FAQ

Thronestead is a browser-based strategy game where you build and manage a medieval kingdom. Construct buildings, train armies, trade on the market, and compete against other players through the currently shipped gameplay surfaces — all driven by a tick-based simulation.

A tick is the game's heartbeat. Every few seconds, the world advances one tick. Buildings complete construction, troops finish training, resources are produced, and battles resolve at tick boundaries. You can see the current tick in the top bar of every page.

New players start with Founding Protection — a limited window where hostile losses are blocked. During this time you can build, train, and explore without risk of attack. Protection ends once you complete required milestones or the protection timer expires. Check the Onboarding Hub for your current status.

When you create your account you choose 1–3 identities (Builder, Strategist, Merchant, Warlord, Diplomat). These shape your first-session recommended actions and can be changed later in Settings. They do not permanently lock you into a playstyle.

Go to the Castle Keep page. Select a structure to view its details and upgrade requirements. If you have the required resources and population, click "Queue Upgrade" to add it to your build queue. The upgrade completes after the required number of ticks.

The primary resources are Wood, Stone, Iron, Food, and Copper (currency). Some advanced progression systems, including crafted materials and specialized conversion loops, remain in preview and are not part of the current shipped navigation.

On the Market page you can create listings to sell resources at a price you set, or buy from other players' listings. All trades are queued as intents and resolve at the next tick.

Visit the Training page. Select a unit type, choose a quantity, and confirm. Training requires the appropriate military building (Barracks, Archery Range, Stables, etc.) at the right level, plus resources and available population.

From the War Room, you can declare war on a target. Before committing, review the pre-combat forecast. Once declared, your army marches toward the target over several ticks. Battle resolves automatically, and results appear on the Battles page. You can also run a safe Field Drill for low-risk practice.

You can recall an attack only while your march progress is below 50%. After that point, your forces are committed. Check the Battles page to manage active marches.

If defeated, you enter Recovery mode. The Recovery page shows your losses, remaining assets, and a recommended rebuild order with milestone targets to get back on your feet.

Research is currently a preview-only system. In this release perimeter it is not available as a shipped player destination. Research progression, prerequisites, and unlock pacing are validated in preview environments until the release gate is lifted.

Crafting is currently a preview-only system. It is not exposed in shipped navigation for this release perimeter. Crafting recipes and material-conversion queues continue through preview validation until promotion to shipped status.

Core shipped actions queue through intents: building, training, and market orders. The Queues page gives you a global view of active, paused, and completed shipped work. Preview-only systems like dedicated Research and Crafting pages remain outside shipped navigation until their release gates are approved.

Policies are kingdom-wide strategic choices (e.g., Warmonger Doctrine, Merchant Charter). Only one policy can be active at a time per group. Each provides a different bonus or trade-off. Visit the Policies page to review and adopt a policy.

Use the Settings page (accessible from the sidebar after signing in) to adjust preferences like reduced motion, dense tables, and notification settings.

Use the Contact Support page (accessible from Settings) to reach the Thronestead team.

Yes. The Account Delete page (accessible from Settings) walks you through permanent account removal. This action cannot be undone.