(Beta) The Solaris are Here to Burn the Square to Ashes!
Hey Polytopians! A new beta is being released.
There is a war raging for eternity that has destroyed countless worlds, a conflict between two powerful foes, both hellbent on wiping out the other. That war made its way to the Square when the nefarious Gaami first made contact with the Polaris, but now the diabolical Ralmi have tracked down their icy nemeses and hope to take the Square for themselves!
The Ralmi made their entrance underground and burst forth like a volcano, subjugating nearby Polytopians - the Solaris, shackling them with magic of fire and ash. With legions of followers at the ready, the Ralmi plan to turn the Square into a pile of cinders, just like every other world they've touched.
Much like the Polaris, the Solaris rely on spreading fire throughout the land, using the power of their Pyros to char the landscape into a habitat a bit more suitable for their forces. And the Lava Bank can turn all those burnt (or frozen) tiles into cash.
After the water has been thoroughly hardened, their Steam Wagons and Steam Fortresses can roll effortlessly over toward their foes.
Not so keen on using ice to stop their enemies, Pyros and Ash Archers can petrify enemy troops!
Lastly, the Ralmi have bestowed their followers with "gifts" such as the Tuagama Lizard and the Igmina Crystals, to keep their military on the move and well equipped with fire magic.
Will the Polytopians survive the onslaught of two extradimensional invaders fighting a war beyond comprehension? That's for you to decide when the Solaris are released on April 29th!
So, Can I Play With them Early?
Yes, by joining a beta! You can join the beta in one of two ways:
1. Head to our Discord by clicking this link and finding the links for Android or iOS
2. Using the code polytopiabetatesters to join the beta program on Steam. Simply right-click Polytopia, click "Properties," then add that code to the "Betas" tab of that popup.
Either way, we look forward to seeing you in the beta!
Xin-Xi Polysseum!
We are happy to announce another month of Polysseum! This month we are playing Xin-Xi!
How to join?
Open The Battle of Polytopia -> Multiplayer -> Tournaments. Once you find the tournament that suits you, click "Join".
Follow our Tournaments Hub on Challengermode and find your favourite tournaments.
Don't forget to confirm your participation 30 minutes before the tournament start. You can find more details on how to join in the FAQ.
Tournament capacity Players will be split between up to 3 tournaments.
There will be a maximum of 16 players per tournament.
If there are any more on the waiting list, then a new tournament will be created for them (to a maximu m of 3 total tournaments)
Players will be distributed evenly based on their check-in time. So if 16 players confirm participation and 10 are on a waiting list, it will create 2 tournaments with 13 players in each.
All of this means that if you are on a waiting list, don't go too far from your device because you might have a tournament to play.
A reminder about Polysseum format
Daily tournaments
9 weekly tournaments - Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday. 27 tournaments per month.
Up to 48 players, split into a maximum of three 16-player tournaments.
1v1 Single elimination, finals Bo3.
Live games, Might, Small map.
Tribe of the Month.
Prize pool per tournament - €10.
Monthly Leaderboard Players will be automatically placed on the leaderboard once they participate in the tournament. The top 16 players will be invited to the Monthly tournament.
Monthly Finals
April Finals - May 2nd
16 players.
Live games, Might, Small map.
Prize pool - €200 and 4 spots in the Season Finals.
We're introducing Weekly Challenges, which are repeatable single-player games where everyone uses the same seed and settings! There will be a leaderboard every week, so now you have a new way to test your skills and show the world your Polytopia-prowess!
Here's how this works:
- Every week, a new single-player challenge will be available to everyone, regardless of platform - The game will always be Perfection with a reduced turn limit (20 turns). - The Weekly Challenge will be the same for everyone, so, same tribe, same opponents, same seed. You don't need to own a particular tribe or skin to be able to play that week's challenge - The banner at the top of the menu will show you what tribe you'll be playing with - You can attempt the Weekly Challenge multiple times - Your best attempt that week will be put up on the leaderboard for all to see
As usual, to join the beta, just follow these steps:
- Right-click Polytopia in your Steam Library - Click the "Properties" tab on the dropdown - Head to the "Betas" tab on the popup - Use the beta access code "polytopiabetatesters" to get in
We look forward to seeing what you think about these new Weekly Challenges! -Zoythrus
Yadakk Polysseum!
We are happy to announce another month of Polysseum! This month we are playing Yădakk!
How to join?
Open The Battle of Polytopia -> Multiplayer -> Tournaments. Once you find the tournament that suits you, click "Join".
Follow our Tournaments Hub on Challengermode and find your favourite tournaments.
Don't forget to confirm your participation 30 minutes before the tournament start. You can find more details on how to join in the FAQ.
Tournament capacity Players will be split between up to 3 tournaments.
There will be a maximum of 16 players per tournament.
If there are any more on the waiting list, then a new tournament will be created for them (to a maximu m of 3 total tournaments)
Players will be distributed evenly based on their check-in time. So if 16 players confirm participation and 10 are on a waiting list, it will create 2 tournaments with 13 players in each.
All of this means that if you are on a waiting list, don't go too far from your device because you might have a tournament to play.
A reminder about Polysseum format
Daily tournaments
9 weekly tournaments - Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday. 27 tournaments per month.
Up to 48 players, split into a maximum of three 16-player tournaments.
1v1 Single elimination, finals Bo3.
Live games, Might, Small map.
Tribe of the Month.
Prize pool per tournament - €10.
Monthly Leaderboard Players will be automatically placed on the leaderboard once they participate in the tournament. The top 16 players will be invited to the Monthly tournament.
Monthly Finals
January Finals - February 1st
8 players.
Live games, Might, Small map.
Prize pool - €200 and 4 spots in the Season Finals.
Tournament capacity Players will be split between up to 3 tournaments.
There will be a maximum of 16 players per tournament.
If there are any more on the waiting list, then a new tournament will be created for them (to a maximu m of 3 total tournaments)
Players will be distributed evenly based on their check-in time. So if 16 players confirm participation and 10 are on a waiting list, it will create 2 tournaments with 13 players in each.
All of this means that if you are on a waiting list, don't go too far from your device because you might have a tournament to play.
A reminder about Polysseum format
Daily tournaments
9 weekly tournaments - Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday. 27 tournaments per month.
Up to 48 players, split into a maximum of three 16-player tournaments.
1v1 Single elimination, finals Bo3.
Live games, Might, Small map.
Tribe of the Month.
Prize pool per tournament - €10.
Monthly Leaderboard Players will be automatically placed on the leaderboard once they participate in the tournament. The top 16 players will be invited to the Monthly tournament.
Monthly Finals
December Finals - January 4th
8 players.
Live games, Might, Small map.
Prize pool - €200 and 4 spots in the Season Finals.
This new beta patch doesn't just showcase "The Forgotten", the new Aquarion Skin, but also has some balance changes for the recent Aquarion Rework and some new languages. All are going to need some testing before this patch is released to the public on November 13th.
If you want to get straight to the changes, click here.
Let's Meet the Forgotten!
Deep in the Ritiki Marshlands, a lone Aquarion outpost lost contact when their Empire sank beneath the waves long ago. Believing themselves to be the last of their kind, the forgotten outpost attempted to carry out the Aquarion mission - monitor their land-dwelling siblings from afar and step in if a large-scale conflict ever erupted. It's been centuries since then, and the outpost has developed quite differently from its parent empire, befriending the swampy fauna and adapting to their environment in new and interesting ways. These interesting Squids are well-suited for the swamp they live in and are able to do all the things their fishy counterparts taught them before they lost contact. They can find Lost Cities, recruit impressive Toads, aquaform the land into more swamps, and plenty of other things!
Let's Meet the Languages!
Not only are the Aquarion getting an update, but so are the game's localizations!
Added in this update are translations for:
Hindi
Indonesian
Malay
Polish
Thai
Turkish
Vietnamese
If you speak these languages (or even if you don't), we'd love to hear what you have to think about them on our Discord. There's a link to it down below.
Let's Meet the Changes!
Based on your feedback, we've made some changes to the Aquarion, but we'll keep this pretty fast.
Bubbles
A common complaint with the recent Aquarion Rework is that the Aquarion weren't very speedy, especially on the water, primarily because they lacked their own version of Roads. If you were one of the complaining fans, feast your eyes on this! A Bubble!
These Bubbles are unlocked in the Waterways tech (Aquarion's replacement for the Roads tech), and they'll form around an Amphibious unit of yours automatically when they move onto Flooded terrain. A Bubbled unit gets +1 movement, and it will be removed when they step on land or are attacked. Do note, as we said, these bubbles only work for Amphibious units, like Tridentions and Squids. No, we don't want 4 Movement Sharks, either.
These Bubbles should make it much easier to move your slower Amphibious units around in the water and toward the frontlines.
Other Notable Changes
Atoll improvement moved to Aquaculture
Lost Cities from water ruins are now smaller but spawn with resources around them
Crab defense reduced from 5 to 4
Aquarion start with 2 guaranteed fish in the capital
Shark attack increase from 3 to 3.5
Jelly attack increase from 0 to 2 so that they can make regular attacks
If multiple tentacles on one tile, the strongest will now always do the attack
How do I join the Beta?
Just like usual, follow these steps:
Right Click on Polytopia in your Steam Library
Select "Properties" from the dropdown
Head to the "Betas" tab on the popup
Use the code polytopiabetatesters as the access code to get into the beta!
Enjoy
You're always able to discuss this update at our Discord, which you can get to by clicking right here! We'll not only have dedicated channels for discussing the Aquarion Rework changes, but each of the new languages will have its own channel. If you find any issues, let us know there!
Have fun! -Zoythrus
Hoodrick Polysseum!
We are happy to announce another month of Polysseum! This month we are playing Hoodrick!
This month we will be reducing the number of players reaching the monthly final to just 8. If you want to participate in it, then make sure you play as much as you can!
How to join?
Open The Battle of Polytopia -> Multiplayer -> Tournaments. Once you find the tournament that suits you, click "Join".
Follow our Tournaments Hub on Challengermode and find your favourite tournaments.
Don't forget to confirm your participation 30 minutes before the tournament start. You can find more details on how to join in the FAQ.
Tournament capacity Players will be split between up to 3 tournaments.
There will be a maximum of 16 players per tournament.
If there are any more on the waiting list, then a new tournament will be created for them (to a maximu m of 3 total tournaments)
Players will be distributed evenly based on their check-in time. So if 16 players confirm participation and 10 are on a waiting list, it will create 2 tournaments with 13 players in each.
All of this means that if you are on a waiting list, don't go too far from your device because you might have a tournament to play.
A reminder about Polysseum format
Daily tournaments
9 weekly tournaments - Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday. 27 tournaments per month.
Up to 48 players, split into a maximum of three 16-player tournaments.
1v1 Single elimination, finals Bo3.
Live games, Might, Small map.
Tribe of the Month.
Prize pool per tournament - €10.
Monthly Leaderboard Players will be automatically placed on the leaderboard once they participate in the tournament. The top 16 players will be invited to the Monthly tournament.
Monthly Finals
October Finals - November 2nd
8 players.
Live games, Might, Small map.
Prize pool - €200 and 4 spots in the Season Finals.
We are happy to announce another month of Polysseum! This month we are playing Quetzali!
How to join?
Open The Battle of Polytopia -> Multiplayer -> Tournaments. Once you find the tournament that suits you, click "Join".
Follow our Tournaments Hub on Challengermode and find your favourite tournaments.
Don't forget to confirm your participation 15 minutes before the tournament start. You can find more details on how to join in the FAQ.
This September
Leaderboard scoring
1st - 400 pt
2nd - 250 pt
3rd-4th - 125 pt
5-8th - 40 pt
9-16th - 10 pt
Maps
[table] [tr] [th]Week 1[/th] [th]Continents[/th] [/tr] [tr] [th]Week 2[/th] [th]Lakes[/th] [/tr] [tr] [th]Week 3[/th] [th]Drylands[/th] [/tr] [/table] Tournament capacity Players will be split between up to 3 tournaments.
There will be a maximum of 16 players per tournament.
If there are any more on the waiting list, then a new tournament will be created for them (to a maximu m of 3 total tournaments)
Players will be distributed evenly based on their check-in time. So if 16 players confirm participation and 10 are on a waiting list, it will create 2 tournaments with 13 players in each.
All of this means that if you are on a waiting list, don't go too far from your device because you might have a tournament to play.
September schedule
A reminder about Polysseum format
Daily tournaments
9 weekly tournaments - Monday, Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday. 27 tournaments per month.
Up to 48 players, split into a maximum of three 16-player tournaments.
1v1 Single elimination, finals Bo3.
Live games, Might, Small map.
Tribe of the Month.
Prize pool per tournament - €10.
Monthly Leaderboard Players will be automatically placed on the leaderboard once they participate in the tournament. The top 16 players will be invited to the Monthly tournament.
Monthly Finals
September Finals - September 28th
16 players.
Live games, Might, Small map.
Prize pool - €200 and 4 spots in the Season Finals.
The new reworked version Aquarion is here! They now have mermaids that can rule both land and sea, hang out with Sharks & Jellies and discover lost cities in the ocean.
Aquarion Rework Beta Has Hit Mobile Devices!
Ahoy Polytopians!
The Aquarion Rework has changed a bit since we first announced it in June, enough to warrant a new blog post detailing all the cool, new features! We're also making the Aquarion Rework Beta available to mobile devices, so now everyone can check out all the nautical fun!
The update will move out of beta and will be released to everyone on August 15th!
So, if you're new to this rework or just want a refresher on what's changed, please join us as we detail how we're changing our fishy friends.
Now that we've gotten the Path of the Ocean out of the way, we were able to dedicate some time to updating the Aquarion, our first Special Tribe. As we've mentioned in the past, the Aquarion are fish people and were always meant to interact with the water in unique and interesting ways. Well, we believe that this rework helps them fulfill their destiny of being masters of the seas!
On the flip side, we didn't want Aquarion to be too strong on the water or too bad on land, or else the game would devolve into staring contests between those on both sides of the shore. Yes, the Aquarion have their strengths, but they also have their limits and can be outmaneuvered even on their home surf turf. Ultimately, the goal of this rework was to turn the Aquarion from "lackluster naval tribe" into "thalassic superstars" that make you think about every lake, ocean, and puddle as a brand new opportunity.
Something Smells Fishy...
The biggest change to the Aquarion is the inclusion of mermaid tails to all of their standard land units. All Aquarion units are now either solely aquatic units or amphibious, but that comes at the cost of slower movement on land and the inability to build or use Roads. You try flopping around on land with a mermaid tail!
The other big change is their terrain. Normally, all land terrain in Polytopia functions the same, but Aquarion land is now "Flooded", which allows both land and naval units to occupy the same space. Naval units will consider it "rough terrain" and it will slow them down, but it's better than nothing, right? Researching the "Waterways" tech will allow all Aquarion units to convert land tiles to "Flooded", allowing you to bring your aquatic forces right to your enemies' doorsteps.
"They can go on the water and their land functions as water, but is that it? Can they develop cities on the water?" We're glad you asked! Yes, primarily in two ways:
1. The Aquarion are able to build all land buildings on the water. Sawmills, Windmills, and etc are all valid options, so now you shouldn't be as limited in where you can place the perfect Market.
2. Unlike the other tribes, the Aquarion can reclaim their Lost Cities from the briny deep by uncovering ruins on the water. Yes, a city on the water! They function like any other city, but start at level 3 with a Wall, and all surrounding Ocean will become coastal tiles. Use these Lost Cities to bolster your forces or work as staging points as you battle for dominance of the waves. And yes, other tribes can capture and use them.
Lastly, instead of burning forests, the Aquarion can "Fertilize" flooded field tiles in the "Construction" tech, allowing crops to grow where they need them.
The Seas Aren't Safe
No rework of a Special tribe would be complete without some new and changed units, so let's go through them one by one.
Shark
In "Marine Life", the replacement tech for Sailing, Sharks are speedy, all-around melee units that excel at zooming around the waters and eating unsuspecting ships. Sharks come equipped with the "Surprise" trait, allowing them to attack without incurring retaliation attacks. Perfect ambush predators are they!
A fan favorite! Yes, don't worry, we kept the mighty Tridentions in all their glory! We did have to make some changes, though. Tridentions are no longer harassment units with Escape, but are now ranged mop-up units with Persist! We've fit them into a role that helps Aquarion deal with masses of units by giving them something more akin to a Knight. They're still amphibious and have great movement, so chucking tons of tridents is just as easy as before.
Puffers are the Aquarion's answer to the Catapult, as they quickly learned that wooden Catapults don't do very well on the water. Puffers are long-range bombardment units that not only deal damage, but can be used to flood land tiles! Blasting a unit with water is fun, but you can also target land tiles individually to flood them in expectation for a future "land" invasion.
This adorable mass of tentacles is actually one of the deadliest things you'll find on the ocean, so don't let its looks deceive you! Jellies are defensive units that will zap enemy units adjacent to them every time they move or the enemy moves next to them! You can use a Jelly or two to hold down certain chokepoints or whittle down a few enemies at once to make them easy prey for your Sharks or Tridentions.
Our old friend, the Crab, has gotten some improvements to make them a formidable opponent both in the water and out. Crabs can now "Autoflood", which means they'll flood land tiles that they walk on, making it much easier to get your mermaid-tailed forces on land. With a Movement of 2, the Escape trait, and a Defense of 5, Crabs are difficult to pin down and defeat, making them great for destroying ships, distracting enemy units, and pushing for a foothold on enemy beaches.
Lost Cities and your many new cities on the coast will need new ways to grow, and we had some ideas on how to accomplish that.
Atoll
The Atoll is a simple structure, it provides your waterborne cities to connect to each other via trade routes. Since you can't build Roads or Ports, Atolls fill the role similarly to Cymanti Mycellium - they'll automatically connect to every city within 3 tiles over water or flooded terrain. Plop 'em down and watch your cities grow!
Aqua Farms
Yes, we brought back Aqua Crops! After drifting in and out as we worked on the Path of the Ocean update, Aqua Crops and Farms found their forever home with the Aquarion! Only the Aquarion can see and interact with Aqua Crops on the water, and they can improve them with Aqua Farms in the "Aquaculture" tech. They work the same way as normal, land-based Farms, even able to provide adjacency bonuses to Windmills! 5* cost, 2 pop yields, and a reliable way to grow those water cities of yours.
If you're on Steam, follow these steps: 1. Right Click on Polytopia in the Steam sidebar, or click the gear icon on the Library page 2. Click “Properties” 3. Head to the “Betas” tab 4. Use the beta access code: polytopiabetatesters
If you’ve done these steps properly, it should look like this.
Changelog
Adjustment to the Aquarion tribe: - Start with water movement, an amphibious mermaid warrior and the ability to build any land improvement on water, but no specific tech - Terrain is Flooded by default and allows movement for both water and land units - Flooded tiles counts as rough terrain for Naval units - All land units are now amphibious - Naval units are replaced with sea creatures: - Scout ship replaced by Shark that has “Surprise” ability, 3 attack and 2 defense - Bomber replaced by Jelly that damage all nearby units - Roads are replaced by Atolls that connect to all cities within 3 tiles - Ability to flood tiles to create trade networks and waterways - Access to Aquacrop resource and Aquafarm improvement - Water ruins give you a Lost City if the placement is valid for a city - Burn forest replaced with “Fertilize” that create crop on flooded fields - Tridention get “Persist” ability instead of “Escape” and attack reduced to 2.5 - Tridention no longer has the “Fortify” ability - Puffer replaces Catapult. Same stats but can only move on water and get “Drench” ability that will flood any tile it attacks - All other tribes get “Landfill” ability by default - Ability to manually disembark naval units on bridges or wetland - Crab get “Auto Flood” ability so it floods any tile it moves to - Crabs have gotten visual improvements concerning teamcolor - Naval units are now get “water” or “amphibious” ability instead of “float” to better explain how they work (only a visual change)
Bug Fixes from Last Beta Patch: - Ports should not connect through cities - Atolls should not connect to ports, only other atolls or cities - Raychi can no longer move through cities - Area Damage from Jelly and Juggernaut is now counted as violence and will reset Pacifist task etc.
