Prima Acies

Prima Acies is a turn-based strategy game for two players on a 7×7 grid, blending the clarity of Connect Four with the tactical depth of chess and the psychological tension of hidden simultaneous play.

Objective 

Be the first to align four of your validated cells, horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. Cells are not claimed by placing units: they must be captured by a Géomètre, your surveyor unit, landing on an empty or cleared square. Your opponent can take them back. Every cell on the board is contested territory!

How a turn works 

Both players secretly plan their five unit deployments simultaneously, assigning each one a position on the board and an order of play (1 through 5). When both are ready, actions resolve in order, one after the other. Sending a warrior to clear a cell on action 1, then a Géomètre to claim it on action 5, is exactly the kind of sequencing the game rewards. You have 30 seconds to plan.

Units 

 Five unit types, each with a distinct role:

• Warrior, Cavalier, Archer: your combat units, locked in a rock-paper-scissors cycle. Warrior beats Cavalier, Cavalier beats Archer, Archer beats Warrior. Equal forces eliminate each other, unless terrain tips the balance.
• Archer: uniquely, attacks adjacent cells at range rather than occupying them.
• Terrassier: an ephemeral specialist: destroys obstacle terrain to open blocked cells, or reinforces a cell to give your defender the edge in a tie. Disappears after acting.
• Géomètre: the only unit that can validate a cell. Disappears after acting. Survives only on empty or friendly-controlled ground.

Terrain 
(optionnal if you want an easier game, except for obstacles)

The board is randomly generated each game. Forests favour Warriors, Plains favour Cavaliers, Towers favour Archers, all by giving the defending unit the tiebreaker. Obstacles must be cleared by a Terrassier before they can be validated. Villages, once captured, require two Géomètres to reclaim instead of one.

Skills
(optionnal if you want an easier game)

Before the game, each player drafts three skills from a pool of seven, one-use abilities played during the planning phase. Reinforce your army with a sixth unit, spy on your opponent's order of play, shroud a zone in fog of war, or sacrifice a captured cell to summon two extra units from your reserves. No two matches play the same.

Two skills are still under development and are not available.

Modes

• Tutorial: try this at first
• Local: hot-seat on one device
• Online: peer-to-peer via a 4-letter room code, no account needed
• Solo: play against an AI opponent

Under Development

This game is still in development. As a result, you may encounter bugs, translation issues, or other unexpected behavior. Please feel free to send me your feedback, suggestions, or anything else!

Use of AI

The game was developed using AI. Although I have a background in graphic design and game design, I lack the skills to develop and create a game on my own. This prototype, developed with Claude, will allow me to gather feedback from players and see how it works, with the goal of having it developed by a professional developer and giving it a clear artistic direction.

Keep in mind that this game is a prototype intended to be improved and properly developed.

Thanks ! Have fun :)