pixelwar strategy
Good decisions depend on your borders, reserve and neighbours. These are practical guidelines, not guaranteed winning moves. Learn the controls first, then practise one idea at a time.
Choose an opening with room to grow
During spawn selection, look for nearby unclaimed land and fewer immediate neighbours. A coastline can reduce the number of land borders you must defend, but it can also trap you without a boat route. The countdown varies by match: finish your choice before the displayed timer ends.
Balance land income and reserve interest
Land generates troop income and raises Max Troops. Your reserve earns interest too. Interest weakens once the reserve passes its soft cap and reaches zero at Max Troops. Holding more land also affects the interest rate.
Spending your whole army gives up both defensive strength and reserve interest. Hoarding at capacity wastes potential growth. Expand in measured steps while watching nearby opponents; a large reserve can still be the right choice when an attack is imminent.
Prefer affordable expansion
Unclaimed land has no defending troops, so it is generally cheaper than an enemy border. Take useful open ground while preserving a reserve. Avoid sending a huge army just to capture a small pocket: troops committed to an operation are unavailable at home until spent or returned.
Contesting a neighbour may be worthwhile when they threaten your only route outward. Compare the land you could gain, the cost of the fight and who could attack you while your troops are committed.
Choose the attack share deliberately
The percentage applies to your current reserve at the moment the order is applied. A second 25% attack sends less than the first if your reserve has fallen. Adjust the share to the target rather than repeating one setting everywhere.
- Against open land, send enough to grow without emptying your defence.
- Against an opponent, compare both troop reserves and the amount of border exposed. Higher defending density makes each captured pixel more expensive.
- Under pressure, protect your remaining reserve and avoid opening extra wars. Several small attacks are not automatically safer than one well-chosen action.
Reinforce or cancel an operation
The + control adds the selected percentage of your current reserve to an active land attack. The × control cancels a land attack and returns its unspent budget. It does not reverse losses already paid.
A boat cannot be reinforced at sea. Cancelling recalls it, and surviving troops are refunded after the return voyage, not immediately. Do not rely on a distant boat to defend an attack that is already at your border.
Use water without treating it as complete protection
Land attacks cannot cross water. Boats can threaten a coast from another landmass, so a coast is protection against direct land expansion, not immunity. Secure enough coastal land to launch, choose a reachable landing and keep troops for the territory left behind.
World and Thronelands often reward naval planning. Europe and Mars have large connected land areas, but their seas, islands and inland waters still matter. Use the map guide to plan your route.
Choose allies for position as well as size
An ally can cover a border and support you with troops. Two allies still need enough income, troops and useful access to defeat a stronger opponent; an alliance does not guarantee that result.
Open recruitment through the action on your own territory, then use available invitations or applications. Acceptance, leadership and capacity restrictions apply. Clans recruit through their designated speaker; ordinary alliance members cannot recruit. Manual leaving is currently disabled. Check the alliance rules before committing.
Check the donation preview
Donations are available to teammates and in-match allies. Tax starts at 90% and falls to 10% over 90 seconds. After that, a 1,000-troop transfer can deliver 900, provided the recipient has capacity.
Early help can save a teammate, but much of the transfer is lost to tax. Later, support a threatened border or a teammate who can actually reach the enemy. A full reserve cannot receive more, and donating away your own defence may create a larger problem elsewhere.
Know what a peace vote offers
There is no fixed match time limit. You can win when no hostile survivors remain, including as a shared winning side. A peace vote is another possible ending: it may offer a draw or victory for the leading side. Read the panel before voting.
Support is weighted by land and the threshold depends on the vote and match. Calling a vote is not the same as agreeing. If you are behind, agreement on a victory vote can concede the match; it does not make everyone a winner.
Review the decision that changed the game
After a loss, identify one choice to change: a crowded spawn, an oversized attack, a neglected coast or a donation that left you undefended. Try the same map in solo practice with fewer opponents. Practice does not cost personal rank points.