Training Yard and the Daily Challenge
Updated September 28, 2026. Figures come from the live game.
The short answer
The Training Yard gives three paid runs per mini-game per day, paying up to 20 + 3 × your level in materials. The Daily Challenge is the same level-25 puzzle for everyone, once per game per day, and the top ten win 20 to 5 gold. Get passed and you earn one revenge run. Every village can play it from day one; it needs no strength and has no Trial.
Paid practice
| Game | Pays |
|---|---|
| Rivets | Scrap and timber |
| Pipeworks | Biomass and serum |
| Serum Shot | Serum and biomass |
| Serum Sort | Serum and scrap |
| Gate Jam | Timber and scrap |
| Ruin Survey | Timber and biomass |
Each paid run pays up to 20 + 3 × your skill level, scaled by your score, grown with your village's output as it rises past a new village's (never below that) and clamped to your storage. Unpaid runs still count for personal bests and skill. Practice Tickets (5 gold) add three paid runs in every game for the day. Open the Yard from the Train button on the village.
Every completed challenge also earns a decoy for your defense, up to half your horde; in the Yard only paid runs earn one. A new village starts earning them once Decoys unlock at strength 360. See the defense guide for how decoys fight.
Skill runs from 1 to 30 in each game, and each card shows Level 13 / 30 with a bar. An S raises it by one; a near-perfect S raises it by two or three (960 or 990 in Rivets and Serum Shot, a flawless puzzle for two and a flawless puzzle in half the par time for three). Two fails in a row lower it by one. Three S grades in a row earn a free skip-ahead test five levels up: an S there moves you straight to that level, anything else changes nothing, and it costs no paid run. Reach level 30 and the card shows Master, the leaderboard marks your village, and you earn that game's Master achievement in Game Center. The Daily Challenge stays one puzzle at level 30 for everyone.
The Daily Challenge
Everyone plays the same level-25 puzzle. One free attempt per game per day; another costs 50 gold, and your best run counts.
At midnight UTC the top ten in each game get 20, 15, 10, 8, 6, 5, 5, 5, 5 and 5 gold, and the winner makes the realm news.
Revenge
When someone's Daily Challenge run passes your score, you get a push and one revenge run for that game. It's a fresh puzzle at the same difficulty as the daily, so scores sit on the same scale, and you get one try.
Beat the score that passed you and your board score becomes the better of your two runs, a Revenge mark appears next to your name, you earn 5 extra gold at midnight UTC, and your rival hears about it. Fall short and your first score stands. If more than one player passes you before you use it, the target moves up to the best of them.
IQ: why playing keeps paying
Your skill in the six mini-games adds up to your village's IQ (at most 180). IQ makes your zombies up to 15 % tougher and harder-hitting, when you attack and when you defend.
A game you haven't played for a while loses 1 % of its freshness each extra day, after your grace days. One run that isn't a Fail brings it back, whether it is an order, practice, the Daily Challenge, a skip-ahead test or a Trial. Skill levels never drop from being away, and a Brain Vat adds a grace day per level.
Questions players ask
How many times can I play the Daily Challenge?
Once per game per day, in each of the six games: Rivets, Pipeworks, Serum Shot, Serum Sort, Gate Jam and Ruin Survey. When someone passes your score you also get one revenge run in that game.
What is a Daily Challenge revenge?
When another player passes your daily score, you get one revenge run in that game: a fresh puzzle at the same difficulty, one try. Beat their score to take your place back and earn 5 extra gold at the close.
Is the Training Yard worth it?
Yes, especially when you've run dry: three paid runs per game are the one thing a dry village can still do, and they raise your skill level for real orders.
What is IQ and how do I keep it up?
IQ is the sum of your skill in the six mini-games, each faded by 1 % for every day it goes unplayed past your grace days, up to 180. Play each game now and then; any run that isn't a Fail restores it.