Understanding Terraforming

The need to terraform terrains is due to the fact that you are only allowed to build dwellings/structures in your home terrain -- which by the way, the main way to earn the resources fueling your expansion (which is the main goal of the game). However, terraforming can be quite confusing at first and may need a more detailed explanation of how it works, for new players to fully understand its mechanics.

Basically, you may change the type of any one terrain into another, given that you have enough resource to do so and some Adjacency conditions are met. If however you have changed one terrain type to your home terrain (example: when you’ve turned a terrain into a forest if you are a witch or Auren), you may immediately build a Dwelling on that space.

Conditions before building a Dwelling

To build a Dwelling on a Terrain space, this space needs to be:

1. Terraformed or already the type of terrain of your Home terrain

2. Unoccupied

3. Directly or indirectly adjacent to one of your structures

4. Also, you need to pay its building costs.

Each Dwelling costs 1 Worker and 2 Coins. (Exceptions: The Engineers build Dwellings for 1 Worker and 1 Coin, the Swarmlings for 2 Workers and 3 Coins.)

Transforming a Terrain

Originally, the rule book dictates that you may only terraform lands directly or indirectly adjacent to your home terrain. That matter on itself is entails a lot of rules about it, not to mention additional advantages of some factions bending/extending these rules. But as you play the mobile version of the game, there is not much emphasis on this matter for the game automatically suggests "terraforming", only on plausible spaces in the game board (which is nifty).

Aside from that, terraforming has its price: Each step between the source and destination terrain on the Transformation cycle of your Faction board costs 1 Spade. Thus, terraforming adjacent types of terrain (on the Transformation cycle) into one another costs 1 Spade, with a maximum cost of up to 3 Spades if they are on opposite sides of the cycle as you can move in either direction on the cycle. (Exception: Giants always have to pay exactly 2 Spades to terraform any type of terrain into their Home terrain.)

Spades can be acquired in a variety of ways. You may exchange Workers for Spades. The Exchange track of your Faction board displays the Exchange rate: At the beginning of the game, this is usually 3 Workers for 1 Spade. You upgrade this later on in the game to lower down the exchange rate. Also, 1 or 2 Spades can be acquired via certain Power actions (Power Token Conversion). Finally, one of the Bonus Cards can provide 1 Spade when picked. (Note: Halflings and Giants gain additional Spades for immediate use after building their Stronghold.)

Spades may only be applied to a single Terrain space. However, there are two special cases:

1. If the Spades gained via a Power action or Bonus card do not suffice to transform a Terrain space into your Home terrain, you may exchange Workers (depending on your current exchange rate) for the missing Spades (The Darklings pay 1 Priest for each missing Spade instead).

2. When gaining 2 Spades, if you only need one of them to transform a Terrain space into your Home terrain, you may apply the second Spade on another Terrain space. However, you may not place a Dwelling on this second space. (The same is true when the Halflings build their Stronghold, immediately gaining 3 Spades)

3. If the current Scoring tile depicts a Dwelling, you get 2 Victory points for each Dwelling you build. This Scoring tile awards 2 Victory points for building Dwellings.

4. You may not save Spades for future Actions. Spades need to be used immediately.

5. If the left side of the current Scoring tile depicts a Spade, you get Victory points for using Spades during the current Action phase. This Scoring tile awards 2 Victory points for using Spades.

6. After transforming a Terrain space, you do not need to build a Dwelling immediately. You can do this in another Action at a later point in time.

7. You do not need to transform a Terrain space into your Home terrain, you may stop at any other type of terrain (e.g. if you can not afford more Spades). However, during their turns, your opponents may claim that Terrain space for themselves. (Terrain spaces with Terrain tiles on them but no Structures are considered unoccupied.)

8. Even when transforming a Terrain space without building a Dwelling, the transformed Terrain space needs to be directly or indirectly adjacent to one of your Structures

9. You may not transform a Terrain space that already houses Structures (may it be yours or your opponents’).

10. You may also get Spades via Cult bonuses. As these Spades are gained outside the Action phase, you may not build a Dwelling immediately afterwards, nor do you get to exchange Workers for more Spades (You have to wait for the next Action phase to build a Dwelling in that terraformed terrain.)