You're playing on a torus, not a square. The top edge connects to the bottom, and the left edge connects to the right — so lines can form through the edges, and there are no corners to hide in. This is the game's core twist.
Outscore the AI over 30 moves. Each core on the board is worth 2 points; chain reactions score much more.
Click any empty cell to place your core. Every placement pushes the AI's last-placed core one step: along the diagonal if you're on a shared diagonal line, otherwise along whichever axis points more directly from you to the target. Push a core into a drifting void and it's consumed.
Supernova — align 3 of your cores in any direction (wrap counts). +15, destroys 1 nearest enemy, those 3 cores ignite red-hot and scatter randomly across the board.
Quasar — once you have 3+ ignited cores anywhere on the board, your next cold 3-in-a-row detonates as a quasar. +30, destroys 2 nearest enemies, those cores ignite and scatter.
Singularity — when completing a line would bring your ignited total to 9+, spacetime collapses: +50, every enemy core is erased.
Three black holes drift around the board. If one lands on a core, that core is consumed. Plan around their movement — and push enemies into them when you can.
Empty cells that glow mark where placing a core would detonate a chain: red for supernova, purple when quasar is armed, white for singularity. The board tells you where to strike.