Build the castle. Guard the king. Break theirs.

Crownmason is a turn-based duel of two castle builders. Each of you raises a castle on your own patch of land - walls, towers, quarries, mills, barracks, a scriptorium and a hall for your king. Then you take turns: one attacks, the other defends, and the armies fight it out on their own while you watch.

There is exactly one way to win: kill the enemy king. Burn his farms, flatten his walls, raze half the town - as long as the king lives, the match goes on.

A round in three moves

• Build. Place buildings on a square grid. Neighbours matter: every building helps some neighbours and annoys others - a stonemason next to a quarry cuts more stone, the wrong house in the wrong place costs you. Planning the castle needs you to solve the puzzle.

• Deploy. Put your soldiers on the field, archers on the battlements, and pick your battle cards. The attacker lines up in the strip before the enemy walls.

• Watch the battle. It plays itself out. You made your choices - now see if they hold.

Your king is a homebody

The king waits in his hall inside your main building. Attackers have to break the door before they can get at him. Call the king into battle as a last line of defense.

Cards, research and an economy that bites back

• Card draft: before every battle you are dealt an offer from your faction's deck. Two cards go to war with you - stat boosts with a catch, orders such as "put it to the torch" or "strike at the crown", extra places for one kind of unit, or resources for the next round. Your opponent sees the cards you played last time. So do you.

• Research: every faction has its own tree that unlocks buildings, units, more cards and bigger armies. It starts empty in every match.

• Production chains: harvesters feed workshops feed armies - grain becomes flour becomes bread, ore becomes steel. Break the chain and the units that depend on it stay at home.

• Magic traps: hidden in your castle, invisible to the enemy until someone steps into one. Then very visible.

• Limited sight: you only know the enemy castle as it stood after your last attack - until you march on it again.

• Archers on the walls: post them on battlements and towers; when the enemy keeps out of range, send them down to fight.

Seven factions that play differently

Each with its own buildings, units, spellcasters, king, research, cards, homeland map and interface style - and townsfolk who go about their day in the streets until the battle comes to them:

• The Human Kingdom - stone walls, drilled footmen, siege towers, royal edicts. Balanced and adaptable

• The Undead Kingdom - armies of the dead, fed on corpses. The more there is to bury, the stronger they get.

• The Goblin Gang - cheap, fast and many. Pays for its army with your buildings. Sappers and bomb balloons included.

• The Eternal Empire - few soldiers, perfect order. Samurai paid in rice, a castle that rises storey by storey, honour that is won and lost in battle.

• The Elven Commune - a castle that grows. Leave it alone for ten rounds and you will regret it.

• The Dwarven Lords - a hold dug into the mountain, armour on everyone, cannons, tunnellers, and a ledger of grudges that is always up to date.

• The Church of Hell - a fallen cathedral preaching for the pit. Frenzied flock, burning witches, priests who turn your soldiers against you. Read the small print of a demon's pact.