Tentlan: the complete guide hub

Most pages about Tentlan copy the same paragraph from the store page and stop there. This one goes further. Every number below comes from the official Tentlan FAQ, the developers' battle system guide or the official news posts on forums.tentlan.com. When we could not verify something, we left it out. If you just want to start, jump to the beginner guide.

Tentlan Official Gameplay Trailer (Lionmoon)

Who makes Tentlan, and is it still alive?

Tentlan is owned and operated by Lionmoon UG (haftungsbeschraenkt), an independent, self funded studio in Speyer, Germany. Lionmoon is both developer and publisher on Steam, and the copyright line on tentlan.com runs from 2012 to 2026. Some listing sites still call it an Aztec game; the official site and the Steam page describe a Maya setting, while place names on the servers mix Maya and Aztec sites (Tikal, Uxmal, Chichen Itza, Tenochtitlan).

The game is old but not abandoned. In the last two years the team has:

• opened new English server Chalma (EN41) on 13 December 2024,
• released an official mobile app for Android and iOS in December 2025, with redesigned graphics and new music,
• run server mergers in April 2025 and July 2026, which pull small worlds together so the map stays busy,
• kept the yearly Christmas truce, when attacks and espionage are switched off on all servers.

How Tentlan plays: the short version

Tentlan is a classic browser empire builder in the Travian and Grepolis tradition, with a few ideas of its own. You place production orders, upgrade buildings, research technologies, recruit an army and send it across a shared world map. Everything runs in real time, so a long upgrade keeps ticking while you are offline.

Three things make it different from other games of the genre:

• Production is manual. Your farm, quarry, mine and plantation do nothing until you start an order of 10 minutes, 1, 4 or 8 hours. The upside: resources you have not collected yet cannot be stolen.
• You control the seasons. Dances in the Moon Temple switch your city to another season. Winter cuts building time by 20 percent, summer cuts research time by 20 percent. Each season also has penalties.
• Fights are a formula, not a dice roll. The developers published the full battle system. Support units such as shamans and quipucamayocs change the outcome as much as raw strength. Our units and combat guide explains it in plain words.

Resources at a glance

The official score rules show how the game itself values resources: 1,000 limestone, 715 obsidian, 500 cacao or 25,000 corn spent are each worth one point. Cacao is the scarce one, corn the bulk one. The full economy, including why you must always have corn when you start an order, is in the buildings and economy guide.

Buildings and research in one minute

The Sun Temple is the heart of the city and sets your maximum population. The four resource buildings feed everything else. The Jaguar Temple recruits units, the Observatory runs research, the Moon Temple performs dances and feasts, and the Itzamna Temple heals damaged units after battles. Defense comes from the Wall and the Watchtower; bonus buildings such as the Temazcal (stamina), Dwarf Pyramid (strength) and Stele (luck) make every unit better. The Quetzal Palace unlocks new cities and elite units, and the Tribal Council and Tambo connect you to your tribe.

Research is account wide: Mathematics, Nature, Agriculture, Medicine, Architecture, Engineering, Diplomacy, Commerce, Pottery, Goldsmith's Art, Chronology, Astronomy, Astrology, Cosmology and Espionage. You research each one once and it counts for all your cities.

Units and fighting

The roster runs from Holcan Lancers and Bowmen through Atlatl Hunters to the elite Jaguar Warriors, Eagle Warriors, Atlants and Ek Chuahs. Next to them sit support units: spies, shamans (heal during battle), quipucamayocs (raise accuracy), poloms and pochtecas (carry 2,000 and 10,000 resources), settlers (found cities) and the event units Amazon Warrior and Nahual.

A battle lasts at most five rounds. The weakest units take damage first, the Wall has to be broken before the defenders can be hit, and after the battle 8 to 15 percent of your losses can be healed in the Itzamna Temple. Barbarian camps are the safe practice target: five raids a day, an amber stone for at least one win a day, and loot to fund your growth.

Seasons, dances and feasts

Rituals come in two types. Dances change the season of one city and last until you dance again. Feasts give a short, strong effect: the Fire Feast doubles the strength of all units from that city, the Lightning Feast doubles their speed. Both last a random 10 to 60 minutes and can be used once every two weeks, so you save them for the attack or defense that matters. Two more feasts, Kantepec (free travel, no corn cost) and Oracle (shows when players were last online), appear during crystal events.

Browser, Steam or mobile app?

The app plays on the same account as the browser: a player who tested it on the official forum noticed building names synced with their browser game. Mobile has one limit the developers confirmed: you cannot keep the activity window and the troop sending window open at the same time on a phone.

Tentlan: Mesoamerican Strategy Android gameplay (Must Have Games)

Servers, speeds and why they matter

Tentlan runs many separate worlds at once, and the one you pick shapes your game more than any build order. The official news board has announced several kinds over the years:

• Standard servers with normal settings, such as the English world Chalma (EN41), opened on 13 December 2024.
• Super speed servers, where everything runs faster.
• Pro barbarian servers, built around PvE raiding; some were announced with a 30 percent survival rate for losses.
• Peace and war servers with their own protection rules. On peace servers the 12 hour protection rule works in both directions, not only from the stronger to the weaker player.
• Merged servers (marked intm), created when old worlds are joined. They always run at economy super speed: everything is faster except travel times.

Our advice: a brand new standard or international server for your first account, because everyone around you starts on the same day. If you only have half an hour a day, a merged economy super speed world lets you see more of the game in less time, but expect neighbours with years of buildings behind them.

Is Tentlan worth playing in 2026?

Play it if you like slow, planned strategy where a good login routine beats long sessions, and if you enjoy working with a tribe. The battle system rewards people who read reports and use the simulator. Skip it if you want fast action or modern 3D graphics; the browser version still uses its 2010s art, and the new look is mainly in the mobile app.

The paid side is real but not mandatory. Turquoise buys speedups, extra queue slots, extra barbarian raids, protection items and survival items for battles. Free players get amber every day from barbarian wins and a little turquoise from quests and from confirming their email. Our tips for fast progress show how to grow quickly without paying, and the alliances and quests guide covers tribes, events and the Tzolkin wheel.

Tentlan guides

GuideTentlan beginner guide: your first weekFrom the tutorial to your first barbarian raids: what to build, what to research and the rules nobody explains.

GuideTentlan buildings and economy guideWhat each building does, which levels are worth it, how seasons change production and how to stop wasting corn.

GuideTentlan units and combat guideEvery unit and what it is for, the official battle system in plain words, and how to win fights with fewer losses.

GuideTentlan alliances, tribes and questsHow tribes and the Tambo work, how joint attacks split loot, and every quest, event and reward you can count on.

TipsTentlan tips for fast progressA daily routine and 15 practical rules for growing quickly in Tentlan, built on the official mechanics.

FAQ