Shadows of the Corn: The Guide

I. The story so far

The Battle for the Last Bright Field

There used to be a thousand bright fields. Then, one harvest, ten shadows rose over the horizon wearing crowns: unicorns once, the old and vast kind, who looked at the light the herds had made and decided it was owed to them. The herds met them in the sky and lost. The world is mostly theirs now, dark from horizon to horizon. One field, one road into it and one village at the end of that road still hold out.

The Nightmares never set a hoof on the field themselves. They hang in the sky above the road and send whatever they have grown, hired, invoiced or accidentally sneezed into existence. What they want is the corn: it has grown in the dark so long that it glows, and every ear holds a little of the light they lost the right to. Ten gods, ten plans, and not one of them willing to share. That is the only reason the village is still standing.

Cute on both sides of the fight. Ruthless in the middle.

The Ten

Every wave on the road is sent by one of them, and every Horde player serves one.

The Hollow SovereignWho Rules An Empty RoomMakes things by accident and then insists they were the plan.
The Swarm-MotherWho Is Always Already HereDoes not send soldiers. Sends rumours with teeth.
The Ironclad TyrantWho Does Not Do SubtleBelieves any problem is a door, and every door opens the same way.
The Sump BelowWhich Is Still ArrivingYou did not kill it. You made two of it and annoyed both.
The Rustbloom WidowWho Grows Her ProblemsDoes not make her monsters. Plants them, and waits, and is never in a hurry.
The Gilded HushWho Charges For SilenceNot stealing. Invoicing. There is a difference and it is very keen to explain it.
The Nine-Eyed ChoirWhich Has Heard About YouSings about everything you do, in real time, slightly ahead of you doing it.
The Frostbitten BellWhich Rings Before The ColdRings once for the frost and once more because it enjoyed the first one.
The Crooked CartographerWho Draws The Road You TakeRedraws the road while you are standing on it, then acts hurt that you are lost.
The Ember GluttonWhich Is Still Hungry, Thank You For AskingAte the last village. Says it was fine. Says yours looks better.

II. Pick a Side

Two sides. One road.

Every fight in the corn is the same fight seen from two ends of the road. You choose which end is yours.

Defense The Herd Hold the road. Unicorns, volunteers, a Barbarian, a Griffin and the village's own war machines stand beside it and stop every Nightmare before it reaches the village.

Plays for candy Offense The Horde Break the village. Swear to one of the Ten and march its creatures, a dragon and your war machines down the road at a village of unicorns. You build nothing. You send.

Plays for essence

You Pick a Side once, and it follows you through every game. The Horde is a one way road: a heart given to a god does not come back to the Herd on that account. The god itself can be changed later, for a substantial tithe.

III. The Herd Defense

Hold the line. Be insufferable about it.

The Fields on wave 8: the Swarm-Mother's Nightbuzzers pour in from two gates while unicorns and the Barbarian hold the ground beside the road. — The Fields, wave 8 of 11. The Swarm-Mother sends her Nightbuzzers in through two gates at once.

The Herd are the village's defenders, and the Fields are where they earn it. The Nightmares walk the road toward the village. Your job is to make sure none of them gets there.

Build beside the road, never on it. Pick a defender from the bar and a glowing tile next to the road. Each one costs essence, which trickles in every second and pays out for every kill.
Rank them up. Click a placed unicorn to rank it up. At rank 3 its class power wakes and fires by itself.
Eleven waves a board. Every walker that reaches the village takes a bite of its bar. Empty it and the board is lost. Hold every wave and it is won.
Look after the fallen. A unicorn knocked out goes to the Hospital with a bleed-out clock. Pay its potions in time and it heals. Run out, and its name goes on the Wall of the Horn for good.

Who stands beside the road

Heart unicornPink, sincere, and personally offended by every Nightmare on the road.
Star unicornHits like something that fell from the sky, then pauses for the applause.
Moon unicornNever sleeps on watch. Fires a little faster for it, and is a little short tempered for it.
Village VolunteerA helmet that does not fit, and there are always more. Always on the bar.
The BarbarianThe Herd's own hero, a bruiser who is always on the bar.
The GriffinThe one defender allowed on the road: it lands there and blocks it, and walkers stop to fight it.

The Herd's war machines

Built at the Blacksmith and picked in your squad. From wave 6 a machine rolls out of the village gate onto the road, holds it like a wall, fights, and fires its power on a timer.

The Chipmunk EngineA treadwheel cart driven by nine chipmunks who each believe they are the engine.Overdrive: every 12 seconds the chipmunks sprint and it swings 70% faster for 3 seconds.
The Pumpkin LobberA catapult that lobs pumpkins four tiles down the road. They are not good pumpkins.The Big Pumpkin: every 15 seconds a great splash that slows what it lands on.
The Bell WagonThe village bell on a hay wagon, rung by whoever is nearest.The Toll: every 18 seconds the bell hits everything within two tiles and rallies the defenders near it.

The Village at night: the wall, the gate, the fountain and the shops, the Arena on the right, the glowing cornfield beyond. — The Village. Everything behind the wall, and every building is a door.

Home

Between boards the Herd lives in the Village. The Arena is where the Queen watches you coach one unicorn through a bout. The Hospital patches up the fallen, the Candy Store sells potions and treats, the Blacksmith turns gems into gear and machines, and the Nursery and Stables grow the next generation. Barnaby the Real Estate Agent sells land, and every land is a new board in the Fields.

IV. The Horde Offense

Serve a god. Break a village.

On the march for the Ember Glutton: the god's creatures walk the road while the Herd's unicorns stand beside it, with the troop bench along the bottom. — Serving the Ember Glutton. The god's creatures on the road, the unicorns waiting beside it, the bench below.

The Horde are the attackers. Swear to one of the Ten and you take its colours, its deck at the Gate and its creatures on the Fields. Out past your camp is a village of unicorns. Break it.

You send, you do not build. Pick a land and press SEND WAVE, then click a troop on your bench to send it down the road.
Numbers against the few. Volunteer grunts are free. Everything else costs essence, which comes in as the rounds go and for every unicorn felled.
Push eleven waves or sack the village first. Every troop that reaches the village takes a bite of its bar. Every unicorn you fell pays souls.
Some come home. Cheap troops mostly die where they fall. Dearer ones usually crawl home, and the top tier always does. The elites and mini-bosses you own come home wounded to the Bone Surgeon's table, or lie on the slab until potions and souls save them; on the table they can take grafts that make them stronger for good.

What a god sends down the road

Shade SproutThe Hollow SovereignA sapling that fell asleep in the wrong shadow and woke up with legs and a grudge.
NightbuzzerThe Swarm-MotherA wasp the size of a dinner plate, made by a goddess who could not stop at one.
HushlingThe Gilded HushMoves like a rumour and smells faintly of other people's coins.
ChoirlingThe Nine-Eyed ChoirA ball of feathers and eyes that knows one note and holds it with total conviction.
CinderhoundThe Ember GluttonA very good dog made of very bad materials.
DreadhoofThe Ironclad TyrantA war-unicorn that took the other side's offer. The armour was part of the package.

Your dragon

Every Horde run brings a hero: one of ten mini-dragons, from Pipsqueak the Spark to King Smoulder the Furnace. It waits until round six, then joins the march. The first dragon is cheap. A replacement after one falls costs ten times as much, so keep it breathing.

The Horde's war machines

Six of them, each built by a different god. Build up to two at the Fleshsmith. An owned machine rolls with your horde from round 6 and comes home after the board. When a god sends one at the Herd, it brings the trick shown here.

Ironclad Battering RamThe Ironclad TyrantA riveted iron ram on iron wheels, with a boiler nobody taught to whisper.Its boiler screams and it charges.
Plague WagonThe Sump BelowA cart of barrels, none of them sealed, all of them leaking something with eyes.Tips its barrels and the road runs with slime motes.
Bell CarriageThe Frostbitten BellThe Bell's great cracked bell on a sledge, tolling itself down the road.Tolls, and the frost closes over it like a shield.
Corn ThresherThe Ember GluttonBlades and a furnace on a chassis, built to harvest what the Glutton cannot wait to eat.Eats what it threshes and mends itself.
Survey EngineThe Crooked CartographerA drill on a chassis, steered by a compass the Cartographer inked himself.Bites into the road and surfaces further along it.
The Rig RatsThe Gilded HushA wagon, a boiler and stolen bits, crewed by nine rats who each think they are driving.Finds the big lever and bursts forward.

The Breach

Twice a board, an owned machine may leave the road and cut a path: it rams through one square of ground between two stretches of road, and the road is shorter for every troop behind it. Never within three squares of the village. Each breach costs the machine a quarter of its own hit points, so a Repair Hammer from the satchel is worth packing. Three to a run: they are bulky.

Home for the Horde is the camp: the Village gone wrong in your god's colour. The Pit is your god's Arena, the Bone Surgeon stitches up what crawls home, the Witch Doctor sells potions, the Fleshsmith forges gear and machines, and the Totem Yard holds the ten gods as tiles.

V. The Mercenaries

No one owns them. Anyone can hire them.

The Thieves' Guild: a list of mercenaries for hire with their ranks and prices, and Dogleg the fixer in the archway. — The Thieves' Guild, under the sewer cover. Dogleg the fixer keeps the ladder.

Under an iron sewer cover beside the Village fountain is the Thieves' Guild: forty-five hands for hire, paid in candy by the Herd and in essence by the Horde. They are money minded, loyal to whoever paid last, and every one of them has a crime to their name.

Four ranks. Common, Champion, Hero and Mini-boss. The price climbs with the rank, and a Mini-boss on the Fields fights like one.
Earn the door. The cover only lifts once the Queen notices you (on the Horde, once your god marks you) by your Village level.
One on the line. Hold as many as you can pay for. On the Herd's Fields one hand stands on the line at a time, beside your own hero.
Two percent and they walk. At 2% health a hand says something mercenary and leaves the field, straight back to the Guild for anyone to hire. They never die and never see the Hospital. Keeping them standing is the whole skill.
Free agents. Now and then a hand starts thinking about other work. Then they go up for bids for a while, and the highest bidder takes them. No bids, and they stay: it is a job.

A few of the hands

Brannockthe Barrel-Thrower CommonCheerful, certain, and completely wrong about how big the barrel needs to be.
Old Hobthe Sergeant CommonHas retired four times. Keeps a spare uniform for the fifth.
Piper Hallowaythe Field Medic ChampionBandages first, questions never, invoice later.
Dunmore Ironbellythe Wall ChampionHas never once moved out of the way. Sees no reason to start.
Ravenna Blackhornthe Warcaller HeroWears a Nightmare's horn on her helm. Took it herself.
Thorvald Sunderthe Earthshaker HeroThe hammer was his grandmother's. So was the temper.

Fifteen Mini-bosses sit at the top of the book, from Ironjaw Grulk the Ogre-Captain to Mother Gallows the Hag-General, and they are the rarest contracts in the Guild. Down in the Gilded Hush the same forty-five work as bodyguards: a guard never plays, but the morning after a losing day he has a quiet word with the dealer, and a little of the loss comes back as house gilt.

VI. The games

Behind every door, another game

One account and one side carry into all of them.

The Queen's Arena: pick your champion, see the matchup, and ring the bell, run the Gauntlet or take on another player.

The main game Tower defense

Shadows of the Corn

The heart of it all: the Village, the Fields and everything in between, for the Herd or the Horde.

The Fields. Board after board of tower defense, holding the road or marching down it.
The Arena. Coach one fighter through a bout, round by round, with a hand of cards. On the Horde it is the Pit.
The Sky Pit. Fly your Griffin (or your dragon) yourself: two heights, five moves, one of you comes down.

Play Shadows of the Corn

A match at the Gate: your hand of cards along the bottom, both gates at 20, the god's side across the table.

Card battler

The Gate

You hold the village gate; a Nightmare god holds theirs. Both start at 20. Break the other one.

Fields pay energy. Troops, magic, auras and reactions spend it. Thirty turns each, and the higher gate wins.
Ten gods, three tiers. Contenders, Champions and Titans, and God Rage climbs with every win.
The Chaos Factor. Your core deck is safe forever. Any other card you play may burn after the fight.

Play The Gate

A practice blackjack table in the Cask Room of the Gilded Hush, with the house regulars seated around the felt.

Casino

The Gilded Hush

A speakeasy under the Market, where the Herd and the Horde lose at the same tables and pretend not to notice each other.

Four rooms. Blackjack, Texas Hold'em, craps and roulette, at shared tables.
Gilt, not money. The Cage changes candy or essence into gilt and back. Play gilt only: no real money, ever.
Practice first. Every room has practice tables that deal free practice gilt and keep nothing.

Play The Gilded Hush

A hidden object hunt in the Candy Store, with the list of things to find along the bottom and Pip in the corner.

Mystery

Tenderfoot's Folly

He signed for the whole village. Now he has to find it: one signature, twenty pages, every one of them hidden in plain sight.

Find everything on the list. Zoom into painted houses, open cupboards, and find the keys to what is locked.
Pip helps, for a fee. A kernel of the glowing corn who hints in Clues: a Whisper, a Hunch, a Sure Thing.
A Hushling in every house. Catch it for a new verse of the Ballad of the Hushlings.

Play Tenderfoot's Folly

The Tavern Table: the games laid out as cards, Hushling Scramble, The Hush's Password, Market Jam, Gobstopper Drop, Pip's Kernels, Rune Raid, Harvest Mahjong, Corn Rows and The Satchel, with the Clues and candy counts at the top.

Tavern games

The Husk & Hearth

The village tavern and its growing shelf of casual games, each one quick enough for a break. Pip is dealing.

Words. Hushling Scramble (beat the candle) and The Hush's Password (five letters, six tries).
Puzzles. Market Jam (free the cart) and Gobstopper Drop (swap sweets, match three).
Against Pip. Pip's Kernels (mancala with corn) and Rune Raid (rune dice).
Tiles. Harvest Mahjong: four setups to pick from, a deal of the day and three daily challenges.
Blocks. Corn Rows: drop pieces on an 8 by 8 field and fill rows and columns to clear them, with a field of the day that deals everyone the same pieces.
Triples. The Satchel: tap free tiles into a satchel of seven pockets, and three alike pop out. Empty the table before the pockets fill, with three bags to pick from and a bag of the day.
Rewards. The first finish of each game every day pays a Clue for Tenderfoot's Folly. Signed in, it also pays a little candy (essence on the Horde) from the tip jar, and so does each Mahjong challenge.

Play The Husk & Hearth

The Corn Gambit: the 3D board on the Village Green, the Herd's white and pink pieces facing the Horde's dark ones, with each side's name and clock above and below.

3D chess

The Corn Gambit

Real chess, every standard rule, on a 3D board: the Herd against the Horde, and every capture plays out as a short fight.

The armies. The Herd plays Volunteers, Star and Moon Unicorns and Bell Wagons; the Horde plays Grunts, Dreadhoofs, Choirlings, Battering Rams and a Dragon for a queen, in its god's colours.
Two clocks. Standard, ten minutes a side, or Bullet, one minute a side.
Three levels of AI. Novice, Average and Skilled. A win pays more the higher the level (candy on the Herd, essence on the Horde), up to a daily limit.
Boards. The Village Green is free; ten more are for sale, from The Candy Counter to The Last Bright Field.
Challenges and badges. Three daily and three weekly challenges that pay when claimed, and badges for the trophy case on your profile.

Play The Corn Gambit

On the horizon: The Lands, floating fields above the village that grow while you are away, held for a later season. Take a look.

One account. One side. One purse.

Sign in once and every game knows you. Your side follows you through every door, and your candy (essence on the Horde) carries across: win it in one game, spend it in another. Every season is named for a Nightmare god, and every wave held, boss put down, bout won and Gate match won scores for your side on the Season's bar.

Play Shadows of the Corn Choose your game

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