Gridhammer

Forge your strategy. Shatter your rival.

GridHammer is a head-to-head tactical battler set in a world of dwarven forge masters. Two players share a 6×4 battlefield and a common forge pool of 45 metal plates. Every plate has four sides, every side carries a value from 2 to 8, and every placement is a decision — one that can cascade into a board-flipping combo chain, or leave you wide open.

Five houses of master smiths — Stillforge, Runeweaver, Embercrest, Stoneheart, and Shadowmine — each contribute nine plates to the shared pool. Both forge masters draw from it. You hold six plates and draw a fresh one after every play. The strategy isn't what you're dealt — it's where you put it.

Directional Combat

After the first plate, every plate must be placed touching one already on the board. The touching sides clash: strictly higher wins the plate and flips it to your side; a tie holds. Every house distributes its power differently: Embercrest

dominates from above, Shadowmine crushes from below, Stillforge anchors from the left, Stoneheart locks down the right, and Runeweaver stays balanced with no weakness to exploit. A humble plate in the right slot will take a mighty one in the wrong slot.

The Hammer

Every capture builds steam in your hammer's tube. Fill all eight pips and your SLAM arms. Spend your whole turn to bring the hammer down on the entire board: every plate loses a life — yours included — and every rival plate that breaks drains their vial. It captures nothing. It can end a match outright. Swing it when the wreckage falls on their side.

Forge Essence

Each forge master carries a vial of 30 Forge Essence, and it only ever drains. Every plate you capture costs your rival 1. Every plate carries three lives, and a capture that shatters one costs them 2. Empty their vial and the battle is yours — or hold the most Essence when the board fills.

Combo Chains

The five houses form a ring, each one chaining into the next. Capture a plate of the house yours chains into, and that plate strikes again from its new position — cascading captures that can turn a single placement into a sweep across the

board.

Prove Your Mastery

Forty-one Steam achievements chart the path from First Spark to Legend of the Forge — win streaks, seven-link combo chains, SLAMs that break five plates at once, flawless victories, and comebacks from the brink. Earn titles to wear into

battle, and climb the global leaderboards for plates shattered, win streaks, biggest combos, and the mightiest SLAMs.

Key Features

Online Multiplayer — Quick match against other forge masters, or invite a friend straight from Steam, with instant rematches

AI Opponents — Three difficulty levels, from Bellows Hand to Forge Tyrant, to sharpen your game

Shared Forge Pool — Every plate you play is one your rival will never draw

Combo Chains — Captures cascade across the board, flipping multiple plates in a single turn

The Hammer — A board-wide SLAM you earn through captures and choose when to unleash

Forge Essence — A 30-point vial that only drains; every capture and shatter counts

41 Steam Achievements — From your first victory to a 15-win streak and a SLAM for the final blow

Titles & Leaderboards — Earn titles to display in battle and compete on eight global leaderboards

The Anvil Codex — An illustrated in-game guide to every rule, house, and matchup

Step Into the Forge

Learn the rules in minutes with a guided first battle, study every house in the Anvil Codex, then test yourself against the AI or a rival online. Every match is decided by where you place your plates.