Fort Surge

The game

In Fort Surge, you’re the captain of a small fort at the end of a valley, and the infernal horde pours out of rifts torn open further north: imps, running puglins, brutes, and later sappers loaded with gunpowder. Your captain fires at the nearest monster all by himself. Your job is to move him around, collect the gold, and spend it on buildings.

Farms, mills, gold mines and markets produce gold; walls, towers and cannons keep the horde at bay. When your defense is ready, you plant the flag in the next zone, and it becomes your new front line. The valley stretches north, zone after zone, with no end, and the numbers climb along with it (thousands, millions, billions…).

How to play

Phone

slide your finger anywhere: a joystick appears right under it.

Computer

the arrow keys or W, A, S, D.

Pause, sound

the button at the top right (or Esc, P); M for sound.

• Build: every free spot is a dotted circle with a price on it. Stand on it: your gold flows in by itself, and the building rises out of the ground.
• Upgrade: stand on a building, then tap the button that appears at the bottom. Nothing gets bought by accident when you stop to shoot.
• Collect gold: every monster you take down drops some, and farms, mills, gold mines and markets make it in piles that you have to go and fetch.
• The armory: stand in front of it to make your captain stronger (Damage, Fire rate, Range, Speed, Gold magnet, Health). His weapon changes along the way: Blunderbuss, Pepperbox, Culverin, Volley organ.
• Conquer: the flag stands between your fort and the front wall. Once the zone is conquered, its building spots appear and the rifts move back one zone.

Tips to go further

• Gold first. One extra farm early on means more gold every minute for the rest of the game. The tutorial walks you through the first buildings, then an arrow points to the recommended purchase whenever you stand around doing nothing.
• Make pickup rounds. Piles of gold sit there until someone comes to get them. Swing by your farms regularly, until the fort hires a tax collector who does it for you.
• Get ready for the big wave. The timer at the top of the screen counts down to the next big wave, which comes roughly every 85 seconds. Repair your walls and get behind the front line before the alarm goes off.
• Close the way with walls. The horde looks for a path: it goes around if it can, and only breaks a wall when it has no other choice. A complete line of walls slows it down while your towers do the shooting.
• Take out the sappers first. From zone 4 on, some monsters carry a powder keg and blow up your walls. They’re the ones to aim for before all the others.
• Don’t conquer too early. One minute after each conquest, a Rift Lord comes to try to take the zone back. You’d better have towers and an upgraded captain before you plant the flag.

Progression

Each zone has its own spots: walls (including a gate your captain can walk through, but the horde can’t), two to four defense spots, and four for production or workshops. Buildings change before your eyes as you upgrade them: the wooden tower becomes a stone tower with one to three musketeers, the walls turn to brick and then to great ramparts, and the fort itself grows bigger.

Upgrading the fort hires a tax collector who gathers the gold from the rear zones, doubles the piles, adds a shooter and boosts all your production. The barracks sends musketeers to take up position behind the front wall: they shoot, fall, and come back a few seconds later.

Frequently asked questions

Is the game really free?

Yes. There’s nothing to buy: everything is built with the gold you earn by playing.

Do I need to download an app or create an account?

No. Fort Surge opens in your browser, on phone and computer alike, and saves by itself.

What happens if the fort falls?

The horde makes off with a quarter of your gold; you can get it back by watching an ad, if you like. Nothing else is lost: your buildings and your zones stay yours. If your captain goes down, he comes back five seconds later, behind the front line.

Does my kingdom keep growing when I’m not playing?

A little: the game pauses while it’s closed, but your farms keep producing at half their usual rate, for up to two hours. That gold is waiting for you when you come back.

Are there ads?

A few, because that’s what keeps the game free. The ones that give you a bonus (a royal chest, the gold lost when the fort falls, doubling your offline earnings) are always optional.