neth, a legendary prophet said to have lived before the Sundering, had foretold this moment centuries earlier: "Seven worlds created, twelve waters, mountain-bound." Scholars of the Brighthelm Academy have since identified this as the Prophecy of the Sundering, fulfilled in the year 312 of the Continental Era.

For a generation, an uneasy peace held. The twelve great rivers — the Azureflow, the Crimsonreach, the Dawnbreak, and nine others — still carried merchant vessels between kingdoms. The Brighthelm Academy sent scholars abroad. Warriors trained but did not march. Then, in the Year of the Red Comet, the seven fragments began to glow — and each kingdom felt, for the first time, the pull of an old hunger.

The prophecy the Seer left behind spoke clearly: whosoever reunites four fragments shall reclaim the Verdant Throne and rule all of Verdantholm for a thousand years. Every lord on the continent read it the same way. Every lord believed it meant them.

The age of diplomacy is over. The age of lords has begun.

Verdantholm is currently in Beta. The world you see here is only a fragment of what has been imagined — new game modes, deeper lore, and entirely new games set in this universe are waiting to be built. If you enjoy your time on the Sundered Continent and want to help us unveil more of it, donations are welcome and deeply appreciated. Every contribution goes directly toward expanding the world of Verdantholm.

♔ The Seven Kingdoms

Aethelred
Highland Fortress

The mountain kingdom of Aethelred sits atop the northern highlands, carved from ancient granite by generations of miners and smiths. Their fortress walls have never been breached. Warriors train in thin air and cold wind, making them the finest defenders on the continent.

⚔ Starting Armies: 6
💰 Base Income: 2 gold/round
+1 defense die when defending their home territory (passive — no Fortify needed)
🔭
Glimmerock
Stoneworks

Glimmerock quarries the glimmering stone that gives the kingdom its name — a mineral that amplifies light and magnifies distant objects. Their opticians and engineers build infrastructure at costs no other kingdom can match, turning barren outposts into thriving settlements with remarkable speed.

⚔ Starting Armies: 5
💰 Base Income: 2 gold/round
Build Infrastructure costs 1 less gold (2 instead of 3)
Seaborne
Maritime Routes

Seaborne controls the only deep-water harbour on the Cerulean Sea. Their merchant fleets carry goods to every corner of Verdantholm, and their sailors know every reef and current. Their logistical mastery keeps armies supplied long after others exhaust their momentum.

⚔ Starting Armies: 5
💰 Base Income: 3 gold/round
Rally the Banners costs 2 gold and lasts 3 rounds (others pay 3 gold for 2 rounds)
📜
Brighthelm
Academy

Brighthelm is home to the Grand Academy, the oldest seat of learning in Verdantholm. Its scholars decoded the runes left by the ancient kingdom, and their research into military strategy, agriculture, and espionage is generations ahead of their rivals. Knowledge, they say, is the sharpest sword.

⚔ Starting Armies: 4
💰 Base Income: 2 gold/round
Research costs 1 less gold (3 instead of 4)
Sunstone
Fertile Lands

The sun-drenched plains of Sunstone produce more grain, wool, and textile than any other kingdom. Their rivers run clear, their harvests never fail, and their markets overflow. Wealth comes easily here — and with it, the means to fund armies, treaties, and ambitions.

⚔ Starting Armies: 4
💰 Base Income: 3 gold/round (4 with free starting infrastructure)
Starts with 1 free Infrastructure level
🔥
Grimforge
Forgemaster

Grimforge was built in the crater of a dead volcano, and its forges have burned without interruption for three centuries. Their weapons are the finest on the continent — and they produce them cheaply and in vast quantities. An army of Grimforge soldiers is the most feared sight in Verdantholm.

⚔ Starting Armies: 6
💰 Base Income: 2 gold/round
Recruit costs 1 less gold (2 instead of 3)
🌿
Whisperwood
Herbalist Guild

The deep forest of Whisperwood is home to healers, herbalists, and those who move without sound. Their Guild of Shadows maintains a network of informants in every court on the continent. Whisperwood rarely fights — they simply know everything before the battle begins.

⚔ Starting Armies: 4
💰 Base Income: 2 gold/round
Spy actions are free (no gold cost)

⚙ How to Play

Lobby & Setup

One player creates a room and chooses how many AI lords to fill the thrones (0 to 6). Share the 5-letter room code with the remaining human players. Once all 7 seats are filled — by humans or AI — the game begins automatically. Each lord is randomly assigned one of the seven kingdoms.

The Round Structure

Verdantholm is played in rounds. Each round, every territory takes one turn in a rotating order. The first territory to act rotates by one each round, so no kingdom always goes last.

If you control more than one territory (by conquest), you get one turn per territory — these are interleaved with other players' turns for fairness.

Your Turn

When it's your territory's turn, you have 30 seconds to choose one action. If time runs out with no action chosen, your turn ends automatically. Each action uses that territory's own gold and resources — you cannot move gold between territories.

Simultaneous Resolution

Once all territories have chosen their action, everything resolves at the same time, in five passes:

  1. Pass 1: Recruit, Build, Research, Spy
  2. Pass 2: Invasions (with multi-attack priority)
  3. Pass 3: Fortify
  4. Pass 4: Rally the Banners
  5. Pass 5: Seek the Runes (resolves last, affects all)

After resolution, all territories collect their income.

⚖ Actions

⚔ Recruit Armies
Cost: 3 gold (2 for Grimforge)

Gain 1 new army in this territory. With Research Level 1, gain 2 instead.

🏗 Build Infrastructure
Cost: 3 gold (2 for Glimmerock) — max level 5

Permanently increases this territory's income by 1 gold per round. The single best long-term investment.

📖 Research
Cost: 4 gold (3 for Brighthelm) — max level 4

Unlock powerful upgrades for this territory, one level at a time:

  • Level 1: +1 army per Recruit action
  • Level 2: Spy reveals full intel (research, infra, fortify, treaties) and the enemy's queued action
  • Level 3: +1 gold income per round (stacks with infrastructure)
  • Level 4: Supreme Command — +2 attack dice
📯 Rally the Banners
Cost: 3 gold (2 for Seaborne)

Inspire your forces for fearless conquest. For the next 2 rounds (3 for Seaborne), any invasion you win costs zero casualties — all committed armies survive and garrison the conquered territory. Active rally status is visible to all.

🔍 Spy
Cost: 2 gold (free for Whisperwood)

Plant a spy in an enemy territory. For the next 3 rounds, you can see their armies and gold. With Research Level 2, you also see their research, infrastructure, fortify status, and active treaties — and during their turn, you can see the action they chose.

🛡 Fortify
Cost: 2 gold

Reinforce your defenses. For the next 2 rounds (not this one), this territory rolls +1 extra defense die when defending against invasions.

🔮 Seek the Runes
Cost: 15 gold — once per lord, forever

Approach the Verdant Throne and speak the ancient words. Fate draws one of four runes at random — their effect fires at the end of the round for all to witness in the Chronicle:

  • 💀 Rune of Ruin — All other territories lose 4 armies (min. 1 survives)
  • 🛡 Rune of the Bastion — Your territories cannot be invaded for 3 rounds
  • 📖 Rune of Wisdom — You gain +2 research levels instantly (capped at 4)
  • 🌑 Rune of Hunger — All others lose 3 gold and earn no income for 2 rounds

You cannot choose which rune answers. This action can only be used once per lord — not once per kingdom.

⚔ Invade
Cost: armies (commit 2+, keep at least 1 home)

Declare an invasion of an enemy territory. Choose how many armies to commit (up to all armies minus 1). The attack resolves at end of round. Territories protected by the Bastion Ward cannot be invaded.

⚔ Combat

How Invasion Works

Combat uses a Risk-style dice duel. Both sides roll dice, sort them highest-first, and compare up to 3 pairs. The side that wins more pairs wins the battle. Ties go to the defender.

  • Attacker rolls: one die per committed army (+2 dice with Research Level 4).
  • Defender rolls: one die per defending army (+1 die if Fortified, or if playing Aethelred's Highland Fortress passive on home territory).

There is no home territory bonus — the defender's advantage is already built into the tie-goes-to-defender rule. Attacking with equal armies is a calculated risk (~35% win chance), not a coin flip.

Casualties

  • If the attacker wins: attacker loses armies equal to the number of pairs the defender won (min. 1 survivor garrisons the conquered territory).
  • If the defender wins: attacker loses all committed armies. Defender loses armies equal to the number of pairs the attacker won (min. 1 always survives).

Multiple Invasions of the Same Territory

If two or more kingdoms declare invasion of the same territory in the same round, only one attack proceeds. The kingdom committing the most armies wins the right to attack — all others retreat with their armies returned. If armies are tied, the kingdom with more gold wins the priority.

War State

Once two kingdoms go to war, a permanent war state is recorded between them — visible on the map and in territory intel.

♔ Victory

⚔ Dominance Victory

The first player to control 4 territories simultaneously — their home kingdom plus 3 conquests — wins the game and claims the Verdant Throne. The game ends immediately.

⏳ Timeout Victory (Round 24)

If no lord achieves dominance after 24 rounds, the age of war ends and a victor is declared by two tiebreakers, in order:

  1. Military Victory: The player with the highest total armies across all their controlled territories wins.
  2. Wealth Victory: If armies are exactly tied, the player with the highest total gold across all their controlled territories wins.

When a player wins by any condition, the game room is immediately closed and all game data is erased.

Strategic Tip: Expanding too fast leaves your new territories under-defended. A conquered territory with only 1–2 garrison armies is an easy target for a counter-invasion. Recruit before you march.
Long Game Tip: If you can't reach 3 territories, focus on stockpiling armies and gold — a timeout victory is decided by who built the strongest economy, not who fought the most battles.