A compact 4X on a colorful map
TOHOTOPIA is a turn-based strategy game set in Gensokyo, built around the classic 4X loop: explore the fog of war, expand your borders, build up cities, and exterminate your rivals. You pick a faction and lead it against the other maidens of Gensokyo, with the option to ally with them or betray them when it suits you. The launch version includes four factions: the Scarlet Empire, Houraisan Empire, Moriya Empire, and Komeiji Empire. Each one has its own hero system, tech tree, and special units, so a faction swap changes how a match plays out. Matches are designed to stay short, running about 30 minutes, which keeps the late-game grind out of the picture.
Playing together online
The game supports online multiplayer for up to 4 players. You can drop into a public lobby to test your strategies against strangers, or set up a match against friends and settle it on the map. The core loop works the same either way: dispatch heroes and soldiers to scout terrain and resources, dig up treasures, capture wild villages or enemy cities to grow your borders, and improve city tiles to raise gold income. Diplomacy is a real tool in multiplayer, so vertical and horizontal alliances, backstabs, and shifting deals are all on the table. Training an army and taking every opponent city is how you knock someone out of the game.
Before you start
TOHOTOPIA is in Early Access, and the current build ships with a basic achievement system and match history, with a richer achievement system planned for the full release. Free updates have already added the Myouren Empire as a new faction, plus city-states and neutral heroes. Each faction carries its own BGM, and the map uses a GIS feature that attaches real-world geographical descriptions to land, mountains, seas, and ports. The crossover premise runs through everything: Touhou characters are paired with historical figures, from Remilia as a Pharaoh to Kaguya as an Emperor, so expect the historical flavor to sit alongside the anime one.