Chehel - A Persian Board Game

Chehel A two-player hex strategy game of Persian empires. No dice, only decisions.

Note: this project is AI-generated. I was just bored.

Two rival satraps. One circular board of forty hexes. Raise Bazars, Apadanas, Maktabs and Pardis. Seize the four great Shahr-e Bozorg. Race to build Persepolis before your rival does.

Every turn has two phases. In Development you collect income, recruit Piyada, Kaman-dar and the mighty Javidan, research along a path of technologies, and play Favor cards. In Expansion you march, fight and claim ground. Combat is fully deterministic: you can read every exchange before you commit, so the better plan wins.

There are three ways to win:

• Hold all four Shahr-e Bozorg, or own 21 hexes.
• Reach 7 Victory Points.
• Complete the technology path to Absolute Knowledge.

Features

• Hot Seat for two players on one screen
• Single-player against an AI opponent
• Direct-IP online play on the Windows build
• Hand-drawn procedural art and an original Persian-flavoured soundtrack
• Built-in rulebook, tooltips and a next-turn income preview

Controls: mouse only. Hover anything for an explanation, and press Esc for the menu.

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How to Play

Goal: win by any one of these:

• Hold all four Shahr-e Bozorg (the gold-outlined cities), or own 21 hexes at the end of your turn.
• Research Tier 4, Absolute Knowledge.
• Reach 7 Victory Points: 1 per Shahr-e Bozorg, 2 for Persepolis, and 1 per Prestige card on your table.

Your turn has two phases

1. Development: income arrives, then you recruit troops, research in the Maktab and buy Favor cards.
2. Expansion: move and fight, claim hexes and build.

Press Next Phase or End Turn at the bottom right when you're done. On the opening turn there is no income and no Development phase: both players start straight in Expansion.

Resources

• Sarvat pays for troops.
• Nofuz pays for every move, attack and claim.
• Ettela'at pays for research.
• Khorveh buys Favor cards, Tribute and Sanctuary.

Each building you own gives +1 of its resource per turn. On a Shahr-e Bozorg, a building gives +2.

Troops

• Piyada (infantry) trades with other Piyada and beats a Kaman-dar. After moving, it can still attack an adjacent enemy.
• Kaman-dar (archer) shoots an adjacent enemy and takes no return fire.
• Javidan (Immortal) has 3 health and kills lesser troops unharmed. It needs the Elite Guard technology.
• Troops are recruited only on a free Apadana, or on Persepolis if you hold it.
• A new recruit acts from the next turn.
• There are no dice, so every fight is predictable.

Claiming hexes

• Move a troop onto a neutral or enemy hex, select it, and pay 1 Nofuz to build there. The hex becomes yours.
• Tribute is a shortcut: pay 2 Khorveh to claim a neutral hex that touches your territory, with no troop needed.
• Right-click to deselect a unit before choosing a Tribute hex, or the click will move the unit.

Persepolis: a single wonder that either player can build. Whoever holds it gets +2 VP, +1 Nofuz and +1 Khorveh per turn.

Controls: mouse only.

• Hover anything for an explanation.
• Click a hex to select it, and right-click to deselect.
• Esc opens the menu.

Modes: Hot Seat, vs AI (Easy or Hard), and online play on the Windows build.

Tips

• Build Apadanas early. Every move costs Nofuz.
• Take a Shahr-e Bozorg quickly: each is worth a Victory Point and doubles its building's income.
• Keep one troop near your capital. An empty hex next to an enemy troop can be taken.