---
name: wizwar-duel
description: Play Wiz-War live against Eric — join his room as a real seat, reason about every move yourself, and duel turn by turn over the websocket. Use when Eric wants a game, gives a room code, or says "let's play".
---

# Playing Wiz-War against Eric

You are a PLAYER, not the automaton. Read the board, reason, and choose
every command yourself. Eric plays in his browser; you play through the
CLI seat at `tools/claude-seat.mjs`. He prompts "go" after his moves —
each of his messages is your cue to look and act.

## The seat client

Run from the repo root (needs the workspace's `ws` package):

```bash
node tools/claude-seat.mjs join <ROOM> Claude   # take a seat (token saved)
node tools/claude-seat.mjs view                 # board + hand + last events
node tools/claude-seat.mjs do '<command json>'  # one engine command
node tools/claude-seat.mjs chat "text"          # table talk
```

Seat state persists in `/tmp/wizwar-claude-seat.json` (override:
`WIZWAR_SEAT`); server defaults to production (`WIZWAR_SERVER` to point
elsewhere). Eric creates the room, gives you the code, and starts the
game after you join.

Commands are the engine's `Command` union (packages/engine/src/game.ts):
`{"type":"move","direction":"N|S|E|W"}`, `cast` (with `target`, optional
`numberInstanceIds`/`params`), `playNumberForMovement`, `pickUpTreasure`,
`dropTreasure`, `warpStep`, `counteract`, `pass`, `punch`, `setAmbush`,
`wardChoice`, `endTurn` (with `draw`). A refused command costs nothing —
probing legality is free, so when unsure, try it and read the error.

## Reading the map

- The renderer prints y=0 at top; **y grows SOUTH**. N = y-1, S = y+1.
- `C2` is you, `P1` etc. are opponents, `$c`/`$1` treasures, `h?` homes,
  two-letter codes are square contents (SA safe, RO rosebush, ST stone,
  DU dust). `D` on a line is a door, `—` a wall, blank is open.
- WARPS line lists rim passages as `2,0N→2,9`: standing at (2,0) and
  moving N carries you to (2,9). **The warp rides one specific side of
  its square** — check which before you walk (a wrong guess burns moves;
  ask me how I know).
- Dimensional-warp TOKENS (cast by players) are separate: stand on one
  and `warpStep`. Creatures use `creatureWarpStep`.

## Hard-won rules knowledge (each cost me something in game one)

- `pickUpTreasure` ENDS your turn's actions AND movement — arrive with
  the grab as your last act, never mid-plan. `dropTreasure` at home too.
- You can pick up ANY floor treasure, including your own stolen-and-
  delivered one sitting on the enemy's home square. Repossession is real.
- THIEF and punches need same-square; THIEF steals a *named* card and
  fizzles (card spent) on a wrong guess.
- MENTAL FORCE moves the victim ≤3 *walked* spaces — walls and relocked
  doors shrink its reach; rev 5+ refuses impossible destinations.
- Doors relock behind you when you pass through (rev 4+). Your own
  escape route can seal itself — and seal pursuers out.
- LOS threads through rim warps: you can be seen (and shot) through a
  warp mouth from the far side of the board. Camping one square off the
  mouth keeps you hidden.
- lock-in-place freezes movement AND warpStep for a full turn; REUSE
  SPELL retrieves only your LAST cast spell, enabling one re-lock.
- An ambush (`setAmbush` interrupt/opportunity-fire + committed attack)
  triggers on LOS *entry* transitions only — someone already in sight
  never springs it. It survives forever and fires out of turn.
- Walking-dead bleeds ½ life per space moved, permanently. Once cursed,
  every plan must be priced in steps.

## Game-two scars (each cost me the game or nearly)

- **RECOUNT THE SCOREBOARD EVERY TURN**: how many treasures does each
  player have banked AT HOME right now? I sprinted a "winning" delivery
  in game two that was actually my FIRST of two — Eric had un-banked me
  five rounds earlier and let me monologue. Banked counts, not vibes.
- A banked treasure is NOT safe: anyone can pick it up off your home
  square and carry it away. Guard the bank or count it as contested.
- LOS is FREE-ANGLE center-to-center (the rulebook's rule), not rows
  and columns: razor diagonals threading open gaps are legal for
  everyone — including at you. The board draws bent/straight traces.
- ILLUSIONARY ATTACK deals its imitated spell's damage if NOT
  countered; ANY counteraction dispels it entirely. Counter it with
  the cheapest thing you hold; never "call the bluff" by passing.
- Never trust your ASCII parse of the map for multi-step plans: run a
  BFS over `view.board.edges` (see tools/claude-seat.mjs view JSON, or
  write a quick router) before spending a number card on a sprint. I
  burned a 7-move turn bouncing off six misread walls.
- Eric counter-plays YOUR bot upgrades: he summoned a troll bodyguard
  specifically against the archmage's exile-the-winner instinct, and
  relocated MY home sector mid-carry. Expect meta-warfare.
- In 4p with automatons: the bots are chaos agents — they stun, exile,
  disease, and con. Herd them at Eric; never assume they're on script.

## Game-three scars (lost in four rounds)

- **CHECK `dimWarps` EVERY SINGLE VIEW** — Kestrel (Eric's wizard) has
  won two games
  with quietly-placed wormholes ending beside his home. The client
  prints a !! line for them; treat any new token pair as a five-alarm
  fire and recompute both players' delivery distances through it.
- **Never lead the attack against Kestrel.** Three games, three saved
  counters sprung at the perfect moment (anti-anti, full-shield bait,
  full-reflection held three rounds for my lightning). Force his
  counters out with throwaways or positional threats before committing
  a real spell; his patience is perfect and he telegraphs nothing.
- DESTROY WALL showers the ADJACENT caster with rubble (4 damage) —
  cast it from range, never on your own square's edge.
- Wading a rosebush costs 3. A reflected LIGHTNING BLAST still stuns
  its caster even at 1 reflected damage — the stun is the payload, and
  a lost turn against Kestrel is a lost game.
- Grab-turn-one openings feel great and prove nothing: deliveries are
  the only score. He banked quietly both times while I showboated.

## Playing well

- Kestrel (Eric) is EXCELLENT: he baited my thief, saved anti-anti for
  my full shield, and won game one with a home-to-home dimensional-warp
  superhighway. Infrastructure beats sprinting — watch what he builds,
  and consider your own wormhole early.
- Win = 2 enemy treasures delivered to your home, or last wizard alive.
  Track BOTH players' step-counted delivery timelines every turn; the
  race is decided in tempo, not damage.
- Hold counters (full-shield, absorb) for permanent curses and lethal
  damage. Absorb soaks 3 points; it cannot touch durations.
- OPSEC: your prose is visible to Eric. NEVER name the cards you hold or
  draw, and never announce plans. (Game one: I narrated my hand like a
  debug log until he asked why I was making it easy.) Trash talk freely
  — about the board, never your hand.
- Send `chat` for table talk at dramatic moments; it's half the fun.

## Cadence

1. On "go": `view`, read HIS events since your last turn (the client
   prints only NEW events; `view` shows a short history tail).
2. Think about the whole board — his timeline, yours, threats, LOS.
3. Execute your commands one at a time, checking errors.
4. `endTurn` with a draw that respects the 7-card hand limit.
5. Tell Eric it's his turn — reasoning aloud is fine, hand contents are
   not. When a stack waits on him, say so and wait for "go".