Anki Realm Battle (in beta)

Competitive Gamification for Spaced Repetition

Developed by ger1atric

Anki Realm Battle is a comprehensive gamification add-on that integrates a multiplayer strategy layer directly into Anki. Designed to improve study consistency and engagement, it converts your daily review metrics into resources for an asynchronous strategy game.

Users compete against other learners globally on procedurally generated maps. The objective is to balance study volume (to earn resources) with strategic movement to locate and secure objectives before opponents do.

📸 Dashboard & Connectivity

The add-on features a streamlined lobby system that connects you with other active users. It tracks your win/loss statistics and allows you to categorize your profile based on your field of study. Matches are asynchronous, allowing you to make moves at your own pace without requiring opponents to be online simultaneously.

🌟 Key Mechanics

• Resource Economy: Correct answers generate Realm Coins. This currency is required for all actions, creating a direct link between study effort and gameplay progression.
• Procedural Maps: Matches occur on unique hexagonal grids featuring diverse biomes. Because the terrain layout changes every match, players cannot rely on rote patterns and must adapt their strategy for every session.
• Study Incentives: Environmental hazards create "Study Debt," a mechanic that pauses movement until a specific number of reviews are completed. This simulates overcoming an obstacle through sheer study volume.
• Strategic Objectives: Victory is not achieved in a straight line. The artifact that marks the endpoint of the game is initially sealed; players must first scout the map to locate a Hidden Key to unlock it. This mechanic was included to reduce the chance that a lucky run results a rapid game and prevents rushing. It forces a balance between speed and exploration of the map.

🎮 Workflow Integration

1. The Review Interface

The add-on runs unobtrusively within the standard Anki Reviewer. A minimal overlay tracks your current resources and active status effects in real-time, ensuring gameplay does not distract from the content being studied.

2. Map Exploration

Players navigate a Fog of War system to locate Hidden Keys and the Golden Artifact. You must make strategic decisions on pathing: do you take the safe, long route through the plains, or the dangerous shortcut through the mountains?

3. Hazards & Challenges

Traversing dangerous biomes carries risk. Triggering a hazard inflicts a status effect that locks your movement, requiring you to perform a focused review session to clear the debt. A few of the hazards and barriers are shown below.

Sandstorms obscure the map, requiring reviews to restore complete vision.

Volcanic tiles cause you to overheat. Do reviews to cool down.

Unstable terrain can cause rockslides, trapping you until you perform a series of high quality reviews.

🛒 Strategic Items

An in-game marketplace allows users to spend earned coins on utility items. These tools add a layer of strategy beyond simple movement speed.

• Radar: Reveals the opponent's relative position.
• Recall: Rapidly return to the center of the map if you discover you went the wrong way.
• Traps: Place obstacles that increase the review requirement for opponents.
• Wagers: Bet on your own retention accuracy to earn resource bonuses.

🚧 Development Status

Note: This add-on is currently in Active Beta stage. Features, balancing, and mechanics are subject to change as I refine the experience. In addition, due to the multiplayer nature of this addon, some updates to the addon will require modifications to the server that I am running the game off of. If these are required, some active games could be interrupted. I apologize in advance if your game is cut-off if changes to the server are necessary!

I am actively seeking community feedback to improve the game loop and stability. If you encounter bugs or have suggestions for new features, please leave a comment or report them on GitHub.

Changenotes

12-31-25:

• Added settings section in game (bottom bar) where you can change the positioning of the review screen coin HUD (or remove it entirely).
• Zoom functionality added to the map for greater readability.
• Icons added to the field guide for better clarity in tile special effects.
• Added tutorial page to settings popup for review of objectives.

01-03-26:

• New Powerup (Emergency Supplies):Use your coins to get out of a forced review session from a hazard like a rockslide or sandstorm. The goal is to add a coin sink to prevent excessive coin buildup.
• New Powerup (Omni Lens): Buy a permanent powerup that increases your vision by 1 for the rest of the match!
• Balance changes to coin costs and reviews necessary to unlock an archive
• Fixes to undo card cheating
• Matchmaking bug-fixes
• "What's new" popup after updates.
• Other general bugfixes

01-07-26:

• Reviews done on mobile should sync to desktop game
• Rebalanced freeze hazard so reviews <8s are now counted towards thawing.

01-19-26:

• Leaderboard: See the top players ranked by wins from the lobby
• Queue Notifications: Get notified when a match is found while studying
• Dashboard Queue Status: See your queue status on the main Anki screen
• Shield Powerup: Buy a shield to protect yourself from environmental hazards.
• Rockslide Fix: Getting new cards wrong no longer causes rocks to slide back
• Bog Fix: Fixed a bug where bog tiles would not properly trigger the "bog" effect
• Archive Fix: Fixed a bug where reviews done on mobile would not properly reveal key/artifact
• Opponent Stats: See your opponent's win/loss record in the battle HUD

Planned Changes:

• Coin rebalancing based on differing review amounts for different Anki users (this could be in the form of pairing players who do similar numbers of daily reviews or calculating coin income based on total reviews due that day).
• Fixes to trap system bugginess
• Additional upgrades like shield (prevents negative side effects), and additional player tracking stats. These will be "upgrades" of existing powerups--the shield a powerup of the emergency kit and the tracking an upgrade of the radar.
• Leaderboard System (will likely require server reset)