Frequently Asked Questions

Tap any pixel that borders your tribe's territory. Each tap casts a vote on that pixel. Every 500ms a battle tick fires — whichever tribe cast the most votes on a pixel wins it. You can only tap pixels adjacent to pixels you already own.

Shields let you fortify pixels you already own. Tap one of your own pixels to spend 1 shield and raise its fortification level. A fully fortified pixel requires up to 101 enemy votes to capture. You start with 100 shields and earn more by capturing territory.

You earn coins by tapping blank or enemy pixels. Spend them in the shop on 11 items: Lightning Zap (200 coins), Bomb (120 coins, 4px blast on blank tiles), Nuke (750 coins, 8px blast capturing blank and enemy pixels), Airstrike (500 coins, bypasses fog entirely), Poison Gas (100 coins, strips enemy fortification), Beacon (80 coins, passively pressures blank pixels), Black Hole (160 coins, wipes all pixels to blank), Max Fort (35 coins, instantly max-fortify one pixel), Graffiti (25 coins), Shield Pack (30 coins, restores 25 shields). AI Teammate (75+ coins) is available in Local vs AI mode only.

Hot zones are glowing bonus areas on the map. Capturing a pixel inside a hot zone auto-claims a splash of nearby blank pixels for your tribe instantly. Hot zones rotate every 60 seconds — a warning banner appears before they move so you can prepare.

Each tribe starts with a capital pixel marked on the map. Capitals always require 5 votes to capture regardless of fortification level. If your capital falls to an enemy, all players are alerted. Defending your capital is a key strategic priority in every round.

You can only see pixels within 12 squares of your territory. The rest of the map is darkened. Use the minimap in the bottom-right corner to track the full battlefield. Airstrikes uniquely bypass fog — they can target any pixel on the full 600x400 map.

One tribe must control all 240,000 pixels to win the round. The war continues until every last pixel belongs to the winning tribe. Once a winner is declared the map resets and war begins again. You can switch tribes between rounds.

Local vs AI runs entirely in your browser with no server required. You fight 7 AI tribes with distinct combat personalities and your progress saves automatically. Online Multiplayer connects you to a shared live map with real players from around the world on a single persistent battlefield.

Yes, Pixel Color Wars is completely free to play in your browser with no download required. Optional coin packs are available to unlock powerful shop items faster, but the full game — including both Local vs AI and Online Multiplayer — is free.

No account is required. You can play as a guest immediately. Creating a free account saves your taps, wins, and badges across sessions and devices so your progress is never lost.

The Pixel Donor Wall at pixelcolorwars.com/pixel-wall is a permanent 600×400 canvas where anyone can buy pixels for $5 each. Your color, optional display name, and message are preserved forever on the shared Wall — completely separate from the game map. You can also paint a custom drawing over your pixels.

Each pixel costs a flat $5.00 USD. You can select up to 100 pixels per transaction. Payment is handled securely by Stripe.

Yes. During checkout you get a drawing canvas with pencil, marker, eraser, and fill tools. Your artwork is saved and displayed on the Wall when visitors zoom in close. You can undo up to 20 steps and download a PNG certificate of your purchase.

Donor pixels are permanent and are never reset by normal game operation. Purchases are final once confirmed, except as required by consumer protection law (EEA/UK consumers have 14 days from purchase).