Rout Game Rules
Rout is a free, web-based strategy game similar to Risk, played asynchronously in your browser. If you know Risk, you can skim this page — the core loop of reinforce, attack, and fortify works the way you expect, with a few additions.
Game setup
Whoever creates a game configures:
- Map — from the classic 42-territory world layout to much larger custom maps.
- Players — two or more, human and/or CPU, each with a color.
- Turn time limit — how long a player can sit idle before a CPU takes their turn (1 hour to 30 days; default 36 hours). See how turn timers work.
- Territory claim strategy — round robin (players take turns claiming territories one at a time) or random (all territories are dealt out automatically and play begins immediately).
- Card trade-in system — which reward schedule applies (see below).
Turn phases
Each player's turn consists of three phases, in order.
1. Reinforcement
- Receive armies based on territories owned: one army per three territories, minimum three.
- Add continent/region bonuses for fully controlled bonus areas on the map.
- Place armies on any territories you own, in any distribution.
- All armies must be placed before the phase ends.
2. Attack
- Attack any adjacent enemy territory from one of your territories with 2+ armies.
- Dice: attacker rolls up to 3 dice (never more than armies − 1); defender rolls up to 2 dice (never more than their armies).
- Dice are compared highest-to-highest, then second-highest to second-highest.
- Defender wins ties. Each losing comparison costs that side one army.
- When a defending territory reaches 0 armies it is conquered; the attacker must move in at least as many armies as dice rolled (minimum 1) and must leave at least 1 army behind.
- You may attack as many times as you like, from any territories, and may stop at any time.
- Conquering at least one territory in a turn earns you a card.
3. Fortify
- Move armies between adjacent friendly territories.
- One fortify move per turn; at least 1 army must stay behind in the source territory.
- After fortifying (or skipping), your turn ends and the next player is notified.
Card trade-ins
Trading in a set of 3 cards during reinforcement grants bonus troops. Rout supports several reward systems, chosen at game creation:
| System | How the reward works |
|---|---|
| Classic | Escalates with each trade-in game-wide: 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 15, then +5 per trade. |
| Fixed | Depends on the set: 3 Infantry = 4, 3 Cavalry = 6, 3 Artillery = 8, one of each = 10. |
| Fixed TTB | Like Fixed, but takes the maximum of the fixed reward and a percentage (4–10%) of opponents' total troops on board. |
| Classic Scaling TTB | Classic escalation, capped at (1 / remaining players) of opponents' total troops on board. |
In every system, wild cards substitute for any symbol, and if a traded card matches a territory you own, that territory receives +2 troops directly.
Turn timers and async play
Rout is asynchronous: you get an email or SMS when it's your turn and play whenever you like. To keep games from stalling, every game has an idle turn timer — default 36 hours, configurable from 1 hour to 30 days. If a player stays idle past the limit, a CPU automatically plays their turn after a warning notification. Full details on the how it works page.
Winning
The game ends when one player owns every territory on the map. That player wins. Players who lose all territories are eliminated, and players may also resign; eliminated and resigned players' games keep moving without them.