First, you choose one of four characters - Scarlet, Oberon, Caesar, or Madcap - to represent you in the game. The game is divided into 10 levels, with the first nine consisting of three territories that can be completed in any order. The final 'Mother of All Battles' has its own challenges.
The land is mostly made up of sand, grass, and ice, and you start with 100 men. You can use as many or as few as needed on each island, while the rest will move to another level with a new 100 men. In the second half of the game, you can freeze men to save them for the final battle.
Once you select your island and place for your headquarters, you must conduct research to improve your weapons and defenses. You can build protectors like archers, gunmen, boiling oil men, and later on, laser turrets on the roof of your buildings. If you send a team of unarmed men into an unoccupied square, they will build an additional base, allowing larger armies to complete it more quickly.
Later on, higher levels require building mines and factories to access specific materials needed for better weapons. As you progress through each level, you'll start with a higher technology level and be able to advance one level up from the previous one.
You can form alliances with other players until you defeat them - three players can team up against a fourth enemy. It's worth noting that a certain number of defense points is always stronger when attacked by an opponent of the same level, and unarmed men (conscripts) can only kill enemy soldiers, not destroy or attack enemy fortifications.
The main goal in strategy games is to be the sole survivor and lead your men to victory by experimenting with new technologies, equipping them, producing shields, weapons, planes, and other items to dominate the world and crush your opponents.