How to Play Oasis

Technology

There are eleven technology advances you can develop:

Bows and Crossbows increase your soldiers’ chances of damaging the barbarians each round of combat.
Helmets and Armor protect your soldiers by deflecting a blow that would otherwise be fatal.
Catapults and Ballistae inflict large amounts of damage on the barbarians, but only fire every few seconds. They never miss.
Spikes automatically defeat 10 barbarians as they approach a city. Traps defeat another 20.
Pikes allow you to train new soldiers quickly. At the start of each battle, 20 new soldiers are added to your city, potentially exceeding your city’s maximum population.
Maps reveal 5 "interesting" squares on the map, as if you had spent 5 turns clicking on those squares.
Scarab Power Orbs give you 100 points of Scarab Power. This is the last technology, and it can be earned multiple times.

Mining and the Technology Bar

The Technology Bar at the bottom of the screen shows your miners' progress towards the next technology.

Blue miners dig through rubble towards the next technology advance, shown at the right end of the tunnel. Each blue miner represents 10 followers that have been spent on mining.
In addition to the blue miners, there are also yellow Foremen. Each mine has one foreman, who joins you when you add followers to that mine. One foreman performs the mining labor of 10 followers, so putting miners in as many mines as possible will increase your technology.
Solid Rock shows where your miners will reach by the time the level ends. If the next technology is encased in solid rock, your miners will not reach it by the end of the level.
At the top of the Technology Bar, stone carets mark of how much progress your miners will make each turn. You can use this information to help plan your mining.
At the end of the level, your miners will continue to dig while you gather your troops. They perform one turn of mining every two seconds, on the "odd-numbered" ticks.

Multiple Barbarian Hordes

Late in the game, you may begin to encounter levels with more than one barbarian horde.

When there are multiple hordes, the hordes will attack one after another. There is only one horde attacking at a time.
The hordes may emerge from different points on the edge of the map. When this happens, there will be more than one cairn.
In the case where there are multiple cairns, there will be a number on each cairn. The numbers on the cairns indicate the order in which the barbarians will attack.
If you see a cairn with no number, it means that it is the only one.
If you have the General, he will grant you an additional opportunity to move your troops around before the next horde arrives. He only does this if you have discovered the cairn that marks the horde’s entry point.

The Spoils of Battle

If the barbarians defeat one of your cities, they will sack the city and gain a damage bonus, much like the damage bonus your cities can gain from treasures. The first time they sack a city, they get a +1 bonus, each time after that they gain +2. Likewise, whenever one of your cities defeats a barbarian horde, it gains a +1 bonus.