Multiplayer

“No empire rises alone.”

Annhexation can be played against human opponents as well as the AI – in the same game, at the same time, or days apart. Multiplayer is a single seamless experience: when you and a rival are online together you watch each other’s turns unfold live, move by move; when your rival is away, the game waits for them, lets them know it is their turn by email, and replays everything they missed when they return. Human and AI empires can be mixed freely in one game.

Starting a Multiplayer Game

Multiplayer games are created from the New Game screen, exactly like single-player games. You must be signed in to invite other players.

  1. Choose your map, difficulty, and empire as usual.
  2. In the Human Opponents section, choose Invite a Friend by Email. Enter their email address and pick the empire they will lead.
  3. Add AI opponents alongside them if you wish – any mix of human and AI empires works.
  4. Choose Start Game.

There is no lobby and no waiting room. The moment the game is created it is turn 1 and it is your turn – start playing. Each invited friend receives an email inviting them to the game; the invitation link signs them in (creating an account for that email if they do not have one) and drops them straight into the game. Until a friend joins, their empire simply waits whenever the turn reaches them.

Seats and Turn Order

Every empire in a game occupies a seat, controlled either by a human or by the AI. Turns are strictly sequential – each seat plays in order, ending its turn to pass control to the next. AI seats play instantly; human seats take as long as their player needs, whether that is thirty seconds or three days.

Because the game is turn-based and sequential, nothing ever happens behind your back on your own turn. When it is your turn, the world holds still for you.

Playing Live

When you and an opponent are online at the same time, their turn is streamed to you live. Each move, attack, and city action plays out on your map as it happens – the same way AI turns are animated. A banner shows whose turn it is, with a presence dot indicating whether they are currently connected:

  • Green dot – they are online and playing now.
  • Grey dot – they are offline; the game is waiting for them.

While you wait you can pan the map, review your cities, and plan – you just cannot issue commands until your turn begins. When the turn passes to you, a horn sounds and your units are ready for orders.

Playing Asynchronously

Multiplayer does not require everyone to be online together. If it becomes your turn while you are away, Annhexation sends you an email – “It’s your turn” – with a link straight back into the game. The player who just finished their turn sees a waiting banner naming you, notes that you have been notified by email, and can safely close the game.

When you return to a game you have been away from, you are not simply dumped into the new state of the world. Everything you missed – enemy movements you could see, battles fought at your borders, declarations of war – is replayed to you as a catch-up sequence before your turn begins, so you always understand what happened while you were gone. Only then does input unlock.

Fog of war is fully enforced in multiplayer: you are only ever shown what your empire can actually see, both live and in catch-up playback.

The Games List

Multiplayer games appear in your Load Game list alongside single-player games, with a badge showing whose turn it is:

  • YOUR TURN – the game is waiting on you. These games sort to the top of the list.
  • THEIR TURN – an opponent is up; the list also names who you are playing against.

Diplomacy Between Humans

War, peace, and trade work between human empires just as they do against the AI, with one difference: a peace proposal sent to a human cannot be answered instantly. Your offer is delivered to them and they accept or reject it on their turn – you will see the outcome when the war ends (or does not). Air strikes against a human defender likewise wait for the defender: they choose their interceptors when they next see the incoming strike, whether live or during catch-up.

Absent Players: AI Takeover and Reclaiming

A turn-based game is only as fast as its slowest player, so Annhexation provides a safety valve for stalled games:

  • Handing a seat to the AI. If a player has been sitting on their turn for 7 days or more, any member of the game can hand their seat to the AI. The AI takes over immediately, plays the outstanding turn, and the game moves on.
  • Unclaimed invitations. If an invited friend never joins, the game’s creator can hand their seat to the AI at any time – no need to wait a week.
  • Reclaiming a seat. A takeover is not an exile. The original player remains a member of the game and can watch their empire; whenever they return they can reclaim their seat from the AI and resume playing exactly where the AI left off.

The option to hand a stalled seat to the AI appears on the waiting banner when it becomes available.

Tips for Multiplayer

  1. Mix in AI opponents. A two-human game with a couple of AI empires keeps the map lively even when only one of you is online.

  2. Play your turn promptly. In a sequential game, everyone else is waiting on you. Even a quick turn – move your units, set production, end turn – keeps the game flowing.

  3. Use the email nudges. You do not need to keep the game open. Close it, live your life, and come back when the “It’s your turn” email arrives.

  4. Watch your opponent’s turn when you can. Live streaming shows you exactly where their armies are moving – within your fog of war. Reading their manoeuvres is free intelligence.

  5. Agree ground rules for takeovers. The 7-day AI takeover exists to save games, not to punish holidays. Talk to your opponents before handing their empire to the machine.