Fantasy faction tactics.
A turn worth thinking through.

A faction-versus-faction tactics game

Etched Court is a fantasy turn-based strategy game about the decisions between deploying an army and committing a turn. Two players face each other on a compact square battlefield. Each brings a faction with its own tools, combinations, and ways to put the other player under pressure. The Court is shared; the approach to winning it changes with the armies on it.

A match can turn on a small decision: protect the healer or take the stronger tile; finish a downed enemy or threaten the base; spend the last action on damage or on a safer position. The aim is a game that is easy to read at a glance and rewarding to study, with room for a thoughtful plan and an unexpected reply.

For players who remember Hero Academy

There is a particular pleasure in looking at a small battlefield and realising that your next turn can do more than you first thought. That feeling is a central reason for making Etched Court. If you have been looking for games like Hero Academy, the appeal we are pursuing is likely to sound familiar: a readable board, a meaningful action budget, and an army worth learning.

Hero Academy by Robot Entertainment is a central inspiration for its compact asynchronous duels and teams with distinct abilities. We want to give that influence its due. Its example informs our interest in faction matchups and decisions that can be considered between turns. Etched Court is an independent project, with its own rules, setting, artwork, and direction.

That acknowledgement comes with a practical distinction: Etched Court is in closed alpha, and online asynchronous play is still being built. The promise at this stage is an opportunity to help shape a game in that tradition. It is not an official sequel, remake, or service operated by the creators of Hero Academy.

Outwitters and the value of a small battlefield

Outwitters by One Man Left is another important inspiration. Its place in our thinking is the appeal of a compact positional duel: a battlefield small enough to understand, with tactical interactions that make it worth returning to. A signature unit can give an army a memorable character and make the opponent think differently about an otherwise familiar situation.

Etched Court takes its own route through that territory. The launch format uses a square battlefield. Units, artifacts, and spells come from a hand, and faction abilities reach across the roster. Rather than reproduce another game’s rules, we are exploring how these ingredients can create satisfying decisions in our own game.

The broader references are the readable positions of tabletop tactics and the satisfaction of learning an asymmetric army. A faction should be more than a change of costume. It should change what you look for on the board, what you protect, and which risks you are willing to take.

A growing roster, built for different matchups

Vanguard and Wraithbound are the first implemented factions. They are the beginning of the roster, not the two permanent sides of Etched Court. The launch plan includes more factions, with a mixture of free access and paid unlocks. We will reveal the rest of the roster as those armies are ready to show; there is no announced final faction count or pricing yet.

Familiar battlefield roles provide a common language: defender, striker, ranged attacker, healer, scout, and signature unit. The abilities inside those roles create each army’s identity. A player can recognise what an unfamiliar unit is likely to be for, then discover how its faction changes that job. Learning new matchups should add tactical possibilities without discarding the foundations.

Vanguard shows that approach through disciplined movement, knockback, and the Captain’s ability to redeploy an ally. Wraithbound explores attrition through life-leech, pulls, and a Harvester that grows stronger as enemies fall. These are early examples of faction design, rather than the whole game being organised around their rivalry.

Five actions, many possible turns

The current rules give each player five action points per turn. You spend them on deploying, moving, attacking, healing, equipping artifacts, casting spells, and other available actions. You can spread the budget across an army or commit several actions to one unit. What matters is the position that remains when your opponent gets to answer.

Attack damage is predictable, and you can undo actions inside your current turn before committing it. That leaves space to explore a sequence, spot a better answer, and understand why a move works. Hand draws and starting battlefield details can vary, but combat does not ask you to base a plan on a random hit roll.

The victory conditions keep pressure on both the base and the army. Destroy the opposing base, or leave the opponent without living units and without the means to deploy another. A downed unit can still be rescued by healing; reaching a downed enemy can remove it permanently. That extra decision can turn a straightforward exchange into a question of timing.

Turn-based battles that fit around life

The long-term online direction is asynchronous one-on-one play. You should be able to think through a turn, commit it, and let your opponent respond when they are available. Friend invitations and online matchmaking are part of the work in progress. We will describe their availability clearly as testing expands.

Today’s build already offers local pass-and-play, practice against a bot, and the Tactical Academy. Its twelve single-turn puzzles provide a focused setting for learning movement, action budgets, and combinations. These modes help players build confidence with an army before bringing it into a duel.

Free factions, optional unlocks, fair competition

Vanguard and Wraithbound are the confirmed free starting pair. A broader launch roster is planned, with other factions available through paid unlocks. The remaining allocation of free and paid factions will be announced alongside the roster. The purpose of an unlock is another army to learn, with a different tactical personality.

Our design rules out selling stronger stats or extra action points. Free and paid armies need to compete on fair terms. That is a balance goal to test across matchups, not a claim that an alpha roster is already perfectly balanced. Feedback about combinations, counters, and frustrating situations is part of what makes early testing useful.

An engraved fantasy world

The visual direction is inspired by hand-inked illustrations, weathered copperplate prints, antique Nordic woodcarvings, and worn physical tabletop pieces. Etched linework and cross-hatching sit against an austere stone court. Muted cloth, dented metal, and practical equipment give the armies a grounded character.

The art also serves the tactical view. A broad defender, a slender ranged unit, and a light scout should have different silhouettes. Faction motifs establish identity while familiar role shapes help you read an opponent’s army. The aim is a battlefield with personality that still lets you see the next decision.

Made by Benum Labs. Shaped through testing.

Etched Court is developed by Benum Labs, an independent software studio based in Norway, founded by Håvard L. Benum. The studio builds its own digital products alongside practical software solutions. Etched Court is our own take on a kind of tactical game we want to spend time with.

The project is in closed alpha. Browser play is the current development target; dedicated mobile releases and a public release date have not been announced. The Etched Court FAQ covers the current rules, available modes, faction access, and platform plans in more detail.

If compact faction duels are your kind of strategy game, join the closed alpha list. We are looking for feedback on the battles as they take shape: where the choices are interesting, where a matchup feels unfair, and which turns make you want to play another. Invitations are sent as places become available.