Acts

The road runs through three acts, and each act is a region. The region is not just scenery: each brings its own rules and builds on the one before.

The three acts

Not one of those numbers is written on this page — the table is read from the level catalogue, so it stays correct on its own when a level is added.

I — Caravanserai and Bazaar

A covered bazaar and the yard of an inn. Narrow passages, market stalls, crowds.

The four rules you learn here are the foundation of everything after: sentry, patrol, hiding spot and door and key. The threat highlight is on by default in this act: lines of sight are painted before you make your first move.

II — Desert and Oasis

Dunes, the caravan road, ruins. The board opens up and sightlines get longer.

What arrives: the rotating variant of the sentry, the chaser and the bell stone. This is the first act where you do more than avoid a threat — you hold a tool that changes the board.

III — Mountain Pass and Fortress

The pass, bridges, the inside of a fortress. One-way edges cluster here: going somewhere can mean not being able to come back.

The last two rules arrive: toll and caravan members. Both add a question of sequence; now "in what order" matters as much as "where".

The pattern inside an act

Every act follows the same curve:

1. Levels 1–2 teach the new rule on its own.
2. 3–5 deepen it.
3. 6–9 combine the rules with each other.
4. 10–11 are the act's peak.
5. 12 is the act finale and leads into a story scene.