About Land Grab Online
Play Land Grab live with other people. Quick play drops you into a public room, and Make a room gives you a private arena you can share by link or code. Everyone draws loops on the same map at once, and bots fill in around the people in it.
Land Grab is a territory game for your browser. You start with a small square of land in a big arena shared with fourteen rivals. Leave your land to draw a trail, curve back home, and everything your loop surrounds becomes yours. The catch: while you are out, your trail is your weak spot, and any rival who touches it knocks you out.
Also called: territory game, paper io style, land capture game.
How to play Land Grab
- Press an arrow key (or W, A, S, D), click the board, or swipe on a phone to start. Your block never stops moving.
- Steer with the arrow keys or WASD, or just point with the mouse: your block turns towards the pointer. On a phone, swipe or drag anywhere on the board; one long drag can make several turns.
- Drive out of your land. You leave a pale trail behind you.
- Come back into your own land to close the loop. The trail and every cell inside the loop become your land, including any rival land you surrounded.
- Cross a rival's trail to knock them out. Keep your own trail short so nobody can do the same to you.
- When you're knocked out you see your share of the map, your best rank, your knockouts and how long you lasted. Play again puts you straight back in.
Rules
- The arena is 100 by 100 cells, shared by fifteen players. Everyone moves one cell at a time at the same speed, and nobody can turn straight back on themselves.
- The edge of the map is a wall, not a drop. Run into it and you turn to slide along it: towards the side you are steering or pointing at, or else the side with more room. In a corner you turn the only way that is open.
- You are knocked out if a rival runs into your trail or if you run into your own trail. Sliding along the wall outside your land still leaves a trail, and a rival can still cut it.
- If two heads meet, the player with less land is knocked out. With exactly the same amount of land, both are.
- Closing a loop claims your trail and every cell it fences in against your land, whoever owned them before. A rival who loses every last cell of land is knocked out.
- You only leave a trail outside your own land, so while you are home there is nothing to cut. Head-on crashes still count anywhere.
- When a player is knocked out, their land goes back to empty ground for anyone to claim. Computer players rejoin a few seconds later.
- The score is the share of the map you own. Your best share is kept on this device.
Land Grab tips and strategy
- Small loops are safe loops. Two or three quick trips out and back are worth more than one huge loop that gets cut.
- Use the walls. Drive out to the edge and let it turn you: a trail that runs along the wall can only be reached from one side. Hold the direction you want as you arrive, or point the mouse that way, to pick which way you slide.
- Watch the heads, not the land. When a rival turns towards your trail, head home by the shortest way at once.
- Build your loops off an existing edge of your land, so the loop only needs three sides and you are never far from home.
- A long rival trail is an invitation. Cut across it and their whole territory is up for grabs.
- The arena is big. Check the minimap in the corner: it shows the whole map, every player and where the open ground is.
Land Grab questions
Who are the other players?
They are computer players that play by exactly the same rules as you. Some are cautious and make small loops close to home, some are greedy and go for big loops, and some like to hunt for trails to cut. In the Online version, the other players are real people too, with bots filling the empty places.
What happens when I hit the edge of the map?
Nothing bad. The edge is a wall: your block turns and slides along it. It turns the way you are steering or pointing if that runs along the wall, otherwise towards the side with more room, and in a corner the only way that is open. If you are outside your land, the slide leaves a trail like any other move.
How big is the arena?
100 by 100 cells, with you and fourteen computer players in it, so there is always open ground somewhere. New players start away from everyone else. The minimap shows the whole arena.
What happens to land I surround that belonged to someone else?
It becomes yours. If it was the last of their land, they are knocked out and you get the credit.
Can I stop or reverse?
No. Your block always moves forward, and turning straight back is ignored, so plan your turns a little ahead. Even the wall only turns you. You can pause with Space or the pause button, and the game pauses by itself when you switch tabs.
Why did I get knocked out without touching anyone?
Someone crossed your trail, you drove into your own trail, or a rival captured every cell of your land. The wall never knocks you out. The result card tells you which it was.
Does it work on a phone?
Yes. Swipe or drag anywhere on the board to steer, and the page stays put while you play. It works in any modern browser with nothing to install.
Can I play Land Grab with friends?
Yes. Open the Online tab and choose Make a room to get a link and a six-character code for up to ten people, or Play now to join a public room. Everyone shares the same map, and bots fill it out so there are always rivals to cut off. A live game cannot be paused, so your block keeps moving if you switch tabs.
Is Land Grab free to play?
Yes. Land Grab on Kultured Arcade is completely free: no download, no account and nothing to buy. It runs in any modern browser on a phone, tablet or computer.