How to Play
The Earth Will Move
Tectonic Grand is a strategic board game played on an 11x11 volcanic board. Command your pieces, outmanoeuvre your opponent, and survive the compression — after 40 moves the earth shrinks, and continues shrinking every 12 moves after that. Capture the King to win.
Capture your opponent's King to win. A player whose King has no legal escape is in checkmate and loses immediately. You can also win if your opponent resigns or runs out of time.
The game starts on a full 11x11 grid. White occupies rows 1-2, Black occupies rows 10-11. White always moves first.
Each player controls 16 pieces across 5 types:
The most important piece. Must be protected at all times. If captured, you lose.
Moves like a rook but with a maximum range of 6 squares. A powerful long-range piece that controls ranks and files.
Moves like a bishop but with a maximum range of 6 squares. Controls diagonals across large portions of the board.
Leaps over other pieces horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. Ignores all pieces in between — only the destination matters.
Cannot move backwards. Promotes to Striker, Guard, or Herald upon reaching the opponent's back row.
The volcanic earth is unstable. After move 40, the board compresses for the first time — shrinking by one row and one column on each side. After that, compression happens every 12 moves. Pieces caught in the void are destroyed.
Border squares glow red when compression is 6 moves away — move your pieces to safety!
When a Sentry reaches the opponent's back row, it must promote. Choose from:
Striker — moves up to 6 squares horizontally or vertically.
Guard — moves up to 6 squares diagonally.
Herald — jumps exactly 2 squares in any direction.
If a Sentry is forced into the back row by compression, it must also promote immediately.
Multiplayer — play against a random opponent online. Rated — your Elo changes based on the result.
Play with Friend — create a private room and share the 6-digit code with a friend. Unrated.
VS AI — play against the computer at Easy, Medium, or Hard difficulty. Unrated.
Classic — longer time controls (5, 10, or 15 minutes per player).
Blitz — faster time controls with increment added after each move (5+3, 10+5, 15+5).
A game is drawn if:
- Stalemate — the player to move has no legal moves but is not in check.
- Insufficient material — neither player has enough pieces to deliver checkmate.
- Threefold repetition — the same position occurs three times.
- 50-move rule — 50 moves pass without a capture or Sentry move.
- Mutual agreement — both players agree to a draw offer in multiplayer.
When compression is close, move pieces away from the edges before they are destroyed by the shrinking board.
Strikers and Guards have up to 6 squares of range. Get them into active positions while the board is large.
The Herald jumps over pieces — it can be deadly in congested positions and ignores all blockers completely.
A promoted Sentry becomes a powerful piece. Push them early to threaten promotion and gain material advantage.
As the board shrinks, your King has fewer escape routes. Keep it safe before compression hits.
Start with Easy AI to learn piece movements, then work up to Hard before playing ranked multiplayer.