What is it?
Sandfront is a sci-fi real-time strategy game in the Command & Conquer tradition, with three factions. The Coalition and the Desert Nomads build power and refineries, let harvesters bring in crystal, then raise barracks and factories; the Swarm needs no power, roots absorption nests on crystal fields and hatches every unit from its Hive.
Destroy every enemy building to win, or pick a short game decided on points after 6 minutes. 1v1 or 2v2.
Sandfront borrows from games like Command and Conquer and StarCraft but drops the chores: supply is fixed at 200 with no depots, and new harvesters find crystal on their own. Practice 1v1 or 2v2 against Easy, Normal or Hard computers, then rewatch online matches with rewind. It is a free RTS that runs in a browser tab.
Sandfront is a browser RTS that borrows specific mechanics from three classics: sidebar production, a power grid, regrowing crystal and engineer captures from Command & Conquer; refinery harvesters and a sandworm from Dune 2000; asymmetric factions, high ground, cloaking and control groups from StarCraft. It drops the chores: supply is fixed at 200 with no depots, selection is unlimited, and new harvesters find crystal themselves.
The economies differ. The Coalition Expedition and Desert Nomads need power, and their harvesters carry 700 and 550 crystal per trip. The Swarm has neither: an Absorption Nest beside any crystal field you can currently see draws 6 crystal a second, and the Hive trains every unit type.
1v1 maps are 96×96 tiles and point-symmetric; 2v2 maps are 128×128 with four identical corners. Main bases sit on cliff-ringed plateaus with two ramps, invisible from low ground, though any unit that fires is exposed to its target for 2 seconds.
Gameplay video and screens
How to play
- Click your power building in the build panel on the right (Fusion Reactor for the Coalition, Solar Collector for the Nomads). When its card says ready, click the card, then click rock next to your base to place it. The Swarm needs no power.
- Place a refinery (a Refinery Tent for the Nomads): a harvester comes with it and mines crystal (your money) on its own. The Swarm has no harvesters; it roots Absorption Nests beside crystal fields instead.
- Build barracks or a factory (the Swarm hatches every unit from its Hive) and click unit cards to train them. Shift-click trains five.
- Drag a box to select units and right-click to move or attack. Press A, then click the ground to attack-move.
- Destroy all enemy buildings to win. Low power halves production and defense speed.
Modes
- Tutorial
- About five minutes in 11 steps, as the Coalition: place three buildings, train and move five infantry, then lead four Walker Tanks against an outpost. Steps advance when you act; there is no worm.
- Play against the computer
- 1 vs 1, or 2 vs 2 with a computer ally, at Easy, Normal or Hard. It runs in your browser, can be paused, and shows a seven-step objectives card from your first building to the enemy base destroyed.
- Short match
- A Duration option for practice and rooms: starting buildings, 8,000 crystal, 1.5× production, no superweapons, the worm at 1:30, and a score decision at 6:00.
- Watch
- Computers fight at ×1–×8 without fog while the camera follows the action.
- Quick match (ranked)
- Instant 1v1 under standard rules against whoever is waiting. Elo ratings start at 1000.
- 1 vs 1 room · 2 vs 2 room
- Private rooms with a 4-character code and invite link. In 2v2, computers fill empty seats when the host starts, and teammates share vision.
- Watch · Replays
- Live matches 30 seconds behind, plus replays of online matches and saved practice files at ×1–×16 with rewind.
Good to know
- New? Start with the 5-minute tutorial; it points at each thing to click.
- From 2:30 (1:30 in a short game) the sandworm hunts anything moving on sand, plus harvesters while they mine. Rock is safe, and it ignores aircraft, burrowed units and Desert Nomad infantry.
- In a short game (6 min), the side that has grown its building/unit value plus crystal the most since the start wins at time. In 2v2, teammates share vision.
- In fullscreen, Esc cancels targeting; hold Esc to leave fullscreen. Leave the game with the Exit button on the right (Shift+Esc); during a match it moves into the ⋯ menu in the top bar.
At a glance
- Genre
- Strategy
- Players
- 1–4
- Price
- Free
- Available languages
- Korean · English · Japanese · Chinese · Spanish
- Platform
- Web browser (no install)
Further reading
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