Acts

The road runs through three acts, and each act is a region. The region is not just scenery: each brings its own rules and builds on the one before.

The three acts

Not one of those numbers is written on this page — the table is read from the level catalogue, so it stays correct on its own when a level is added.

I — Caravanserai and Bazaar

A covered bazaar and the yard of an inn. Narrow passages, market stalls, crowds.

The five rules you learn here are the foundation of everything after: the sentry and, along with it, the takedown, then the patrol, the hiding spot and door and key. The threat highlight and the move preview are on by default in this act: lines of sight are painted before you make your first move, and you can see the outcome of a move before you make it.

II — Desert and Oasis

Dunes, the caravan road, ruins. The board opens up and sightlines get longer.

What arrives: the rotating variant of the sentry, the chaser, the bell stone and the back-and-forth patrol. This is the first act where you can change the board from a distance — you hold a stone.

III — Mountain Pass and Fortress

The pass, bridges, the inside of a fortress. One-way edges begin to appear in this act (3-5 introduces them): going somewhere can mean not being able to come back.

Two new rules arrive here: toll and caravan members. Both add a question of sequence; now "in what order" matters as much as "where".

The pattern inside an act

Every act follows the same curve:

1. The first levels teach the rules one at a time; introductions can run as far as level seven. Every introduction follows the same mould: the rule is first shown safely, then asks for one risky choice, and the next level combines it with the one before.
2. 6–9 combine the rules with each other.
3. 10–11 are the act's peak.
4. 12 is the act finale and leads into a story scene.