Giza

Giza is an average-scale land map built from a sharp economic contrast: fertile green pockets carry palm forests and much of the food, while open desert holds the routes, later mines, relics, cliffs, and pyramids between them. Despite the name, these oases contain no water or fish.

Each player begins in a large home oasis. Two expansion settlements create two more fertile pockets per player, and one bonus oasis per side carries extra gazelle. Gold moves in the opposite direction: the opening mine is green-side, but every close and outer large mine must sit beyond the oasis boundary.

Wood and safe food pull armies toward the fertile pockets; long-term gold and relics pull them back into open desert. Giza's central tension is controlling both sides of that boundary.

Standard 1v1 is designed around eight fertile areas: one large home oasis per player, a smaller oasis using half as much map area around each of four expansion settlements, and one 400–450-tile bonus oasis on each player's side of the map. The two bonus pockets stay 15 meters from the map edge and away from the other oases and King of the Hill.

A shared 50/50 roll selects the cliff package. One branch creates two 100–150-tile cliffs per player, four small cliffs total; the other creates one 200–300-tile cliff per player, two large cliffs total. They stay on their corresponding player's side of the map, 30 meters from other cliffs, 20 meters from buildings, and at least 12 meters outside oasis edges.

Fertile-pocket layout · Standard 1v1 example · large-cliff branch Click to enlarge

This overhead shows the two-large-cliff branch. The fertile-pocket count and economy rules still apply in the four-small-cliff branch, but cliff density and desert routes change; one capture should not be read as universal object placement.

Opening package

One shared one-third roll gives both players seven to eight gazelle, six to seven zebra, or three to four hippopotamuses. The hunt stays at least 4 meters inside the home-oasis edge. Each player also receives four to six berry bushes and four to six chickens at least 4 meters inside that edge, plus two to five player-owned goats. Across both starts, the package supplies 5,000–7,500 initial food.

Settlement and bonus-oasis hunt

Each expansion-settlement oasis receives one group of one to two rhinoceroses: four groups and 2,600–5,200 food across the map. They remain 12 meters from the settlement, at least 50 meters from player starts, and at least 12 meters inside the fertile edge.

Each player's bonus oasis carries five to nine gazelle at least 8 meters inside its edge, adding 2,000–3,600 map food. The oasis belongs to that player's side of the map, but its exact position on that side changes by seed.

Close zebra, goats, and hyenas

One symmetric group of five to eight zebra per player sits 55–80 meters from its player's base and at least 55 meters from every start. The pair lies at least 8 meters outside fertile edges and outside tower and settlement safety, with at least 50 meters between the two group locations. It provides 2,500–4,000 food.

Beyond the two-to-five starting goats, each player receives two to four oasis groups of two goats at 50–80 meters and another one or two two-goat groups beginning at 70 meters with no maximum. Both later packages stay outside tower vision and use 50-meter spacing. Together these placements can put 16–34 goats on Giza.

Hyenas form one to three groups of two to three per player. They begin at least 70 meters from every start with no maximum, lie at least 12 meters outside fertile edges, and stay outside tower and settlement safety. Their 500–2,250 carcass food is finite but less dependable than ordinary hunt.

Initial finite food ranges from 13,200 to 23,750, with a weighted expected value of 18,200. The total includes goats at their 50-food initial value and hyena carcasses. Fully fattened goats hold 4,800–10,200 food instead of their 800–1,700 initial value.

Giza can generate six symmetric starting palm forests, three per player, then eight more forest areas on each player's side of the map. The twenty-two forests each cover 50–70 tiles, stay at least 22 meters from other forests, and must fit inside fertile oasis terrain.

Forests avoid impassable ground, Town Centers, and farm-capable settlement space; the sixteen later forests also stay clear of owner paths. Starting stragglers and three scattered palms per player add local wood. Varying forest shape and tree density prevent a fixed tree or wood total, and the oasis restriction keeps this timber strategically concentrated.

Starting reserves

Each player receives one medium mine worth 3,000 gold at 21–25 meters from the start, inside the home oasis and at least 4 meters in from its edge. These two mines provide the map's 6,000 protected opening gold.

Close expansion reserves

One large mine per player is paired symmetrically 50–70 meters from that player's start and at least 55 meters from every start. The pair sits at least 12 meters outside oasis edges and outside tower vision and settlement ranges. The two mines stay at least 50 meters apart and provide 12,000 gold.

Outer reserves

Two or three more large mines per player begin at least 70 meters from that player's start and every player start, with no maximum distance. They remain at least 8 meters outside oasis edges, stay beyond tower and settlement safety, and use symmetric pairing while remaining at least 50 meters apart.

Large mines hold 6,000 gold each. The four-or-six outer mines carry 24,000–36,000 gold, so the main long-term reserves sit in open desert instead of the green pockets that hold wood and food. A complete layout contains 42,000–54,000 gold, with 48,000 expected.

Each player receives one symmetric backward settlement at 80–100 meters and one symmetric aggressive settlement at 90–120 meters. Both avoid tower vision, the map edge, and 40-meter corner zones; the aggressive site also avoids King of the Hill.

Each successful site creates a fertile oasis and its one-to-two-rhinoceros group. A settlement therefore controls more than build space: it anchors scarce palm forest, food, and a green staging point beside the desert lanes where large mines and relics lie.

Standard 1v1 attempts to place two relics per player, four total. Every relic begins at least 70 meters from that player's base and every player start, with no maximum distance, and relic locations stay at least 70 meters apart.

Relics remain at least 8 meters outside oasis edges and avoid impassable ground, tower vision, settlement ranges, and the map edge. They are not paired symmetrically or confined to one player's side of the map, placing them among the exposed desert routes rather than the fertile economy pockets.