Thornhold

Shape the forest and protect the Great Tree from lumber-hungry orcs.

Thornhold is a forest-defense autobattler where water is your most powerful weapon, and you choose where it flows.

Route a river across a compact grid, place structures and troops, and survive waves of escalating orc hordes. Every cell you flood, every terrain you activate, and every card you play shapes the battlefield.

The River Changes Everything. Water flows from a single source, and you extend it one cell at a time. The path you carve determines which bonuses fire, which groves you awaken, and whether your Forest Core gets the power it needs to survive. Choose poorly and your defenses crumble. Choose well and watch bonuses cascade downstream.

Seasons Shift and the Board Transforms. Every few waves, the season changes - and with it, the entire terrain bonuses rotate. Mountains erupt in Spring. Fields bloom in Summer. Swamps surge in Autumn. Lakes freeze and burst in Winter. Plan your river and your card placement around the seasons.

Draft. Grow. Fight. Draw from a pool of 20+ cards - structures that auto-attack, troops that march into battle, and mutations that twist your units into something stronger. Buy new cells to expand your territory. Find a grove and unlock massive bonuses that can define your entire run. Every decision is a tradeoff, and the best runs come from stacking bonuses on top of bonuses on top of bonuses in delightful ways.

What's in the prototype:

• An expandable grid with random terrain, purchasable upgrades, and discoverable groves
• 20+ cards across structures, troops, mutations, and terrain manipulation
• 17+ blessings to shape your strategy at each season transition
• 20 waves with multiple boss encounters
• An endless mode for score chasers
• Post your best score to the leaderboards

Play free in your browser. No download required.

This is a prototype from the team at Chaos Theory Games. We're testing whether this concept has legs - and we need your help to find out.

Our Discord is also an awesome place to join - we are active here every day.

Drop a comment with your highest wave, your most broken blessing combo, or the river path that saved your forest!