Light vs Dark — Game Guide
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Source: Polyworld Buff. Interactive views are available on the source site.
A 1v1 real-time strategy match on a 128-tile map that is fair by construction: Dark's half is Light's half rotated 180 degrees. Two BASIC overlords gather gold and wood, raise an army, and try to wipe the other side out.
| Stat | Value |
|---|---|
| UNIT KINDS | 8 |
| BUILDINGS | 8 |
| STARTING GOLD | 800 |
| STARTING WOOD | 400 |
| FOOD CAP | 100 |
THE MATCH
How a game is won
Each side starts with a town hall, five peasants or peons, 800 gold, and 400 wood. Neutral gold mines sit on the map. Trees give four wood trips then vanish. Food comes from the hall and farms, capped at 100. Army size is also capped at 100 living units.
Combat is piercing plus basic, then armor. Piercing always lands. Basic is reduced by armor and never goes below zero. Most swings miss 20% of the time. Catapults never miss, deal 255 piercing, and splash 63 piercing onto king-move neighbours.
A player is defeated when they have no standing buildings and no peon left to raise one. If the 20-minute clock hits first, score is buildings × 1000, plus army × 100, plus gold and wood ever gathered ÷ 100.
| Reference | Details |
|---|---|
| Gold trip | 100 gold, 2.5s in the mine, 4 miners |
| Wood trip | 100 wood, 3.3s chop, 400 per tree |
| Hall / farm | +5 and +4 food |
| Walk | Infantry 10 ticks/tile, siege 16 |
| Tower | 12 damage, 6 range, 1s cooldown |
| Clock | 24 ticks a second, fog of war |
THE ARMIES
Units
Light and Dark share gold, wood, train time, and most combat numbers. Where they differ, both portraits and both rows are shown. Damage is piercing / basic. Speed is ticks to cross one tile.
LIGHT PEASANT
DARK PEON
Worker
Town hall · 400 gold · 18.8s
| Stat | Value |
|---|---|
| HP | 40 |
| ARMOR | 0 |
| DMG | 0 / 1 |
| RANGE | 1 |
| STEP | 10 |
| SIGHT | 5 |
LIGHT FOOTMAN
DARK GRUNT
Soldier
Barracks · 400 gold · 15s
| Stat | Value |
|---|---|
| HP | 60 |
| ARMOR | 2 |
| DMG | 1 / 9 |
| RANGE | 1 |
| STEP | 10 |
| SIGHT | 5 |
LIGHT ARCHER
DARK SPEARMAN
Ranged
Barracks · mill · 450g 50w · 17.5s
| Stat | Value |
|---|---|
| HP | 60 |
| ARMOR | 1 |
| DMG | 4–5 / 0 |
| RANGE | 5 / 4 |
| STEP | 10 |
| SIGHT | 7 |
Light: 4 piercing, 5 range. Dark: 5 piercing, 4 range. Cooldown 1.5s.
LIGHT CONJURER
DARK WARLOCK
Mage
Tower · 900 gold · 22.5s
| Stat | Value |
|---|---|
| HP | 40 |
| ARMOR | 0 |
| DMG | 6 / 0 |
| RANGE | 3 / 2 |
| STEP | 10 |
| SIGHT | 7 |
Light range 3. Dark range 2. Cooldown 1.5s.
LIGHT KNIGHT
DARK RAIDER
Cavalry
Barracks · stables + smith · 850g · 20s
| Stat | Value |
|---|---|
| HP | 90 |
| ARMOR | 5 |
| DMG | 1 / 13 |
| RANGE | 1 |
| STEP | 10 |
| SIGHT | 6 |
LIGHT CATAPULT
DARK CATAPULT
Siege
Barracks · smith + mill · 900g 200w · 25s
| Stat | Value |
|---|---|
| HP | 120 |
| ARMOR | 0 |
| DMG | 255 / 0 |
| RANGE | 8 |
| STEP | 16 |
| SIGHT | 8 |
Never misses. 63 splash piercing. 8s cooldown.
LIGHT CLERIC
DARK NECROLYTE
Support
Church / temple · 700 gold · 20s
| Stat | Value |
|---|---|
| HP | 40 |
| ARMOR | 0 |
| DMG | 6 / 0 |
| RANGE | 1 / 2 |
| STEP | 10 |
| SIGHT | 7 |
Light range 1. Dark range 2. Cooldown 2s.
LIGHT ELEMENTAL
DARK DAEMON
Summon
Tower · 1200 gold · 30s
| Stat | Value |
|---|---|
| HP | 250 / 300 |
| ARMOR | 0 |
| DMG | 40 / 65 |
| RANGE | 3 / 1 |
| STEP | 10 |
| SIGHT | 6 |
Light: 250 HP, 40 piercing, range 3. Dark: 300 HP, 65 basic, range 1.
THE TOWN
Buildings
Same costs and hit points on both sides. Dark names stables as kennels and church as temple. Gold mines are neutral, 25,000 on the main and 15,000 on expansions.
Town Hall
1200 800
1200 HP. 30s. 3×3. +5 food. Gold and wood drop-off. Trains workers.
Farm
400 200
400 HP. 10s. 2×2. +4 food.
Barracks
600 400
800 HP. 20s. 3×3. Trains soldiers, ranged, knights, siege.
Lumber Mill
500 300
600 HP. 15s. 3×3. Wood drop-off. Unlocks ranged and towers.
Tower
500 300
700 HP. 15s. 2×2. Needs mill. 12 damage, 6 range, sight 9. Trains mages and summons.
Stables / Kennels
600 400
700 HP. 20s. 3×3. Needs barracks. Unlocks cavalry with the smith.
Church / Temple
700 400
700 HP. 20s. 3×3. Needs barracks. Trains cleric / necrolyte.
Blacksmith
600 400
700 HP. 15s. 3×3. Needs barracks. Unlocks knights and catapults.
Gold Mine
Neutral
2000 HP. 2×2. Main 25,000 gold. Expansion 15,000. Four miners at a time.
Numbers come from examples/light_vs_dark/content.nim and ui.nim. Artwork is bundled with this guide.
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