WARPAINT

How to Play WARPAINT

WARPAINT drops you into a Splix-style territory battle fought with a single control: press and hold anywhere on the screen, then drag to steer your army across the map. The army leaves a trail behind it as it moves, and closing that trail off encloses ground that gets painted in your color. The embedded start screen states the objective directly: "PAINT 50% OF THE MAP!" and "CUT ENEMY TRAILS TO DESTROY THEM!", with a reminder to "DRAG to steer your army."

Rival nations — labeled with country names like Australia, Spain, Canada and the Netherlands, alongside a handful of invented factions — are painting their own territory at the same time, and a HUD ranking tracks everyone's occupancy percentage in real time. Crossing an enemy's active trail destroys that enemy outright, so the level goal banner spells out two paths to victory at once: "PAINT 50% OR WIPE THEM OUT."

The run is built from 3 levels. Level 1 plays inside the 300x300 embedded ad, opening on a stage named Lone Isle; clearing it reveals a "LEVEL 2 FULLSCREEN" button that opens a new fullscreen page, where Level 2 (Archipelago Front) and Level 3 continue with a "Hold to steer!" hint replacing the embedded drag instruction. Each level clear pays out a time bonus based on the clock remaining.

The failure state confirmed in play is steering off the playable map, which triggers an immediate "You fell off the map!" game-over screen and a RETRY button. Finishing all 3 levels ends the run on an ALL CLEAR screen with PLAY AGAIN and EXIT options.

Controls

Press and hold anywhere on the screen, then drag to steer your army and draw a trail.
Closing off a loop with your trail paints that enclosed ground in your color.
Crossing an active enemy trail destroys that enemy.
Steering your army off the edge of the map ends the run immediately.

Tips & Strategy

Pick your path: paint or wipe out

The level goal banner offers two separate ways to clear a stage: painting 50% of the map or eliminating every enemy nation. Since crossing an enemy's trail destroys it outright, a stage crowded with aggressive AI trails can sometimes be cleared faster by cutting through them than by slowly enclosing new ground.

Respect the map edge

The only failure state confirmed in play is steering off the map, which ends the run instantly with a "You fell off the map!" screen. Because the drag control keeps your army moving as long as you hold, it's worth easing off near the map boundary rather than dragging at full speed toward the edge.

Read the occupancy ranking

A running leaderboard of nations and their occupancy percentages sits at the top of the screen throughout a level. Checking it mid-run tells you whether painting territory is closing the gap to 50% or whether a rival nation is pulling ahead, which is useful for deciding whether to keep enclosing ground or go hunt an enemy trail instead.

Clear quickly for a bigger time bonus

Level clears pay out a time bonus scaled to the clock remaining — one observed clear banked a 300-second bonus worth 3000 points. Since the bonus rewards finishing with time still on the clock, an efficient path to 50% territory or a fast elimination run pays off beyond just clearing the level.

A fall only resets the level, not the run

Falling off the map brings up a RETRY button that restarts only the level you were on, not the whole 3-level run. The reset-everything option — PLAY AGAIN — only appears after clearing all 3 levels on the ALL CLEAR screen, so a mistake mid-level costs you that attempt at the level, not the progress you've already banked.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is WARPAINT free to play?

Yes. It loads directly in your browser with no download or account required.

How many levels does WARPAINT have?

Three. Level 1 plays inside the embedded 300x300 ad, and clearing it opens a fullscreen page where Levels 2 and 3 continue.

How do I control my army?

Press and hold anywhere on the screen and drag to steer. The embedded level calls this "DRAG to steer your army," and the fullscreen levels shorten the hint to "Hold to steer!"