Raise your keep. Unite the realm.
The old king is dead and the realm of Aldmark is torn between four warlords. You hold a single keep and a handful of spearmen. Build up your castle, train an army, win the free villages to your banner and break the warlords one by one – until every banner in Aldmark is yours.
Banners of Aldmark takes the castle-building and conquest of the classic browser strategy MMOs and turns it into a fast solo campaign. No waiting for days and no other players to wake up to: a whole war takes 20–45 minutes, and you can pause, speed up or continue later.
How to play
- Build: upgrade the Market, Sawmill and Iron Mine for gold, timber and iron. The Storehouse decides how much you can keep, and the Farmstead how large your army can be.
- Train: spearmen, swordsmen, archers, riders, rams and heralds – each with its own strength.
- Attack: pick a region on the map and send your army. Before you march you see how the battle is likely to go.
- Conquer: free villages join you when you win. Warlord lands need a Herald: every victory lowers their loyalty until they swear fealty to you.
- Command quickly: right-click (or double-tap) any region to attack it straight from the region you selected, set a rally point for new troops, and gather your armies at the keep with one click.
- Defend: the warlords raid and attack you too. Red warnings show what is coming and when – move troops home, raise your walls or call your army back.
Choices that matter
The realm never sits still. Sellswords ride up to your gate, a warlord’s envoy offers peace for tribute, a wyrm makes its lair in your hills, a spy is caught copying your war maps. Every event asks you to choose – and every choice changes your war. As your keep grows, the royal council lets you pick doctrines such as Silver Tongues, Horse Lords or Siege Engineers that shape the rest of the campaign.
Battles you can see
The great battles play out on screen: archers loose their volleys, riders charge, rams pound the walls and the strength bars drain until one side breaks. Then the full battle report shows exactly what you lost and won.
Four warlords
The Ironfang Clan and the Saltmere Corsairs live for raiding. The Ashen Covenant builds a mighty keep before it marches. The Thornwood Wardens hide behind walls and archers. They also fight each other – and a warlord who takes another’s keep takes all of their lands.
A new war every time
Every war is drawn from a larger world: four of eight warlords, each with their own banner and temper, on one of four kinds of maps – a wide continent, an archipelago joined by ferries, highlands full of chokepoints, or riverlands split by a great river with only a few bridges.
Lords, renown and fates
Every war you fight earns renown. Spend it at the war table to unlock new lords: Queen Sigrun the merchant, Chief Hrolf and his riders, Master Torvald the builder, Mother Maren and her heralds, Edda Shieldmaiden. Feeling bold? Choose the fates of the realm – Harsh Winter, Plague Year, Iron Warlords or The Dragon Wakes – for a harder war and a bigger reward. Slay the dragon and the realm will sing of it. All your victories are written in the Chronicle of Aldmark.
Short on time?
Fight a skirmish: a small map, two warlords and a war that is over in 10–20 minutes, with its own leaderboard.
Win your way
Rule three quarters of Aldmark, or take every warlord’s keep. Choose Easy, Normal or Hard, and try the Daily Realm: a new map every day, the same for every player, with its own leaderboard. Your score grows with every land and keep you take – and with how fast you win.
Part of SagaArcade
Banners of Aldmark is an original SagaArcade game. Your victories earn Saga XP and achievements, and your campaign is saved automatically – also in the cloud if you sign in.
FAQ
Is Banners of Aldmark free?
Yes. It is free to play in your browser. There is an optional war chest you can open by watching an ad, but you can win every campaign without it.
Is it multiplayer like Khan Wars or Tribal Wars?
No. Banners of Aldmark takes the castle-building and conquest of those classic browser MMOs and turns it into a solo campaign. You fight four AI warlords, and a campaign takes 20–45 minutes instead of weeks.
What are lords, renown and fates?
Every war earns renown – more for victories, harder wars and fates. At the war table you spend renown to unlock new lords such as Queen Sigrun the merchant, Chief Hrolf the horse lord or Edda Shieldmaiden, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. Fates of the realm – Harsh Winter, Plague Year, The Dragon Wakes and more – make a war harder and multiply your score and renown.
Is there a shorter mode?
Yes. A skirmish is a war on a small map against two warlords that takes 10–20 minutes, and it has its own leaderboard.
How do I win?
Rule three quarters of the regions of Aldmark, or take the keep of every warlord. If your own keep falls, the campaign is lost.
What are events and doctrines?
Every minute or two something happens in the realm: sellswords offer their swords, envoys offer peace for tribute, a wyrm hunts your soldiers, rebels rise in a warlord's village. Each choice has real consequences. At Keep level 2, 4, 6 and 8 the royal council lets you pick one doctrine – such as cheaper Heralds, faster riders or stronger walls – that lasts the whole campaign.
Can I watch the battles?
Yes. Important battles – your attacks on keeps and camps, captures and attacks on your own keep – play out as a short animated scene with archers, charges and rams before the battle report. You can skip them, or choose all or none in the pause menu.
How do I conquer a warlord's land?
Bring a Herald (trained in your Keep from level 4). Every victory with a Herald in the army lowers the land's loyalty by 20–35. At 0 it swears fealty to you. Free villages join you as soon as you win a battle there.
Which troops should I train?
Spearmen are cheap and stop riders. Swordsmen beat foot soldiers. Archers are the best defenders. Riders are fast, hit hard and carry the most loot. Rams break walls, and Heralds win warlord lands.
Is my campaign saved?
Yes, automatically. You can leave at any time and press Continue later. If you sign in on SagaArcade your campaign follows you to other devices.
What is the Daily Realm?
A new map every day that is the same for every player until midnight UTC. Play it as often as you like and compare your best score on the daily leaderboard.
Does it work on mobile?
Yes. Tap regions to select them, drag to move the map and pinch to zoom. It works in both portrait and landscape.
