How to take a continent.

A match holds 2 to 6 commanders. The host creates a room, shares the invite link, and waits for the lobby to fill. When the host starts the match, the 42 territories are dealt one-by-one until every land has an owner.

Each commander begins with a starting pool of armies — more players means fewer armies each, because the lands themselves stretch further.

• 2 players: a neutral third army holds the remaining lands as a strategic buffer.
• 3–6 players: every territory belongs to a real player from turn one.
• Turn order is fixed at the start of the match and loops until someone wins.

Each of your turns opens with a reinforcement phase. You receive new armies to place on any territories you currently own.

Your base reinforcement is one army per three territories held, rounded down, with a minimum of three per turn no matter how small your empire has shrunk.

• Hold every territory in a continent and you also collect that continent's per-turn bonus.
• Continent bonuses scale with size: small, dense continents pay a little; sprawling ones pay a lot.
• You can stack as many new armies as you like on a single territory, or spread them across your border.

After reinforcing, you may attack any number of times. To attack you need at least two armies in a territory you own, and the target must be adjacent (or linked by one of the cross-ocean sea lanes shown on the map).

The server rolls the dice. Attackers roll up to three dice (one per attacking army, capped at three); defenders roll up to two. The highest attacker die is compared with the highest defender die, and the next highest pair after that. Defenders win ties.

Each lost comparison costs the losing side one army. You can press the attack as long as you keep at least two armies in the attacking territory.

• Every roll is resolved on an authoritative server, so nobody can fudge a die.
• If you wipe out the last defender, the territory flips to you and you move at least the dice-count of attacking armies in.
• Capture at least one territory during your turn and you earn a card at end of turn.

Once you are done attacking, you may end your turn with a single fortification move: shift any number of armies from one territory you own to another territory you own, as long as the two are connected by an unbroken chain of your own lands.

Fortifying is optional but powerful — it lets you reposition reserves to a hot border without losing momentum.

• You can only make one fortification move per turn.
• At least one army must remain in the source territory.
• Skip fortification entirely if you would rather end the turn early.

Capture at least one territory on your turn and you collect a card. Cards come in three symbols. Collect a matching set — three of the same symbol, or one of each — and you can trade them in at the start of your next reinforcement phase for bonus armies.

Pangaea supports two card economies, set by the host before the match begins:

• Escalating — every set traded in across the whole match is worth more than the last, rewarding aggressive players who attack early.
• Fixed — every set is worth a steady, predictable bonus, keeping the late game from spiralling.
• Eliminate a rival player and you inherit their entire hand of cards on the spot — a swing that can win matches.

There are two ways to take the planet:

• Hold all 42 territories at once.
• Be the last commander standing — once every rival has lost their last territory, the match ends in your favour.
• If the room collapses to a single connected commander mid-match and nobody returns within the rejoin window, the victory is awarded automatically.

The host picks the rule variant at the start of the match. The lobby always shows the active settings before anyone commits.

• Classic — full 2–6 player match across the full 42-territory map.
• Two-player neutral — a third neutral army holds the remaining lands, turning a duel into a real strategic puzzle.
• Escalating trade-ins — bonus grows with each set traded across the match.
• Fixed trade-ins — every set pays the same bonus, every time.