How you play
A history game that runs in real time
Most games wait for you. Slowmarch does not. When you start an episode, the clock of history starts too, and it keeps running when you close the app. You look in when you have a moment, read what happened, and give your orders before it is too late.
An hour of yours, ten minutes of history
Every episode has its own tempo. In Episode I, Toulon, an hour of your day is ten minutes of the siege, and one minute on the game clock takes six real minutes. So the twenty hours from the storm to the fall of Little Gibraltar take about five days. 13 Vendémiaire, the day Napoleon defended the Convention in Paris, takes about five and a half days. The tempo is chosen per episode so that the important moments arrive at a pace you can follow next to work, school or family.
Deadlines that matter
When an officer needs your decision, he tells you how long you have. Answer in time and the order is yours. Stay silent and history takes its own course: the choice Napoleon really made is carried out without you. Some surprises give you only one real hour. Nothing is lost when you miss a deadline, but you notice that the world did not wait.
Start now, or on the real date
You can begin an episode straight away, or schedule it on its anniversary and live the siege of Toulon on the evening of 16 December, exactly as many years later. On those nights many players start together, and you can see live how everyone chooses.
“Hear that storm, Buonaparte. Do we attack tonight, or do we wait?”General Dugommier, 18:00 · Episode I: Toulon
Questions
About time that keeps moving
How long does one episode take?
Toulon takes about five days and 13 Vendémiaire about five and a half, because an hour of your day is ten minutes of the story. Later episodes may run longer.
Do I have to keep the app open?
No. The story keeps running on the server. Turn on notifications and the characters send word when they need you.
What happens if I miss a deadline?
History decides for you: the order Napoleon really gave is carried out, and the story goes on.