Game manual
Frontier Empires
Explore a hexagonal world, produce resources and connect your empire with roads and sailing routes. Two to twelve players build outposts and castles, trade and compete for prestige. The shared screen shows the map; each phone controls a player.
Rules for the Montelana web version.
Set up this game →Expand your empire
An expedition of 2 to 12 empires in a new world. The shared screen shows the territory; each phone keeps its player’s resources and decisions private.
Outposts give 1 prestige and castles 2. Legacy innovations and route and guard achievements can add to your score. The chosen target is 10, 12 or 15 prestige (12 by default); after 30 rounds the highest prestige wins. Ties can share victory.
The largest connected network, starting at 6 routes, gives 2 prestige. The largest guard, starting at 3 activated guards, gives another 2. A tie keeps the current holder; with no holder, no award is assigned. Rival buildings interrupt your network connections.
Found your frontier
Each empire establishes two outposts with adjacent routes. The second placement reverses player order. N and R numbers let you choose an exact node or route from your phone.
Begin with 2 units of each resource. Your second outpost adds the resources of its adjacent land regions.
N = node for an outpost or castle. R = route for a road or sea link. Every empire has a color and a seat number.
Production
Roll two dice each turn. Regions matching the total produce for all adjacent outposts: 1 resource per outpost and 2 per castle. Sea regions do not produce. The storm blocks its region.
After any roll other than 7, a caravan delivers 1 resource to the active player; its type changes each round. This prevents expansion from depending entirely on luck.
A total of 7 makes empires holding more than 9 resources automatically discard half. The active player moves the storm and may intercept one random resource from a neighbor of that region.
Build
Roads follow land; sea routes follow water or coast. Extend your network to reach free nodes. Outposts must remain at least one route apart; castles upgrade your own outposts.
An empire can have up to 24 routes in total, 8 unimproved outposts and 6 castles. Only one active innovation can be played each turn. Legacy points are awarded immediately when acquired.
| Build | Cost |
|---|---|
| Road | 1 Timber + 1 Stone |
| Sea route | 1 Timber + 1 Energy |
| Outpost | 1 Timber + 1 Stone + 1 Food + 1 Energy |
| Castle | 3 Metal + 2 Food |
| Innovations | 1 Metal + 1 Food + 1 Energy |
Trade with another empire
During your turn exchange 3 identical resources for 1 from the bank or send an offer to another empire. Only acceptance completes a player trade; the server checks both reserves.
Innovations
Develop innovations with metal, food and energy. Guards move the storm; supplies add two chosen resources; legacies provide prestige. Active cards can only be used on a later turn than their purchase.
Game status
Each turn has a time limit. The server resolves pending decisions at expiry so other players can continue. Always check the legal destinations enabled on your phone.
Founding allows 30 seconds per outpost. Turns last 30, 45 or 60 seconds, as set by the room. If you do not roll within 15 seconds, the server rolls automatically; building and trade use the remaining time of that same turn.
Display, controllers and reconnecting
Open montelana.com/tv on the shared display and enter the room code. Each player scans the QR or visits montelana.com/join, enters a name and keeps that browser as a private controller. An invitation QR never grants control over another player. The host starts the game; the public display does not take a seat. Keep the same session to reconnect. There are no saved games or email recovery; tables expire after 24 hours without activity. Opening this manual in another tab does not pause timers.