The Horde

About The Horde

The player controls a servant boy, Chauncey, who was raised by a herd of wild cows. In a fortunate mishap, Chauncey prevents Winthrop the Good, King of Franzpowanki, from choking on his meal and is rewarded with a plot of land upon which he may build a self-sustaining town. However, the land is under constant attack by "The Horde". The Horde consists of a number of destructive and hungry red monsters referred to individually as Hordlings.

The Horde has elements of hack and slash, city building, and real-time strategy. It is played in alternating timed phases. Each season begins with a "build" phase in which the player develops a town with the resources at Chauncey's disposal. This includes constructing walls, setting traps, chopping down trees, and landscaping. Buildings, roads, crops, and residents are all added to the town automatically between seasons. The player is given only two minutes for each build phase.

Then comes the "action" phase, where the player must defend the town from an onslaught of Hordlings with a huge sword, Grimthwacker, and various magical items. These items are powered by Chauncey's ATM ("Automated Transfer of Mana") card, which converts gold into usable magical energy. Hordlings occasionally drop money when defeated, which may be retrieved and used, but the main sources of income are cows and crops, which are also sought by the Hordlings. If Chauncey runs out of hit points or all of the town's people are eaten by Hordlings, the game ends.

At the end of the action phase, the season has ended and the player receives a report on how well the town has been managed. The player turns a profit by protecting the town's resources. At the end of Summer seasons, the player may receive a message through a crystal ball from King Winthrop the Good, Kronus Maelor (the "Evil High Chancellor"), or the FNN ("Franzpowanki News Network"). With the exception of certain comic relief messages, these can have a direct influence on every aspect of the game.