About Routefront
Every siege is a new map of roads between your citadel and the Ashen Keep, and many of them are blocked. Spend supplies on troops, on the bridges that unblock a route, or on research that makes both cheaper — the whole game is that one budget. Your army walks the path you opened, so the map is the strategy and the fighting is the consequence.
How to play
- Supplies arrive every second. Spend them in Army on troops, in Research on upgrades and unit buildings, and in Routes on new roads.
- New units march your chosen path. Pick a route option, tap junctions on the map, or leave it on the shortest road.
- At the Ashen Keep your army attacks its rings in order: fence, then towers, then workshops, then the hall.
- Clear and hold monster camps for extra income and Treants or dragons to train.
- Destroy the Keep's hall to win. If your own hall falls, the siege is lost.
Tips
- Rams for walls. Siege rams do triple damage to every structure, while Vanguards deal 60% and Rangers only 35% against the fence. Melee units cannot hit anything inside an unbroken fence.
- Protect your Supply depot. It gives 6 supplies a second plus 2 per Supply network level. If it is destroyed, income drops to 3 until you rebuild it, so mend the fence and towers early.
- Bring range for flyers. War balloons and Tide dragons cannot be hit by melee units. Rangers, Frost mages and your towers can, so keep some in the mix once the Keep builds its balloon dock.
- Take a camp early. A Treant grove pays 2 supplies a second, a Dragon roost 3. Stand in a cleared camp for 4 seconds to claim it. The Keep starts sending its own expeditions after one minute.
- Time favours the Keep. Its soldiers gain 25% health every five minutes and 25% damage every six, up to 50%. It also mends its fence and towers whenever your army is away from its walls.
Read the full Routefront guide (5 min read)
From the developer
Routefront started on 8 September as an idle siege game. Every map is a network of roads between your citadel and the Ashen Keep, and one supply budget pays for troops, for bridges that open a blocked route, and for research that makes both cheaper, so the map is the strategy and the fighting is the consequence. It is written in JavaScript with three.js for the 3D battle view.
On 14 and 15 September I rebuilt it from art packs I own. Both bases now use Toony Tiny RTS Set by Polygon Blacksmith for walls, towers, workshops and the army, with each building's construction stages used as its damage and ruin states. The monster camps and champions are from Monsters Ultimate Pack 09 Cute Series by Meshtint Studio, some scenery from Synty Studios' POLYGON Prototype and Battle Royale packs, and effects from Polygonal's Low-Poly Particle Pack.
Cavalry was the hardest part. The rider's animation clips rest him in the saddle while the model rests him standing inside the horse, so every baked frame buried the rider; I fixed it by copying each bone's pose from the clip's own skeleton. I check balance with simulated games: after the camps went in, a mixed army that uses them wins 11 of 16, and doing nothing loses all 16.
Son Hoang, who made Routefront
Update history
- The loading bar now follows the whole download instead of waiting at 0%, and unit names fit on a phone held sideways.
- Choose the exact path your army marches, fight over four monster camps for extra supplies and monster units, and tap anything to open its card.
- Cavalry works, and the enemy fields an army that mirrors yours.
- Medieval strongholds, army and siege engines from the Toony Tiny RTS Set, with walls that block movement and fences and towers you can repair.
- Music and sound, and layered base defences: breach the fence, then the towers, then the workshops, before the hall.
- Animated 3D armies, a layout that fits every screen, and a real loading bar.
- Text now scales with the screen instead of staying at one small size.
- First version: an idle siege with fixed routes and one supply budget, expanded the same day with 3D units, research buildings and diagonal frontiers.
Questions
Does Routefront save my progress?
No. A siege lives only in the open page, and every new siege generates a fresh map. Only your Sound and Music settings are remembered in the browser.
Can I play on a phone?
Yes. Tap the panel tabs to train, research and build, tap the map to select camps, units and junctions, and pinch to zoom. On a small screen one button switches between following the front and the whole map.
Is the map the same every time?
No. Each siege builds a new map from a random seed: a grid of junctions with one road across always open and several bridges and passes to build. Both armies can use a road you open.
Can I speed it up?
Yes. The speed button switches between 1× and 2×, and Pause stops the siege. The game also stops when the tab is hidden.
