Player’s guide

Starting the game

Online: in the browser, nothing to install.
Offline: after a first visit, the game is stored on the device and starts even without a connection (an “Offline” message confirms it). Only the wiki needs the Internet.
As an app: ≡ menu › Install the game (Chrome, Edge, Android) to get an icon and a window of its own. On iPhone and iPad, in Safari: Share › Add to Home Screen. The save is the same as in the browser.
Tutorial: a new game is guided by bubbles that show up at the right time (first recruit, first rival, first puzzle, first crown…). “Skip the tutorial” stops it; ≡ menu › Replay the tutorial starts it again.
Updates: they arrive on their own. If a new version comes out while you play, a message suggests reloading the page; your game is not lost.
Locally (developers): npm install, then npm run dev, and open the address shown (http://localhost:5173). Everything is bundled, fonts included.
Browsers: recent Chrome, Edge, Firefox, or Safari. The layout also works on a phone (one column).

A terminal-style screen (“ELORUSH.OS”) loads the game. Click or press Enter to play: that click also unlocks sound, which browsers block until you interact with the page.

The interface

Elo and title: your rating, which grows with tempo earned since the beginning (see Titles).
SFX / MUS / CRT: toggle sound effects, music, and the CRT screen.
OPT: settings (volumes, display, number format).
≡: detailed statistics, export and import, wipe, link to this wiki, fullscreen, and, in the Steam version, “Quit game”.

Left column

Tempo: your currency, production per second, click value, and promotion value.
Analyses: how many you have, time until the next one, and a progress bar.
BOOST ×2: boost time left and your gems; a click opens the shop.
Active bonuses: current effects (Zeitnot, Blitz…) with a bar that empties.
Grand œuvre: the three win conditions and the final button.
Upgrades: available upgrades. Ones you can afford are outlined in cyan. The frame color is the family: purple = producer tiers, cyan = click and promotion, gold = openings, green = events, pink = supporters.
Checkmate: prestige, and the Legacy button for spending crowns.
Trophies and Record book: hover a cell to see its name or a hint.

Center

Dispatches: joke headlines, some of them about your run.
Eval bar (left of the board): like a chess site, it shows your “advantage”, the logarithm of your production.
The board:
- your hero pawn (cyan) moves one square per click, and glowing dots show its path;
- your army: the first 16 chess pieces you buy appear and move by the real rules; each move shows what that piece type produced since its last move;
- rival pieces (pink outline, glitch effect) appear on a square, with a timer around it: click them.
Puzzle!: a green button appears when a chess puzzle (mate in 1, 2 or 3) is offered.
Staff: under the board, producers that are not pieces (clubs, engines…) and how many you own.

Right column: recruitment

×1 / ×10 / ×100 / MAX: how many copies to buy per click.
Each row shows the icon, name, price, and amount owned. The row is outlined in cyan if you can afford it.
Under the piece count (“×180”), the analysis button (the green eye and the level, “7”) trains the producer: it costs analyses. Its frame turns gold at level 10, the magnum opus goal; you can keep going beyond. It pulses when you can pay.
An unknown producer shows “???”: it is revealed when you get close to its price, or as soon as you own the previous one.
Hover a row to see output per copy, its share of your total, and its level.

The first minutes

Click the board about fifteen times.
Buy your first Pawn (15 tempo), then the upgrade “Touch-move” (click ×2) as soon as it appears.
Follow with Knights, then Bishops: they are the most efficient producers at the start (see Strategy).
Buy “Eighth rank” (promotion ×3) after 3 promotions.
About 90 seconds after your first earnings, a rival piece appears: click it before the timer ends (13 s).
Around 8,000 tempo, buy “Tactical study” to unlock chess puzzles.
Watch the analysis that arrives every 11 minutes and spend it with the analysis button (the green eye).

Shortcuts

Key	Effect
Enter / Space	start from the title screen
Tab / Shift+Tab	move from one element to the next (a cyan outline shows the active element, and its tooltip appears)
Enter / Space on the chessboard	push the pawn, or capture the rival piece when there is one (holding the key only counts once)
Enter / Space on a recruitment row or a button	buy, open
Escape	close the open window (Tab stays inside the window while it is open)
F11	fullscreen

There are also secret codes on the keyboard: see Cheats.

Settings (OPT)

Setting	Effect
Language	French or English. Defaults to the system language; the change is instant
Master volume	overall volume, 0 to 100% (80% by default)
Sound effects	volume (80% by default) and an ON/OFF button
Music	volume (60% by default) and an ON/OFF button. Music gains a layer (bass, arpeggio, rhythm, kick, melody) for each new producer type you own
Reduced motion	no blinking, sliding or shaking. Turned on automatically on your first game if your system asks for less motion
CRT screen	scanlines and vignette
Screen shake	shakes on promotions and captures
Particles	pixel bursts
Floating gains	the “+1” numbers (promotion and capture announcements stay)
Dispatches	show or hide the news ticker
Number format	short (`1.23 B`) or scientific (`1.23e9`)
Default settings	restore the first-launch settings

Settings are saved with the run and survive prestiges.

Reading big numbers

In English the game uses the short scale: K, M, B (billion = 1e9), T (trillion = 1e12), Qa, Qi, Sx… In French it uses the long scale (Md = 1e9, Bn = 1e12). You can switch to scientific notation in the settings.

Saving

Automatic save every 15 seconds, when the tab closes, and when the tab goes to the background.
The save lives in this browser (localStorage). Another browser, or clearing site data, erases the run.
Menu ≡ › Export copies a text code of your run to the clipboard. Keep it.
Menu ≡ › Import: paste an exported code. Wipe everything asks for a second click.