CONSTELLO
A simultaneous-turn abstract strategy game for 2 players.
The Game
Two players compete to build the largest connected constellation on a circular board of 27 nodes arranged in 3 concentric rings. Every turn is simultaneous: both players secretly commit their actions, then reveal together. Three action types -- Place, Capture, and Secure -- interact like a spatial Prisoner's Dilemma.
Expansion benefits you but leaves you vulnerable. Aggression punishes passive opponents, but predictable aggression gets punished hardest of all. Correctly predicting your opponent's move -- through a Perfect Block or an Intercept -- creates the biggest swings in the game.
The AI Opponent
The AI you play against was trained using Proximal Policy Optimization (PPO) through self-play. Starting from zero knowledge of the game, the agent played over 2 million training games against itself, learning to place, capture, and secure through trial and error on the full 27-node board.
The trained neural network was exported to ONNX format and runs directly in the server, making decisions in real time with no external API calls. It plays a competent but beatable game -- strong enough to teach new players the mechanics, with patterns that experienced players can learn to exploit.
Design
Constello was designed to combine the spatial depth of territorial abstract games with the hidden information and psychological tension of simultaneous play. The core mechanic -- choosing between building, attacking, or defending without knowing what your opponent chose -- means that reading your opponent matters as much as reading the board.
The game is currently in active playtesting. Every game played through this app is logged to help refine balance and depth. Your games and feedback directly shape the design.
Play Constello Unplugged
A physical edition of Constello is in development -- handcrafted board, weighted stones, the full tabletop experience. Join the waitlist to be notified when the official version is available, and to help shape the final design.
Drop your email below and you'll be added to the waitlist. No spam -- just one note when the unplugged version is ready to ship.
Feedback & Contact
Played a few games? Found something confusing, broken, or brilliant? I'd love to hear about it. Bug reports, strategy observations, and general impressions are all welcome.
Constello is an independent game design project.