What is PathWars?

PathWars is a free 1v1 strategy game you play straight in the browser — the classic Quoridor, online. Get your pawn to the far side of the 9×9 board before your opponent does, and use your ten walls to make their path longer. A wall cannot be jumped, only walked around, and you may never block someone off completely. Play against real people, against a friend by room code, or against the AI. No download and no signup.

How a match works

Each turn you do exactly one thing: step your pawn to a neighbouring square (up, down, left or right) or place one wall. When two pawns stand face to face you may jump over the opponent — if a wall or the edge sits right behind them, the jump goes diagonally instead. Walls are limited: ten per player in Duel, more in Race, seven in the four-player game. Once they run out, only moves are left.

The one rule that shapes everything: you may never leave an opponent with no route to their goal. The game simply refuses such a wall. So every wall is a detour, never a lock — the skill is in forcing long detours cheaply while keeping your own road short.

Three tables

• Duel 9×9 — the classic board. Two players start on opposite sides with 10 walls each and race to the far edge.
• Race 9×13 — a longer board where both start at the bottom and run the same way, shoulder to shoulder, with 10 or 15 walls. Blocking is easier, games are sharper.
• Four at a table 11×11 — four players, one on each side, racing for the single golden cell in the centre. First there wins; the other three lose.

A match takes two to five minutes. A move may take at most 30 seconds; the whole game is played with no limit, 3 minutes or 5 minutes on the clock, chosen when the room is created. Full turn-by-turn rules, jumps over two pawns, timeouts and scoring are written out in the Rules.

Who you play against

• Real people. Quick match finds an opponent in seconds, day and night, from dozens of countries.
• A friend. Create a room, get a short code, send the link — your friend enters the code and sits at the same board, wherever you both are.
• The computer. Four levels from “first games” to “no mercy”. A good place to learn before facing people. Practice and friend games never touch your rating.

Points, ranks and streaks

Wins in public rooms earn points: 25 for a win, 40 if the opponent outranked you; losses cost 10, or 20 if they were below you. Rating never falls below zero. Points build your rank: Rookie → Student → Strategist → Wall Master → Pro → Legend → GOAT. Play at least one game against a real person every day and your daily streak flame grows — miss a day and it breaks, with one week to win it back.

Short games under six moves score nothing, rematch farming fades from the fourth game, and daily earnings slow past 1500 points — that is how the ladder stays honest. The best players stand on the leaderboard and reviews screen inside the game.

Account, install, languages

No account is needed: tap Quick match and a nickname is assigned automatically. Registering only moves your points, rank and streak off this browser so they survive a cleared cache or a new phone. Installing works the same way: on Android tap Install when the banner appears, on iPhone use Share → Add to Home Screen in Safari. The game speaks six languages — English, Русский, فارسی, Türkçe, Français, Español — switchable with one tap on the globe.

About PathWars · How to Play · Rules · FAQ · Strategies · Player reviews · Contact