Lion Game

Lion Game is a family-friendly savanna strategy game where you lead a lion pride across a hex map for one year of 40 days. Each day you choose one action for the pride, and hunts happen off screen as a dust cloud. Play Lion Game online free in your browser, with mouse, keyboard or touch.

How to play

Your pride starts at a rocky den with one male, three lionesses, two cubs and three hexes of gold-outlined land. Two rival prides hold the red and purple corners. Each turn is one day:

• Move: tap or click a neighboring hex. You cannot walk onto rival land.
• Hunt: the lionesses go out together. A successful hunt finds dinner worth 4 food plus 2 for each lioness (up to five). More lionesses and more prey nearby raise the odds.
• Drink: on a water hole, refill water to full.
• Rest: cubs get an extra growth point. Under an acacia or at the den it also saves one water.
• Mark: claim the neutral hex you stand on if it touches your land.
• Roar: next to rival land, challenge for one of its hexes.
• Cubs play: two extra growth points for the cubs.

Food, water and strength

At the end of every day the pride eats and drinks. Food per day is half the adults plus a third of the cubs, rounded up, shown in the top bar. The pride drinks one water a day in the wet season and two in the dry season. If there is not enough food, or not enough water, the pride loses 2 strength for each. A day with enough of both gives back 1 strength, up to 10. When strength reaches zero, the pride scatters and the game is over.

The year starts with ten wet days, then ten dry days, then the rains return, then a final dry season. In dry spells water holes shrink, and drinking lowers them further, so watch each hole’s level. Dry-season prey gathers near holes that still hold water.

Cubs and a growing pride

Cubs grow one point every day the pride is fed, plus bonuses for play and rest. At 12 points a cub grows up: young females become lionesses who join the hunts, and young males join the pride’s males. On days 9, 19 and 29 a lioness may return from a hidden den with one to three new cubs, but only if the pride’s strength is at least 6.

Roar contests and territory

Rival prides regularly roar at your border hexes. A roar contest has five beats: a yellow ring shrinks toward a white circle, and you roar (tap, click, Space or Enter) when it lands. On the beat scores 3, close scores 2, and a miss or an early roar scores 0. Each adult male adds 1 bonus point, up to 2. Match or beat the rival’s roar to keep the hex; lose and they take it. When you attack, winning takes the rival hex, and losing costs 1 strength. A rival with no border to you marks a neutral hex instead. Your den can never be taken.

Difficulty and winning

Reach the goal for pride size and land by the end of day 40 to win.

• Easy: pride 7 and 6 hexes, a wide timing window, quiet rivals and a challenge every 8 days.
• Normal: pride 9 and 6 hexes, louder rivals and a challenge every 6 days.
• Hard: pride 10 and 6 hexes, a tight timing window, loud rivals, less hunting luck and a challenge every 5 days.

Score is 100 per lion, 50 per hex and 20 per strength point, plus 500 for a win. Best scores, wins and your current game are saved in your browser.

Tips

• Keep strength at 6 or more before days 9, 19 and 29 so new cubs are born.
• Before a dry season, mark land and set up near a water hole with acacia shade close by.
• Hunt when food drops below two days’ worth.

Real lion facts

Facts under the map come from the Wikipedia article on lions: lionesses usually hunt together, lions are inactive for about 20 hours a day, and a roar can be heard up to 8 km (5 mi) away. The day counts, food and growth numbers are game rules, not real statistics.

FAQ

Is there any violence in Lion Game?

No. Hunts resolve off screen as a dust cloud and a “dinner found” message, and roar contests are only about who roars better.

Can I pause?

The game waits for you between days. During a roar contest, press P or Esc to pause.

Like strategy on a hex board? Try Hex, or take a break with the classic Dino Run.