Map and Land: The Rules Behind Every Tile

Square tiles on the real world map

The GRIDEARTH map is the real world map. The alley by the Eiffel Tower and 5th Avenue in New York are all divided into square tiles, and every tile can become someone's territory. The map is shared live with players worldwide, and the tiles you own are painted in your grid color. You can change your grid color once a week, while guests keep the first color they picked.

A few tools keep you from getting lost. Type a location into the search box to jump there, and use "Jump to my capital", "Go to current position" and "Move to favorites" to reach the places you visit most. Favorites hold one territory at a time, so setting a new one replaces the old one.

Under Settings, the Map menu lets you choose themes. On the main map, LIGHT is a beige theme and DARK is a brown theme. On the battle scene, LIGHT shows 3D buildings and DARK shows satellite terrain. When you enter an area that has a lot to load, the app may offer to switch to Light Mode. Light Mode keeps every feature working and only minimizes design and animation effects, and it may also turn on automatically depending on your network or phone specs. You can change it anytime in Settings.

Territory levels (stars) and upgrades

Territories have levels. Upgrading a tile raises its stars, and the more stars it has, the more the attacker's win rate drops. The win rate section of the in-app help lists:

That's why the app tells you to "Tap Upgrade to protect your territory." Upgrades cost gold, and the tickets needed to attack a tile also depend on its level. The daily quest "Defense: Upgrade × n" is filled by upgrading, so raise the tiles you most want to keep a little every day. Note that you can't upgrade while a Shield is active, and Auto Mode turns off when you upgrade yourself.

Your capital: position and distance matter

The capital is special land with a higher defense success rate. On top of that, the closer to your capital, the stronger you fight and defend. The help screen gives the distance rule:

• Attack: -1 for every 1,000 tiles between the attacking land and my capital
• Defense: -1 for every 1,000 tiles between the defending land and their capital

In short, fighting near your own capital helps you, and land far from its owner's capital is harder for them to hold. The Builder job, whose captures gain the capital effect, fits this rule well.

Moving your capital

• Pick any land of yours other than the current capital.
• After a move, you can move the capital again after 24 hours. The app shows the time left.
• The cost is gold. The move screen shows it as your territory count × gold per territory.
• If your capital is captured, it automatically relocates to a random spot among your remaining lands. If you lose all your land, you build a new capital and start again.

Your capital also works as a shortcut: after a long trip across the map, "Jump to my capital" brings you home. To start over completely, Sell Territory lets you sell all your territories and build a new capital. The sale reward converts to tickets, one per territory, and arrives by mail. Selling is available once every 24 hours, and sold territories cannot be recovered.

Shields: insurance for when you're away

A Shield protects all your territories for a set number of hours, and the app suggests buying one before bedtime. Keep these rules in mind:

• The cost is gold per territory, so a bigger territory means a bigger bill.
• While shielded, you can't attack others and you can't upgrade.
• You can cancel anytime, but the remaining time is lost and the gold is not refunded.
• After canceling, you must wait a set time before buying another Shield.

Use Shields when you'll be away for a long stretch, and save your gold while you're actively attacking.

Disasters: eight daily wild cards

Every day at a set time, a disaster strikes the map. There are eight kinds: Windstorm, Meteor, Earthquake, Flood, Volcano, Pests, Lightning and Drought. Hit lands reset and can't be claimed for 24 hours, and you can't attack or build in a disaster area. If a disaster takes some of your land, a notification tells you how many tiles you lost.

Disasters are forecast. Tap a forecast tile and the app says "A disaster is forecast for this land," and the Disaster Forecast screen shows which disaster is coming on which date. Each job blocks one disaster, and the job selection screen shows these immunities:

Treasures, gems and the Gallery

Treasure territories are hidden across the main map and marked with a special icon. They can be anywhere in the world, but they are more common outside the cities. The treasure list groups them by real-world themes such as World Heritage, World Airports, Famous Mountains and Waterfalls, and you can sort it by most gold reward, most treasure territories or least time remaining. The shortcut button takes you straight to a treasure, and if you own that territory until the treasure end date, you get a reward for each tile.

There are seven gems: Topaz, Opal, Emerald, Sapphire, Ruby, Amethyst and Diamond. Capture and hold land with a gem, and its gold arrives by mail every 20 hours; for a Jeweler that time drops to 10 hours. Your Treasure Box lists the gems you hold, and one in-app tip says that to become a BOSS, you should secure diamonds.

Capturing land with a gem also adds that place's image to your Gallery, where you can download or share it. You can even contribute an image yourself, as long as its source is clear.