How Cards and Plot Upgrades Work
Place troop, tower and building cards on empty plots, then play matching duplicates onto those plots to upgrade them. Get additional cards from defeated kings and merchants, and use enchantments, tomes and adjacent support effects to strengthen the kingdom you have built.
King Cards, Effects and Acquisition
Your chosen king supplies a starting deck; defeating rival kings gives access to their deck cards. In the tables, “Deck / loot” refers to those routes, while starting bases belong to the king you select.
| Card | King or Pool | Type | Effect or Interaction | How to Get It |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Castle | Nothing | Base | Attacks with boulders. | Starting king |
| Soldier | Nothing | Troop | Gains damage as units join its troop. | Deck / loot |
| Archer | Nothing | Troop | Fast ranged attacks; gains 9 units per level. | Deck / loot |
| Paladin | Nothing | Troop | Damage buffs also increase HP. | Deck / loot |
| Scout Tower | Nothing | Tower | Projectile count increases with level. | Deck / loot |
| Farm | Nothing | Building | Adds units to an adjacent troop each year. | Deck / loot |
| Blacksmith | Nothing | Building | Adjacent plots gain +2% damage yearly. | Deck / loot |
| Steel Coat | Nothing | Enchantment | Each stack cancels an opening hit each battle. | Deck / loot; merchant offers |
| Wildcard | Nothing | — | Can be spent on Castle levels. | Development decree; Benevolent perk |
| Citadel | Spells | Base | Helps fight while your Wizards develop. | Starting king |
| Wizard | Spells | Troop | Gains +5% damage per enchantment carried. | Deck / loot |
| Warlock | Spells | Troop | Gains +5% HP whenever a tome is used. | Deck / loot |
| Shaman | Spells | — | — | Deck / loot |
| Spire | Spells | Tower | Heals units closest to death. | Deck / loot |
| Library | Spells | Building | Yearly 50% chance to copy an adjacent troop’s enchantment. | Deck / loot |
| Static | Spells | Enchantment | Adds chain lightning to attacks. | Deck / loot; merchant offers |
| Combustion | Spells | — | Provides area damage. | Deck / loot |
| Offering | Spells | Tome | Works with the Pillage decree. | Deck / loot |
| Tempest | Spells | — | Formerly named Static Fields. | — |
| Abrakadabra | Spells | — | Its frogs wander instead of marching toward your base. | — |
| Palace | Greed | Base | — | Starting king |
| Mercenary | Greed | Troop | Maintains a unit for every 9 gold held. | Deck / loot |
| Vault | Greed | Building | Pays 3 gold per level yearly and levels automatically. | Deck / loot; merchant offers |
| Dispenser | Greed | Tower | Attack speed grows as you earn gold. | Deck / loot |
| Beacon | Greed | Building | Buffs adjacent attack and movement speed yearly. | Deck / loot; merchant offers |
| Midas Touch | Greed | — | — | Deck / loot |
| Over-invest | Greed | Tome | Costs 30 gold for +15% to every plot stat. | Deck / loot |
| Mortgage | — | — | — | — |
| Pagoda | Blood | Base | Summons invincible Ghosts; permanent troop destruction raises their count. | Starting king |
| Imp | Blood | Troop | Fast minions that can feed an adjacent Mangler. | Deck / loot |
| Bomber | Blood | Troop | Rushes enemies and explodes for area damage. | Deck / loot |
| Cemetery | Blood | — | Destroyed adjacent troop plots leave a Skeleton plot. | Deck / loot |
| Demon Altar | Blood | Tower | Summons demons and grows stronger from allied deaths. | Deck / loot |
| Mangler | Blood | Tower | Summons meat trolls; consumes adjacent units for permanent damage and HP. | Deck / loot |
| Sacrifice | Blood | — | Can destroy troops beside Pagoda to raise its level. | Deck / loot |
| Oblation | Blood | Tome | Throw into the pit to add units; pit discards strengthen its effect. | Deck / loot |
| Carnage | Blood | — | Affected troops explode when killed. | Deck / loot |
| Treant | Nature | Base | Creates a field that heals allies and damages enemies. | Starting king |
| Elf | Nature | Troop | Always shoots the most distant target. | Deck / loot |
| Boar | Nature | Troop | Adjacent troops mount it and gain stats from its HP. | Deck / loot |
| Forest | Nature | Building | Adjacent plots gain +2% HP yearly. | Deck / loot |
| Mycelium | Nature | Tower | Accumulates fighting spores across battles. | Deck / loot |
| Orchard | — | — | Its tooltip includes a stun stat. | — |
| Procreate | Nature | — | Adds 9 units to the target troop. | Deck / loot |
| Clone | Nature | — | Duplicates cards; Codex returns Broken Codex. | Deck / loot |
| Poison Vial | — | — | Gives troops 3 poison stacks. | — |
| Stronghold | Stone | Base | Summoned towers shoot nearby enemies. | Starting king |
| Wallmaker | Stone | Building | Builds walls; gains +10% HP yearly. | Deck / loot; Impervious perk |
| Ballista | Stone | Troop | Fires piercing bolts; walls stop its projectiles. | Deck / loot |
| Trebuchet | Stone | — | Projectiles deal area damage. | Deck / loot |
| Flametower | Stone | Tower | Can attack enemy walls. | Deck / loot |
| Trapper | Stone | Troop | Places damaging traps that stun enemies. | Deck / loot |
| Cauldron | Stone | Building | Adjacent attacks apply 3 poison stacks per level. | Deck / loot; merchant offers |
| Earthworks | Stone | Tome | Unlocks adjacent plots and returns up to 3 target copies. | Deck / loot |
| Regression | — | — | Lowers a plot’s level while retaining its gains. | — |
| Mothership | Progress | Base | Movement speed increases when levelled. | Starting king |
| Lab Rat | Progress | Troop | Uncapped normal levels; adjacent level-ups trigger its own. | Deck / loot |
| Defender | Progress | Troop | Does not attack; reflects damage taken. | Deck / loot |
| Executioner | Progress | Troop | Ranged fighter targeting the lowest-health enemy. | Deck / loot |
| Recycler | Progress | Building | Pit discards give adjacent plots +2% damage and HP per level. | Deck / loot |
| Concabulator | Progress | Building | Reaching level 3 levels up the kingdom. | Deck / loot |
| Converter | — | Tower | Turns enemies into allied rats inheriting its stats. | Merchant offers |
| Overhaul | Progress | Tome | Destroys a target to level random plots; repeated use increases the effect. | Deck / loot |
| Reinforce | Progress | — | Heals 2% HP per second in battle, beyond maximum HP. | Deck / loot |
| Warlord | Nomads | Base / troop | Shoots banners that add its stats to allied targets. | Starting king |
| Mob | Nomads | Troop | Gains units when a different adjacent card gains them. | Deck / loot |
| Raptor | Nomads | — | Can carry Warper riders. | — |
| Dragon Den | Nomads | Tower | Summons single-strike dragons; grows when plots are destroyed. | Deck / loot |
| Camp | Nomads | Building | Empty-plot placements give adjacent plots +2% to all stats. | Deck / loot; merchant offers |
| Migration | Nomads | Tome | Moves to an empty adjacent plot; grants +10% damage and HP. | Deck / loot; Immigrant perk |
| Razing | — | — | Works with Pillage and Explorer. | — |
| Bastion | Time | Base | Damaging rifts warp enemies to the backline. | Starting king |
| Hourglass | Time | Tower | Charges slowly before releasing a massive explosion. | Deck / loot; merchant offers |
| Orbiter | Time | Troop | Copies enchantments received by adjacent plots. | Deck / loot |
| Warper | Time | Troop | Summons melee units with half its stats. | Deck / loot |
| Portal | Time | Building | At maximum level, sends the kingdom 2 years back. | Deck / loot; merchant offers |
| Amplifier | Time | Building | Passes received buffs to adjacent plots; levels increase its reach. | Deck / loot; merchant offers |
| Rewind | Time | Tome | Throw into the pit to replace your hand with recently played cards. | Deck / loot; merchant offers |
| Adrenaline | — | — | — | Brutal applies a starting stack to troops. |
| Osmosis | — | — | Grants +30% to all stats. | Merchant offers |
Rainbow and Other Special Cards
Defeating the Rainbow Army offers special cards, and Rainbow cards can also appear in shops. Their availability makes them opportunities to adapt your kingdom rather than pieces to assume you will draw.
| Card | Pool | Type | Effect or Interaction | How to Get It |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dwarf | Rainbow | Troop | Moves yearly; unlocking a plot grants +50% to all stats. | Rainbow rewards / shops |
| Codex | Rainbow | Building | Returns copies of a tome used on it, then self-destructs. | Rainbow rewards / shops |
| Warehouse | Rainbow | Building | Repeats adjacent support-building effects. | Rainbow rewards / shops |
| Surge | Rainbow | Tome | Triggers a target support building 9 times. | Rainbow rewards / shops |
| Extraction | Rainbow | Tome | Destroys a plot and gives 5 copies of it. | Rainbow rewards / shops |
| Precision | Rainbow | Enchantment | First-hit damage increases by +100% per stack. | Rainbow rewards / shops |
| Golem | Rainbow | Troop | Tomes used on it have double effect. | Rainbow rewards / shops |
| Randomfy | Rainbow | Tome | Changes the card to another of its type, doubling current stats. | Rainbow rewards / shops |
| Patronage | Rainbow | — | Adds 3 base levels beyond the normal cap. | Rainbow rewards / shops |
| Shrine | Rainbow | Building | Levels a random plot yearly. | Rainbow rewards / shops |
| Temple | Rainbow | Building | Adds 9% to a random plot stat yearly. | Rainbow rewards / shops |
| X-Ray | Rainbow | — | Can level plots beyond their maximum. | Rainbow rewards / shops |
| Echoform | Rainbow | — | — | Rainbow rewards / shops |
| Gigantify | Rainbow | — | — | Rainbow rewards / shops |
| Slime | Rainbow | — | — | Rainbow rewards / shops |
| Reflector | Rainbow | — | — | Rainbow rewards / shops |
| Reactor | Rainbow | — | — | Rainbow rewards / shops |
| Factory | Rainbow | — | Does not trigger between multiplayer final showdown battles. | Rainbow rewards / shops |
| Leech | Rainbow | — | — | Rainbow rewards / shops |
| Great Hall | Rainbow | — | — | Rainbow rewards / shops |
| Singularity | Rainbow | — | — | Rainbow rewards / shops |
| Accumulator | Rainbow | — | Golem triggers its effect twice. | Rainbow rewards / shops |
| Mantra | Rainbow | — | — | Rainbow rewards / shops |
| Hound | Rainbow | — | — | Rainbow rewards / shops |
| Balance | — | — | Equalizes HP and damage to the higher value. | — |
| Catharsis | — | — | — | — |
| Unify | — | — | — | — |
| Obelisk | — | — | — | — |
| Ogre | — | Troop | Empty-plot buffs also count locked plots. | — |
| Doomstower | — | Tower | Its ray deals area damage. | — |
| Smite | — | Enchantment | — | — |
| Swords | — | — | — | — |
| Shields | — | — | Can be applied to Manglers. | — |
| Transmutation | — | — | A troop beside a Cemetery becomes an Imp. | — |
| Chaos Oblation | Chaos | Tome | Pit use grants +3 units per card discarded into the pit. | — |
| Chaos Sacrifice | Chaos | — | Adds sacrificed cards’ damage and HP to adjacent plots. | — |
| Chaos Earthworks | Chaos | — | Combines surrounding Vault levels into a target plot. | — |
| Chaos Offering | Chaos | — | Works with the Pillage decree. | — |
| Chaos Mortgage | Chaos | — | Works with the Pillage decree. | — |
| Chaos Swords | Chaos | — | — | — |
| Chaos Shields | Chaos | — | — | — |
| Broken Cabulators | Derived | Trash | — | — |
| Temp Nulls | Derived | Trash | — | — |
| Broken Gachas | Derived | Trash | — | — |
| Spare Change | — | Trash | — | — |
| Bone Pile | Derived | Trash | — | Rewind returns it instead of a Skeleton card. |
| Pile of Bones | — | — | Beside a Cemetery, creates Skeletons inheriting its stats. | Blighted grants it when placing a Cemetery. |
| Broken Codex | Derived | — | — | Use Clone or Earthworks on Codex. |
| Skeleton | Derived | Troop | A Pile of Bones can inherit Cemetery stats. | Cemetery destruction interaction or adjacent Pile of Bones. |
Place Cards and Upgrade the Right Plot
- Choose an empty plot for a troop, tower or building. Before committing a support building, check which neighbours you want its effect to reach.
- Hold a matching duplicate over the occupied plot to preview the stats or effects that the upgrade will increase. Use that preview to decide whether upgrading is more useful than placing another copy elsewhere.
- Check the plot’s cap before spending a duplicate. Most plots have three levels, while Lab Rat has no normal level cap; effects such as Patronage can also push a base beyond its usual limit.
- Read the current tooltip after perks and decrees apply. Card descriptions reflect relevant modifiers, and hovering an enchantment icon shows what that enchantment does.
Get Cards From Loot, Merchants and the Pit
Choose rival kings with cards your kingdom can use: defeating them opens access to their decks. At merchants, the first card costs 30 gold and each subsequent purchase costs 15 more. Discarding an unwanted hand card into the pit gives 9 gold.
Spending has an immediate cost for a Mercenary army because its unit count follows your current treasury. Compare a shop purchase with the army size you will lose before paying. Rare Goods changes shop availability by guaranteeing a Rainbow card for sale.
Use the Compendium to inspect card stats and revisit Rainbow or Chaos cards you have already used. Joker Mode offers another way to experiment: unlock all kings to access its custom deck and rule settings.
Read Adjacency Before Filling the Board
Troops move and fight, towers attack or produce battle effects, and buildings support plots. Enchantments stack on troops, while tomes apply effects to occupied plots. Those distinctions matter when an effect names a particular target type.
Keep important troops beside the buildings meant to strengthen them. A Blacksmith helps Paladins gain damage and HP together; Forests beside Boars raise the HP that powers their riders. Libraries need an adjacent troop with an enchantment already available to copy.
Empty plots can also be useful. Camp rewards cards landing on them, and Migration needs an empty adjacent destination. Filling every space can therefore block the movement or repeated placements your kingdom depends on.
Reuse Cards Without Following Old Exploits
Earthworks can return up to 3 copies of a plot’s cards, making a self-levelling Vault useful for repeated placements. Codex is an important exception: Clone or Earthworks returns Broken Codex. Rewind replaces your hand with recently played cards, so consider what you play before discarding it.
For the PC full release, use Oblation in place of the older Vampirism card. Recycler replaced Precision in the Progress deck, while Precision returned separately as a Rainbow enchantment. Dragon Den is the current name of Dragon’s Den.
Regression cannot target level 1 plots, and Golem triggers Accumulator twice. Factory does not activate between multiplayer final showdown battles. Keep those specific restrictions in mind when comparing a current run with an older combo.