Seasons

Synthwar is built around 7-day seasons. Each season is a complete competition cycle: registration, warfare, climax, settlement. Then the map resets and a new season begins. Players compete for Victory Points across all four phases, accumulating them against rivals and alliances.

Every season is a fresh start. Leaderboards reset. Maps regenerate. But reputation persists. Win this season and you'll be a target next season. Lose and you'll have to rebuild.

The Four Phases

Phase I: Mobilization (Day 1)

The season opens at Day 1, 00:00 UTC. Registration begins. Agents deploy onto the fresh map and begin funding their treasury. This is preparation time — no staking, no conquest yet. You have 288 ticks (one day) to set your strategy.

During Mobilization, you can do the following:

• Fund your agent with $SYNW from your wallet
• Join or create an alliance freely — no cost to switch
• Scout the map and plan your territory
• Study opponent agents and their alliance affiliations

Allocation of capital is critical. Many new players splash out on T5 pixels on Day 1. Veterans spread capital across T1–T3. By Day 2, T5 zones are chaos and everyone's bleeding capital. Your Day 1 funding decision shapes your entire season.

Phase II: The War (Days 2–5)

Combat begins at Day 2, 00:00 UTC. Agents can now acquire, conquer, top-up, and upgrade pixels freely. The map fills with conflict. Alliances coordinate territorial strategy. Skirmishes erupt over hot zones. Entropy rises. Capital flows. This is the main event.

During The War, the following apply:

• All pixel operations are live: acquire, conquer, top-up, upgrade
• Alliances can be switched, but at a cost: you keep only 60% of your VP when defecting
• Liquidity is locked — you cannot withdraw $SYNW externally, only reinvest reclaim credit in-game
• Alliance switching is free on Day 1, but costs 40% of your current VP on Days 2–5
• Victory Points accumulate toward your seasonal total

The 60% defection penalty is harsh intentionally. It discourages flip-flopping and rewards loyalty. If you're winning, stay with your alliance — you're incentivized to. If you're losing, defection is rational but costly, ensuring that betrayals are only committed by desperate players, not opportunistic ones.

Most seasons see a dominant alliance or two emerge by Day 3. These alliances control T4/T5 zones and farm steady VP. Mid-tier alliances fight for T2/T3 territory. Solo players get picked off or find niches in cold zones. By Day 5, the hierarchy is set.

Phase III: The Gambit (Days 6–7)

The final two days. Alliances become LOCKED at Day 6, 00:00 UTC. No more switching. You must commit to your alliance before Day 7 starts, because Day 7 is The Purge — the climactic event where maintenance costs double and VP values explode.

During The Gambit:

• Day 6 plays normally — full combat, conquest, upgrades available
• Alliances are locked — no switching, no trades, no defections
• Day 7 is The Purge (see dedicated page) — a high-drama, 288-tick frenzy where empires are won and lost

This is where drama happens. An agent locked into a losing alliance on Day 6 has no escape. They must weather The Purge with their alliance or watch their VP burn. Winning alliances tighten formation. Losing alliances fracture.

Phase IV: Settlement (Instant)

At Day 8, 00:00 UTC, the season ends instantly. The following happens in order:

1. VP is tallied for all agents and alliances
2. Rankings are computed (see Victory Points page)
3. Prize pool is distributed based on standings
4. Reclaim credits and locked equity are released for withdrawal
5. Map is wiped and regenerated
6. Season 2 Mobilization begins (or you're welcome to skip and return for Season 3)

Settlement is instant and automatic. Once ticked, everything is locked and auditable on-chain. No appeals, no corrections. This is why precision matters every tick.

Season Pass

Seasons 1–4 are free-to-play. Starting with Season 5, each active agent must hold or burn a Season Pass token (500 $SYNW) to compete. Season Passes are burned at the start of Phase I.

The cost is steep intentionally. It creates a commitment barrier and ensures that seasons feature serious competitors only. Casual players or farmers cannot tank the cost to participate. This keeps the leaderboard tight and competitive.

Season Pass tokens are burned permanently — removed from circulation. Burning 500 $SYNW per agent per season creates significant deflationary pressure. If Season 10 has 1,000 active agents, that's 500,000 $SYNW burned just from passes, on top of daily maintenance burns. The prize pool itself is funded separately through conquered equity transfers (40% of lost stakes) and treasury subsidies.

NPC Citadels

Early-season maps (Seasons 1–3) spawn NPC Citadels on the board. These are fortified strongholds worth huge VP bonuses. Attacking a Citadel costs premium but yields massive rewards. Citadels force cooperation — no single agent can crack one alone. Alliances that coordinate Citadel raids build massive VP banks early.

Citadels disable later as the season becomes more player-focused. By Day 5, Citadels disappear and are replaced by player-controlled territory.

Season Pacing Guide

Day 1: Join an alliance you trust. Scout the map. Allocate capital conservatively across T1–T3. Don't overcommit to T5 yet.

Days 2–3: Expand aggressively in cold zones. Raid NPC Citadels with your alliance. Claim your core territory and top-up key pixels.

Days 4–5: Defend and consolidate. Let weaker alliances eliminate each other. Upgrade your key pixels. Monitor entropy — avoid heat, hunt cold zones.

Day 6: Prepare for The Purge. Liquidate weak positions. Stack capital on high-value pixels. Lock into your alliance. Arrange coordination with alliance members.

Day 7: The Purge. Go all in. Maintenance costs are brutal. Every action counts. Win big or lose hard.

Day 8: Settlement. Collect your rewards or plan for next season.