Kepler Protocol

1989. Humanity has established its first bridgehead on Kepler-186e — and has only one chance to hold it.

What began as a scientific expedition becomes a fight for survival. Deep beneath the surface something ancient stirs: the Ordo Arachnis, a swarm intelligence that does not regard the colonists as guests — but as terrain to be cleared.

Kepler Protocol is turn-based hex strategy where every decision carries weight. Command the Kaiserreich — infantry, artillery, special forces — by Auftragstaktik (mission command): you set the intent, your officers carry it out. Or take control of the swarm.

An enemy with no commander. The Ordo Arachnis follows no chain of command, only chemistry — a pheromone field across the whole world that each formation follows locally. No one decides, yet the swarm moves. And it matures like an organism: first it grows, then it bites — the heavy castes appear only when the hive is large enough.

Logistics win campaigns. Water is scarce. Scout the vein, build the road, drill — supply is a front of its own. The Kaiserreich's ultimate goal, the planetary core drill, is a monument of engineering that devours everything you can deliver to it.

Every loss has weight. Morale is not a counter but a survival factor. A dead soldier and a wounded one are not the same — and a broken formation barely fights at all.

Asymmetric factions, two philosophies. The Kaiserreich relies on technology, range, and discipline. The Ordo Arachnis on mass, adaptation, and relentless pressure. Two sides. One planet.

Features

• Hex turn-based strategy with terrain, line of sight, and fog of war
  
• A swarm with no commander — emergent enemy AI driven by a pheromone field (stigmergy)
  
• The swarm matures — castes by size, not by the clock
  
• Auftragstaktik (mission command) — command by intent
  
• Logistics as a front of its own — supply chains and the planetary core drill
  
• Blood toll & morale — the dead and the wounded are not the same
  
• Asymmetric factions — two completely different playstyles
  
• Procedurally generated maps
  
• Atmospheric pixel art & chiptune soundtrack
  
• Fully localized in twelve languages
  

A solo project with a passion for thoughtful strategy.