The Collapse, choosing where to land, and the Join—Everbrink's three signature systems keep putting the same questions to you on ground that's crumbling away: what will you go after, what will you let go of, and what will you leave standing for the next island?
01
The ground falls away behind you
At the start of every turn, the ground crumbles away from the edge. A falling tile drags down whatever is on it, from the units standing there and the structures you built to Ruins you haven't reached yet. The same goes for enemies. Any enemy standing on a falling tile goes down with it. The tiles about to fall are marked with a warning, so each time, you decide what to pull out and what to go after. The Collapse keeps coming. Bringing down the enemy stronghold before the Collapse swallows you is the way to survive.
02
The more power you carry, the smaller the island you land on
At the start of a run and of each chapter, you choose one island to land on from several of different sizes. The smaller the island, the more boons it carries, but the sooner the Collapse catches up with you there. Before you land, you decide whether to race across a small island with that power in hand, or to take fewer boons and spread your front line across a larger one at your own pace.
03
Bring down the stronghold, and the next island joins yours
Bring down the enemy stronghold, and you're offered a choice of islands. When deciding which one to join, you can go by its terrain and whether it holds any Events. The candidates differ in size too, so picking a large one is, in effect, a way to restore the staying power your island has lost to the Collapse.