Messyna
the battle for the middle ground
Local Draft
Draft 7 monsters and 16 spells, then battle. Default board is 8×8.
In local vs Player the board rotates each turn and a Ready screen hides your cards while the device is passed over.
Multiplayer Draft · ranked
Create a match and share a unique link. When your opponent joins, both of you draft your armies — the game starts when both mark Ready. Sign in first and the result counts on the ELO ladder.
🏆 Leaderboard (ranked online games only)
No ranked games yet — sign in, create an online match, and claim the top spot. Everyone starts at 7,777 ELO.
📜 How to Play
The game
- Draft 7 monsters and 16 spells, then battle on the board.
- One action per turn: move/attack, cast a spell, or place a castle.
- Your castles give units inside +1 ATK/DEF; enemy castles block ground movement.
- Win by destroying every enemy monster.
Lasting HP & fights
- After the draft each monster rolls one d7 per DEF — that's its HP for the whole game.
- Fights are dice duels: the attacker strikes first with a hit bonus; each hit deals ATK×d7 damage.
- Winners keep their wounds — damage lasts, so no monster is immortal.
- Flanking: an ally adjacent to the target at a right angle to your attack grants +hit and +1 damage die.
Movement — like chess
Ranked play (ELO)
Signed-in players are rated on online matches only. Everyone starts at 7,777. After a game: new = old + 32 × (result − 1 / (1 + 10^((opponent − you) / 400))) where result is 1 for a win and 0 for a loss — beating a stronger player earns more.
The armies — every monster has a real 3D model (toggle 🧊 3D in game)
🧠 Intelligence Engine
Ruleset v2.0.0 · 32 monsters · 32 spells · 6 archetypesLike a chess engine's lab: the same code that runs your games plays full AI-vs-AI matches against the latest ruleset — every monster pattern, every spell, every fight roll. The results accumulate below and feed balance tuning, so the rules stay structured and honest.
Self-play results — 15 games
- First player wins 7% · second player 27% · draws 10
- Average game length: 106.7 turns · 42 fights simulated
- Strongest recruits: warlock (40%) titan (33%) phantom (33%) basilisk (33%) behemoth (33%)
Rules changelog
- HP: Lasting HP: one d7 per DEF rolled once after the draft; fight damage is permanent — winners keep their wounds.
- Combat: Server-rolled dice duels; attacker strikes first with +6% hit; right-angle flanking grants +10% hit and +1 damage die.
- Movement: Chess archetypes: Warrior, Fortress, Charger, Dragon (2+1 leaps), Skirmisher, Shade — one per trait family.
- Boards: Selectable board size: 8×8 default, 12×12, 16×16, 32×32; spawn tiles are always distinct.
- Modes: Local hotseat with rotation + privacy gate; online multiplayer with invite links, chat, breaks, and surrender.
- Ranked: ELO ladder for online games between signed-in players; everyone starts at 7,777, K = 32.
- AI: The AI uses the full movement patterns (it attacks with every option a player has) and a Hint button shares its analysis.
- Core: 16×16 board, draft 7 of 14 monsters and 16 of 32 spells, one action per turn, all-or-nothing stat-compare combat.
- Castles: Castles block enemy ground movement and grant +1 ATK/DEF to garrisoned units; 10 reserve castles per side.
Why “Messyna”?
From the Greek mésos (μέσος) — “middle”. The name echoes ancient Messēnē and the region of Messenia in the Peloponnese, whose exiles gave their name to Messana — today's Messina — when Anaxilas of Rhegium seized the sickle-harbour city of Zancle in the early 5th century BC and renamed it after his homeland. A city on a strait, fought over for its middle ground between two shores — exactly what this game is about: whoever commands the middle of the board commands the war.