Ninelands

Der Weg bisher

Jede Version von Ninelands ist ein Halt auf diesem Weg – vom ersten Prototyp oben bis zur neuesten Version weiter unten. Hinter dem Nebel: was als Nächstes kommt.

Die Einträge der einzelnen Versionen stehen auf Englisch, so wie im Änderungsprotokoll.

Zur neuesten Version: v0.11.0 ↓

Start

15. Oktober 2026

Wo der Weg beginnt

Ein Prototyp namens Hivedoku: ein 9×9-Brett, geteilt in neun Lande, vier Figuren, die Land beanspruchen, ein Gesetz je Karte. Es funktionierte – also wurde es ordentlich neu gebaut.

v0.1.0

16. Oktober 2026

v0.1.0 – The reworked solo game

Neu

  • Seeded maps with share codes and a map of the day.
  • New board drawing (SVG), German and English, effects switch.
  • Legal cells, placement preview, game-over detection, guided first game, rules window, keyboard play.
  • Ranks per law and a casual mode.
v0.2.0

16. Oktober 2026

v0.2.0 – Online

Neu

  • Accounts with sessions (SQLite), server-side score checks.
  • Installable offline app.
  • 1v1: hot seat, against the computer, and online duels via invite link with clock, resign and rematch.
  • Quick-play queue, friends list and challenges.
  • Generated puzzles.
v0.3.0

17. Oktober 2026

v0.3.0 – The game becomes Ninelands

Neu

  • Pixel-art look, medieval wording, music and sound effects.
  • The nine-lands rules: rule a land by holding at least half of it; duels are won by lands.
  • Stars for every map, the first campaign through the nine lands, puzzle stations.
  • Glory rating and hall of glory for duels; star ranking for the map of the day.
  • Bandit camps and fog of war; custom games; medium and large maps; land names and landmarks.
v0.4.0

20. Oktober 2026

v0.4.0 – Ready for players: everything from the first round of feedback

Neu

  • Imprint and privacy pages, feedback form (with captcha) that files reports straight into the tracker.
  • Free play as a relaxed zen mode; one click from the start screen into a game.
  • Map of the day rotates through the laws; daily streak; your own rank in the rankings.
  • Questions & answers window; compendium for looking things up.
  • Easy computer for first duels; computer duels via custom game.
  • Zoom for big maps on phones; keyboard hints; quick-play statistics.
  • Change your password, delete your account; moderation of names.
  • Puzzle stars are stored on the account.
  • Music in a smaller format (Opus).

Geändert

  • Calmer menu and game selection; custom games may choose no law.
  • Consistent English wording.

Behoben

  • Early win in duels, stuck games, tandem mining, star limits on big maps, sound panel and duel layout on phones, start-screen contrast, info bar above the board.
v0.5.0

22. Oktober 2026

v0.5.0 – Factions, profiles and the guide

Neu

  • Hard computer: looks ten moves ahead with its four best candidates; beats the normal computer in about 84 % of duels.
  • Profile pictures and team colours: 19 pictures to unlock through play, four team colours; shown in rankings, friends lists and duels. A badge in the game selection tells you when a new picture is unlocked.
  • Factions: play as the orc horde or the pirates (looks only), unlocked after the first campaign. The computer always plays a different faction.
  • Two new campaigns: the orc horde and the pirates, 36 stations each, with their own story.
  • The guide at /guide/: rules in depth, strategies backed by simulations, designer's notes, pictures of the real board.
  • The game shows its version under Questions & answers; feedback reports carry it too.

Geändert

  • The compendium window is gone – the game selection and the rules link straight to the guide.
  • The star count in the game selection adds up all campaigns once more than one is open.
  • Touch: the first tap shows what a cell offers (and why not), the second tap places.
  • A piece's own cell counts as held for the half-of-a-land rule.

Behoben

  • Locked pictures and factions looked unlocked with effects off; they now show a lock.
  • Locked faction campaigns show their map instead of an empty window.
  • The game-selection footer fits one line on phones.
  • Wide guide tables no longer push the page sideways on phones.
  • A tap could show the info of another cell on devices with mouse and touch.
v0.6.0

22. Oktober 2026

v0.6.0 – A long road: renown, achievements, the weekly challenge and the conquest run – plus a website

Neu

  • Roadmap at /roadmap/: a road from the first prototype to the newest release, and what lies beyond the fog.
  • After an update, the game selection says once what version is new and links to its stop on the roadmap.
  • Website at / in English and German (/de/): what Ninelands is, screenshots, what's new, links to the guide and the roadmap. The language choice is shared with the game.
  • Renown and rank: every verified star earns renown, rated online wins too; levels and eight ranks from Squire to High King. Shown under your name, in the profile and after every game.
  • Conquest run: a chain of ever harder maps; clear a stage, pick one of three boons, miss the stars and the run is over. Runs continue where you left them; the best run of each account is replayed by the server and ranked.
  • Challenge of the week: one map for everyone each week with a twist (bigger map, bandits, fog, missing pieces), its own ranking and two achievements.
  • Banners and board themes as level rewards: eight banner shapes for your lands (your duel opponent sees them) and the board themes winter, autumn, desert and night.
  • Achievements: 38 goals from your first star to three stars without a bishop – feats in a game are checked by replaying it; every achievement adds renown.
  • Personal records in the profile: best gold per law and map size, most lands, stars per mode, longest daily streak, duel record – only your own results.
  • Press kit at /press/: facts, descriptions, screenshots, logo and banner, everything as one ZIP.

Geändert

  • The game moved to /play/. Installed apps open the game as before; old map and duel links are forwarded.
v0.7.0

23. Oktober 2026

v0.7.0 – The desktop app – and it keeps itself up to date

Neu

  • Desktop app for Windows and Linux (AppImage and .deb) on itch.io: the whole game in its own window, with sound and music; links to the guide and the website open in your browser. It updates itself: a few seconds after start it tells you when a new version is out and installs it on one click. Installed through the itch app, the itch app keeps it up to date.
  • Where to play on the website: in the browser, on itch.io, and the apps.
  • The version is shown in the footers of the website and the game, linked to its stop on the roadmap.
v0.7.1

23. Oktober 2026

v0.7.1 – Small things: a way to say thanks, and every text now knows about the desktop app

Neu

  • Buy me a coffee on the website: a link in the footer of every page and a short “Support Ninelands” section on the home page. Just a link – nothing is loaded from Buy me a coffee until you click it.

Geändert

  • Website, press kit, guide, the game's “Questions & answers” and the itch.io page now tell you about the desktop app for Windows and Linux.
v0.8.0

25. Oktober 2026

v0.8.0 – Playing together: friends, festivals, fairer duels – and a hint when a puzzle gets stuck

Neu

  • Best game of the day: after finishing the map of the day, Watch the best game replays the day’s best game move by move, anonymously – from the result screen or the ranking (#89).
  • Friends ranking: the rankings of the map of the day and the challenge of the week switch between Everyone and Friends (with an account); after the map of the day the result tells you how many friends played today and your place among them (#90).
  • Festivals and seasons: a hub card shows the season and the next festival. During a festival, stars in three games earn its board theme and banner for good: Halloween (25 October – 2 November) Pumpkin night and Bat, Winterfest (15 December – 6 January) Festive lights and Snowflake, Easter Blossom meadow and Easter egg. The new board theme With the seasons follows the festival or season with the themes you have unlocked (#93).
  • Colour-blind friendly mode in the game settings: in duels player 2’s land is striped and their pieces stand on a dashed base, and blocked fields get a dashed frame – colour is never the only sign (#91).
  • Hints in puzzles: the new Hint button marks the next move of a best solution, or says how many moves to take back when you have left the best path. After a hint, that puzzle gives at most two stars (also on the server) (#88).

Geändert

  • Head start in duels: in new duels player 2 starts with 5 gold. Bot duels showed player 1 winning 54–64 % on every map size (with bandits and fog); with the head start it is about 50/50. Online duels already running keep their rules (#92).
  • Star goals on 9×9 maps: the gold goal now also counts two greedy computer games, like the big maps. About one in ten 9×9 maps had a far too easy gold goal; now a gold star is about as hard on every map size. Stars on free maps and the map of the day count afresh (old stars and renown stay); campaign and weekly challenge are unchanged (#92).

Behoben

  • On the 12×12 and 15×15 maps, the points preview for the right part of the top row was cut off at the edge of the board (#87).
v0.9.0

27. Oktober 2026

v0.9.0 – Your feedback: play anonymously, mute with one tap, and the map archive fits on phones

Neu

  • Play anonymously: with Appear anonymously in leaderboards in your profile, public leaderboards (map of the day, challenge of the week, conquest, hall of fame, popular maps) show Anonymous player instead of your name and picture. You still see your own place; friends and duel opponents still see your name (#99).
  • Mute with one tap: the new speaker button next to Sound turns music and sound effects off and on again. The game remembers it, and your volume settings stay as they were (#96).

Behoben

  • On phones, the popular maps and their leaderboards were wider than the screen and could be swiped sideways (#97).
v0.9.1

27. Oktober 2026

v0.9.1 – Staying signed in: an honest checkbox, and no new sign-in when the network is slow at startup

Geändert

  • The checkbox on the login page is now Stay signed in on this device (it used to remember only the name). On by default, as before: you stay signed in for 30 days. Off: the login ends when you close the browser or the app (#100).

Behoben

  • If the server could not be reached right when the app started (e.g. network not ready yet), you had to sign in again. The app now tries again a few times and as soon as the device is online (#100).
v0.10.0

6. November 2026

v0.10.0 – Two languages everywhere: the guide, the roadmap and the legal pages in German too, one header on every page – and a splash screen in the apps

Neu

  • Splash screen in the apps: the Android app, the desktop app and the installed web app now open with the StackTeam logo for a moment. Tap to skip; in the browser nothing changes (#102).

Geändert

  • Website in English and German throughout: the guide (fully translated), the roadmap, the legal notice and the privacy policy now exist in both languages, and every page – also the feedback page – has the same header with the language menu. Switching the language keeps you on the same page; your choice also applies in the game.

Behoben

  • When a duel ended early, the message read “You cannot move any more and is behind” (and “Du kann …” in German). It now speaks to you properly – also when you are the one who wins early (#101).
v0.11.0

12. November 2026 Neueste

v0.11.0 – Made a friend in a duel? Keep them with one tap

Neu

  • Online duel result: add your opponent as a friend with one tap (accounts only); if they already asked you, the button accepts their request (#103).
?

Hinter dem Nebel

  • Android-App auf Google Play
  • iPhone und iPad
  • Duelle in Runden – spielen, wann du Zeit hast
  • Karten-Editor und Rätsel aus der Community

Pläne, keine Versprechen – ohne Termine, und sie können sich ändern. Was du dir wünschst, sag uns auf der Feedback-Seite.