Paper Territory

How to play Paper Territory

1. You start with a small patch of land. Steer out of it and your marker draws an open, dashed line behind you.
2. Get back to your own land to close the loop: everything the line and your land enclose becomes yours, rival land included. Bigger loops claim more, but your line is open longer.
3. If any marker touches your open line, you are out, and that includes your own marker crossing it. Touch a rival's dashed line to cut them out instead: their land turns back into blank paper.
4. Each rival has a style. Turtles draw small, safe loops. Greedy markers go deep into other land. Hunters chase open lines within about 20 squares and show a red ! when they are after yours. A red glow at the screen edge means a rival is closing on your line.
5. Classic gives you one life to reach the arena's target share; reaching it earns the first star and opens the next arena. Timed is a two-minute brawl where you respawn when cut, and Daily is the same arena for everyone that day.

About this game

Paper Territory is a single-player territory game drawn on a sheet of paper, played against computer rivals with no servers and no waiting for a lobby. Your marker leaves an open, dashed line whenever it is outside your land; bring it home and the loop fills in, rival land included. The risk is the line itself: anyone who touches it knocks you out, so every loop is a bet between a big claim and a safe one. Rivals have personalities you learn to read. Turtles stay close to home, Greedy markers carve long loops through your land, and Hunters chase open lines and flag themselves with a red mark when they are after yours. Five arenas get harder one by one, from slow-handed rivals on kraft paper to eleven sharp rivals on black card with ink blots in the way, and each has three stars to earn: hit the target share, hit it quickly, and hit it with three cuts. Timed mode is a two-minute fight where you come back after a cut, and the Daily arena is the same for every player each day with a streak to keep. Colours, land prints and line styles unlock as you play, including a print you draw yourself, and a reload brings your round back paused where you left it.

Controls

• ←↑→↓WASDSteer (two keys for diagonals)
• MouseSteer toward the pointer
• SpaceShiftBoost (1 s burst, recharges in 6 s)
• PEscPause and resume
• RRestart the round
• EnterPlay (lobby) or play again (results)

On a phone or tablet: Put your thumb on the stick at the bottom left and slide toward where you want to go; you can also swipe anywhere on the open map. Boost (lightning) and Pause sit at the bottom right, and Pause is also at the top. Left-handed swaps the sides; the controls can be set to Auto, Always or Off in the pause menu.