Strategy players have a vocabulary of their own, and it can make guides and videos hard to follow. Here are the words you will meet most, in plain language, with what each one means in Dot Conquest.
Playing the game
RTS (real-time strategy). A strategy game where time does not wait for you: everyone acts at once. Dot Conquest is one, with one exception: a Council pauses the battle while you pick a card.
APM (actions per minute). How many commands a player gives in a minute. In many strategy games a high APM is a big advantage. Dot Conquest is built so that it matters less: one lasso and one click move a whole group.
Macro. The big picture: your economy, your cities, how many units you make. In Dot Conquest, macro is mostly which cities you hold and how your land is supplied.
Micro. Moving units well in a fight: pulling back a hurt group, picking the right target. In Dot Conquest, micro is choosing which group meets which enemy, and falling back at the right moment. See macro versus micro.
Build order. The opening sequence of choices a player repeats every game. Dot Conquest has no buildings, so a "build order" here is the order you take neutral cities in, and your Doctrine.
Armies and fights
Counter. A unit that beats another. A hard counter wins almost every time; a soft counter has an edge that numbers can overcome. See hard versus soft counters and the game's counter chart.
Rock-paper-scissors. A set of units where each beats one and loses to another, so no single unit is best. Dot Conquest's five kinds of dot work like this.
Kiting. Hitting an enemy and stepping back before it can answer. Dot Conquest has no ranged attacks, so there is little of it.
Choke point. A narrow place on the map that every army has to pass. On a hex map, a gap between mountains or a ford across deep water is one.
Attrition. Losing strength slowly rather than in a fight. In Dot Conquest it is a rule: dots standing on enemy land, or on your own land that is cut off from your cities, lose health over time.
Shapes of a game
Snowballing. Turning a small lead into a big one, because more cities make more dots, which take more cities. Dot Conquest's Councils speed a side that is behind, which makes snowballing slower than you might expect.
Comeback mechanic. A rule that helps the losing side. In Dot Conquest, your council countdown runs faster while you are well behind the leader, and that is shown on screen.
Turtling. Defending everything and waiting. It rarely works here: cities make dots only up to an army limit, and the siege phase makes defended cities fall faster late in a battle.
Rush. An early all-in attack before the other side is ready.
Fog of war. A rule that hides what the enemy is doing until you look. Dot Conquest has none: you see the whole map, and so does everyone else. See reading the board with no fog of war.
Roguelite words
Run. One attempt at a chain of battles that ends when you lose. The Gauntlet is a run.
Build. The set of cards and bonuses you collect during a run. In the Gauntlet, your Doctrine and up to 10 cards.
Draft. Picking one option from a few. A Council is a draft of one card from 3.
Where to go next
- Feeling overwhelmed by all of it? How to stop feeling overwhelmed.
- Ready for the rules themselves? How to play Dot Conquest.