EGO ARENA Game Modes

1. Style Duel (Personality Matches)

The signature game mode of EGO ARENA, where your 16 personality play style traits and dedicated Joseon musical themes come alive on the board across Stone Flick and Gomoku.

• vs Computer: Challenge any of the 16 computer play styles directly or match against a random opponent. Winning a Computer match accumulates +1 mastery for your active play style.
• Two-Player: Sit across from a friend on a single PC or mobile device, configure your respective Black and White styles, and alternate turns.

2. Classic Mode (Traditional & Skill Matches)

Focuses on core board rules, physical aiming, and strategic skill synergies without personality modifiers.

• Traditional Match: Pure board duels decided solely by standard rules, physics simulation, and reading, without special active skills.
• Skill Match (Stone Flick): Equip strategic special skills unlocked through ranking up to activate during matches.
• Board Shrinks Option (Stone Flick): Prevents excessively long matches. Starting on turn 8 and shrinking every 2 turns, the outer boundary contracts inward by one line (up to 5 lines maximum). Any stone left outside the shrinking boundary falls out of bounds.

3. Computer AI System

The computer artificial intelligence in EGO ARENA features 5 difficulty tiers and 4 distinct tactical personality models.

Five Difficulty Tiers

• Novice: Angle error ±6.0°, Power error ±15%. Designed for beginners, makes frequent casual mistakes.
• Casual: Angle error ±3.0°, Power error ±10%. Executes fundamental aiming.
• Intermediate: Angle error ±1.5°, Power error ±6%. Delivers consistent shots and utilizes the "Heavy Strike" skill.
• Advanced: Angle error ±0.8°, Power error ±3%. Performs lookahead calculations predicting opponent responses and equips the "Guardrail" skill.
• Master: Angle error ±0.3°, Power error ±1%. Delivers near-flawless precision, looking 2 moves ahead to seek multi-outs. Equips the passive skill "Brink of Defeat."

Four AI Personalities

• Aggressive: Favors high launch power to break directly through opponent lines.
• Defensive: Prioritizes friendly stone safety and distance, firmly guarding against conceded points.
• Sniper: Only strikes targets with confirmed line-of-sight angles to minimize misses.
• Gambler: Embraces friendly stone risks to boldly attempt multi-stone elimination jackpots.

4. Gomoku Match Modes (Rules & Matchups)

A pure strategic battle of wits to connect five stones on a 19×19 Go board.

• Rule Sets (Renju vs Freestyle):
  • Renju Rules (Default): Balances Black's first-player initiative by forbidding double-threes, double-fours, and overlines for Black (exact 5 stones required to win), while granting White total freedom and overline victories.
  • Freestyle Rules: An open, intuitive rule set without forbidden moves; any line of 5 or more stones wins immediately for both players.
• Time Limit: Choose Off (default), 30 or 60 seconds per move. A third timeout loses the game, and with music off a ticking sound plays in the last 10 seconds.
• Match Formats:
  • vs Computer: Play against AI across 5 difficulty tiers (Novice, Casual, Intermediate, Advanced, Master) and 16 distinct Joseon personality play styles. Choose Black (first), White (second), or Random, with up to 3 undoes per game. Post-game analysis provides "This match you played like {type}" evaluations.
  • Two-Player: Local two-player matches on a single PC or mobile device, selecting Black and White play styles and alternating stone placements.
  • Online Status: Online play is not currently offered for either Stone Flick or Gomoku; games are available in vs Computer and local Two-Player modes.

5. Challenges (Survival & Daily Challenge)

Special solo challenge modes designed for single-player mastery (does not alter rating points).

• Survival Mode: Start with just 1 friendly stone against progressively growing enemy waves, from Stage 1 (1 enemy) up to Stage 10 (10 enemies). If your stone falls off the board even once, the run ends immediately, saving your highest stage and total knockouts.
• Daily Challenge: A 2-shot puzzle resetting every day at 00:00 KST. Eliminate both opponent stones within exactly 2 shots. Every layout is engine-verified with a guaranteed 2-shot solution, with unlimited retries until solved.

6. 28 Kyu Ranks and Skill Unlocks (Stone Flick)

A competitive ranking progression based on the Elo rating system (K=40) starting at 600 points (18 kyu), promoting every 50 points.

• Rank Hierarchy: Spans 18 kyu to 1 kyu (18 ranks), 1 dan to 9 dan (9 ranks), culminating at Master rank (28 total ranks).
• Skill Slots and Cost Limits:
  • Below 10 kyu: 1 skill slot
  • 10 kyu to below 1 dan: 2 skill slots
  • 1 dan and above: 3 skill slots
  • The total cost of equipped skills cannot exceed 3 points.

Nine Special Skills

Aim Trajectory (Unlocked at 18 kyu, Cost 1, Active)

Previews the anticipated launch trajectory up to the first collision as a dotted line (unlimited uses).

Heavy Strike (Unlocked at 15 kyu, Cost 2, Active)

Amplifies launch power by 1.5× for a thunderous rush.

Counterweight (Unlocked at 10 kyu, Cost 2, Active)

Doubles the mass of one friendly stone during the opponent's turn to resist knockback.

Curve Shot (Unlocked at 10 kyu, Cost 2, Active)

Adds left or right spin to curve around obstacles in a parabolic trajectory.

Guardrail (Unlocked at 5 kyu, Cost 2, Active)

Installs a protective fence on one board edge during this shot that bounces only friendly stones.

Ice Board (Unlocked at 5 kyu, Cost 2, Active)

Halves floor friction during the opponent's next turn to disrupt distance control.

Whispered Counsel (Unlocked at 1 dan, Cost 3, Active)

Gently shifts one friendly stone to a safe vacant spot within a 2-square radius before launching.

Brink of Defeat (Unlocked at 1 dan, Cost 3, Passive)

Miraculously catches a friendly stone teetering off the brink once per game (triggers automatically).

Split Shot (Unlocked at 5 dan, Cost 3, Casual only)

Splits your stone into two projectile stones upon first impact (available only in casual match settings).

7. Achievements and Titles (7 Types)

Achieve notable milestones during duels to unlock achievements and honorary titles:

• First Multi-Out: Knock out 3+ opponent stones in one shot (Title: "God of Multi-Out")
• Shutout: Win without losing a single friendly stone (Title: "Flawless Guardian")
• Dramatic Turnaround: Comeback win from 1 friendly vs 3+ opponent stones (Title: "Phoenix")
• 100 Kkwaeks: Record 100 cumulative Kkwaek self-outs (Title: "Kkwaek Master")
• Nongae: First sacrifice play taking down opponent stones with your own (Title: "Nongae")
• Master Slayer: Defeat the highest AI difficulty 'Master' (Title: "Master Slayer")
• 10 Ddeoks: Experience 10 cumulative stuck stone encounters (Title: "Ddeok Artisan")

8. Background Music Rules

All music in EGO ARENA features 16 original instrumental tracks composed and produced specifically for the game.

• Style introduction pages and Style Cards play each character's unique theme.
• Match 1 plays your play style track (first player's track in Two-Player mode), subsequent matches play the previous winner's track; vs Computer continues playing against the same computer play style track.
• Toggle audio anytime via the top bar music button, with preferences saved in your browser.