Zombie robots will spawn on the map and attempt to attack the players. Each player will begin with several Archons, and the player who loses all Archons first loses the game. Players must scavenge the map for resources and units as they evade or fight the zombies and opposing player faction.
The majority of games end when all of one team's Archons are destroyed, either by zombies or by the opposing team's forces. However if the game comes to a close and both teams still have at least one Archon, victory will be decided by the following tiebreakers.
Archons are important units that cannot be constructed - the mobile equivalent of a HQ from previous years. Each team starts the game with several of these.
Soldiers are all-around ranged units.
Guards are melee units equipped for anti-zombie combat.
Vipers are special units capable of infecting robots with a malignant strain of the zombie virus.
Turrets are immobile, strategic emplacements designed to reinforce an area.
Scouts are fast units that move around without obstruction.
Zombies are non-player controlled units that spawn on every map and seek out player units to destroy them. Zombie waves grow increasingly powerful as the game continues, making it difficult to hold out indefinitely.
These dens are fixed in position on the map, and spawn zombie waves periodically. They can be destroyed by player units.
During the tournament, you may hear the casters use certain terms to describe the behavior of teams' bots. Here's a quick glossary of common terms.
Infection: Zombie and Viper units will infect player robots, causing them to be replaced by Zombie units when they die.
Kiting: Using ranged units to run away from melee units, firing on them while staying out of reach.
Macro: The large-scale strategy of a team, including the movements and composition of its entire army.
Micro: The small-scale ability of a team's robots to outmaneuver the enemy.
Parts: A resource needed to build more units. Both teams start with a stockpile of it that is quickly depleted, and can be replenished slowly over time, or by moving the Archon over squares on the map that contain large amounts of parts.
Rubble: Each square of the map starts with some amount of 'rubble' on it. Rubble can slow down or stop robots from moving onto the square.
TTM: A TTM (Turret - Transport Mode) is the packed-up, mobile mode of Turrets. TTM allows Turrets to move around for redeployment elsewhere.
Turtling: A strategy that involves building a highly-centralized, well-defended mob of bots around the archons to protect them.