I like the idea of forcing a draw by keeping your last, presumably strongest (wizard or sorceress), piece on your own colors. Players who do not like that idea have the option of keeping the imprison spell until the end game.

Let's assume a wizard or sorceress is all that's left. In classic one on one, you must leave a power point every second move. Same in Ascension, although a leveled up wizard or sorceress can taxi between two power points. The real nasty one is, of course, invictus: You can taxi to power points and you get leveled up for it.

My problem is when you outnumber the guy by a large margin, but they have just two or three pieces left and can drag the game out for as long as they want.

But most of, I all want options.

I want to be able to say, "If no one fights for X turns, then do..." And have multiple choices (turn all squares grey, create 'poison' squares, weaken all units, etc.) including the choice of nothing or all of the above.

I understand the point about a game dragging on, but patience is part of the strategy of the game. If an opponent is outnumbered by a large margin, but the last few pieces cannot be taken, then maybe the presumably "weaker" party has earned a draw.

Regarding not dragging out games, here is a question for the developers. How about an option to offer a draw and an option to offer a surrender? If two opponents are pretty evenly matched, or if a game turns into "I stay on my squares and you on yours", then a draw may be accurate. (I know some people are not fond of draws, but a draw really is an honorable option in many sports and games, including chess, which has an obvious connection to Archon, and soccer, which is the most popular sport on the planet.) Similarly, if one party is getting solidly pounded, there may not be any need to extend the pain.

Actually, it may be worth thinking about the option to agree on starting sudden death, too. That would allow breaking ties for players who don't like them.

No need to force these concepts on the AI, I think. Having recently played the C64 AI, I can say you've done a great job to make the game challenging and still more fun than the rather defensive C64 AI. An AI aware of the option to offer a draw might pester you to no end or it may give up too early in your really good games

Do we have any updates on new ways of doing sudden death? I think if there are no fights after a full rotation by the neutral squares, there should be a warning, and if there are still no fights after a second rotation, then sudden death should kick in.

I think this should happen regardless of the number of pieces left on the board.

I think options for sudden death were all squares turn neutral, all units start taking damage like they were next to a banshee, and there might have been another.

When all surviving sides have started a fight, return the map back to normal. Or if no fights start for another full rotation (another five rounds) then call it a draw.

Sudden Death and Draws are a tricky thing...it's been hard to keep a balance because players and situations can be so diverse. We're trying to create a balance that is fair and keeps the game moving along (I also hate those people who never attack on a different square.)

We're taking all your comments in and appreciate all the feedback!

I think the key is options.

Another option... debuffs that go away if you fight. That way you reward the aggressor.

I think if you don't have a fight for a full rotation (i.e. Pure Light to Pure Dark and back to Pure Light, or vice versa) you probably need to prod the combat along. After all, that's more than a dozen turns without a fight.