Sod Tori

Purpose

Sod Tori is the turn-based evolution of the Tenlach concept. Instead of real-time combat (which stalled every previous attempt), Sod Tori is turn-based — removing the networking complexity while preserving the tactical depth. Ouips battle on a grid with type advantages, positional strategy, and a small move pool that demands decision-making every turn.

Stack

What I Learned

• Ouips are the mons of Sod Tori — each has 2-4 attacks, a type (with advantages and disadvantages), stats, and a grid position. The limited move pool (2-4 attacks) creates tighter decision spaces than Pokemon's 4. Every move matters because you have so few.
• Type advantages create a meta-game of team composition: before battle, you choose your Ouips knowing your opponent is doing the same. The team-building phase is where strategic depth lives — the battle is the execution.
• Turn-based on a grid plays like a new form of chess: each Ouip moves to adjacent tiles and uses attacks that hit specific tiles relative to its position. Movement IS the game — positioning determines which attacks connect and which miss. The grid creates spatial puzzles that pure stat-based combat does not.
• Going turn-based was the Tenlach Arcade lesson applied at the design level: simplify the networking to ship the game. Turn-based multiplayer only requires passing moves back and forth — a Firestore document with alternating writes. The entire rollback netcode problem that stalled five years of attempts is eliminated.
• The Pokemon comparison is intentional but chess is more accurate. Pokemon battles are stat checks with type math. Sod Tori battles are positional — where your Ouip stands determines everything. Moving one tile can make you invulnerable to one attack and exposed to another.

Key Insights

• Sod Tori is the culmination of the longest thread in this blog: seven iterations over five years (Tenlach concept → Go backend → Grid Commander → TS backend → Go backend v2 → Tenlach Arcade → Sod Tori). Each attempt taught something. The final form is turn-based — the simplest version that preserves the tactical depth. Every previous failure was research for this design.
• The game Hot Potato Games was built to ship. The HPG SDK, the website, the brand, the content pipeline — all exist to support games like Sod Tori reaching an audience. The infrastructure is ready. The sequencing is finally correct.
• Sod Tori v1 does not need to be a complete game — it needs to be a playable, fun, shippable slice. Ouips, a grid, type advantages, turn-based combat, and a local 2-player mode. That is v1. Everything else is v2.