***Correction: In this article, The Daily incorrectly stated that there were three founders of Space Capsule Games. The fourth founder was Hugo Van Vuuren, who also attended Harvard.***

As hundreds of troops do battle across the campus, invading and occupying dorms, key landmarks and even golf courses, the question gripping many concerned students is: why won’t my map refresh faster?

Since Sunday, many students across campus have been playing Stanford Turf, an Internet-based game created by Space Capsule Games. Students can track progress and log in at StanfordTurf.com.

The game plays much like the classic board game Risk. It divides the campus into territories, assigns colors to teams and asks them to do battle by moving their troops to attack and defend. Each additional player for a team contributes troops to its total, and bonuses for good combat or control of “continents” can bring even more soldiers to the ranks. Teams have taken to appointing war commanders to organize their strategic operations, which can involve close to 300 students fighting under one banner.

As of Thursday, team Roble/Lag has pulled ahead, boasting twice as many territories and troops as its nearest competitor, Branner/Toyon. But with teams representing

Sterling/GovCo, Wilbur, Mirrielees and others still in the game, none of the players are ready to count anyone out. Team moves are locked in each day at midnight, and live results are compiled within a half hour.

“Every morning when I wake up and see the results, I have no idea what will happen next,” said Austin Lyon ‘09, Wilbur commander. “Any of the teams could have a chance.”

From the start, the game has been a tale of one Goliath and many would-be Davids, as Roble/Lag has marshaled superior recruitment and solid tactics to steamroll its opponents and defend its borders. Postings on the game’s official blog have tracked the development of the powerhouse, which has so far eliminated all three teams that have perished and earned the coveted “hot pink” that had adorned one of the vanquished.

“We’re feeling pretty safe,” said Dean Lowell Young ‘11, commander for Roble/Lag. “The only thing I’ve been surprised at is that everyone’s been friends with Branner.”

The game has provided both a study break and a social venue for a lot of students.

“It’s week eight, and everyone’s kind of stressed,” said Brian Wang ‘10. “It’s a good way to divert attention and show some dorm pride.”

“I like it because you get to really engage with people, as opposed to just playing a game by yourself,” added Jeff Chern ‘10, Toyon commander.

The game originated with Gabe Smedresman, a student at Yale, where it took the campus by storm in Jan. 2007. Then called “Old Campus Tree Risk,” it migrated to Harvard as “Harvard Risk” for spring 2007. The code has evolved and now rests in the hands of Harvard alums Matt O’Brien and Andrew Fong, founders of Space Capsule Games. The two then brought their potent procrastination tool to Stanford for winter quarter.

“Stanford seemed like the next natural choice,” said O’Brien.

The game faced a difficult transition, as Harvard and Yale operate Residential Houses and Colleges, respectively, which provided natural teams and territories. Dividing up Stanford’s variety of housing options required some innovations.

“It was certainly a big challenge,” said O’Brien.

Teams have been organized along rough borders. Some complexes, such as Wilbur, Stern and Florence Moore, fight on their own, while Branner/Toyon and Roble/Lag were unified, creating the two largest power players.

Students quickly moved to appoint team commanders, who had to coordinate strategies and troop assignments for large groups of dormmates. Some have found the workload surprisingly large, and commanders have taken to appointing temporary replacements when they need breaks.

“It’s way more of an effort than I thought it would be,” Lyon said.

“I’ve not been sleeping much,” added Chern.

As the fight progresses, the game’s culture has taken shape. Roble/Lag strategy sessions refer, not too seriously, to tactics and maneuvers like “The Hammer,” “The Polish Rifle,” “Brainz,” “The Frenchman” and “Stonewall Tram.” Traffic on dorm email lists has also increased as midnight approaches, with exhortations from commanders to fight on despite long odds and paper deadlines.

The game has prompted large outreach efforts within dorms, as teams rally to expand their ranks.

“What everyone spends their time on is getting people to sign up,” said Lyon. “I’ve been going door-to-door trying to get busy upperclassmen to play.”

“It’s been a great way to get the whole campus involved,” added Young.

Also central to the concerns of players were issues of intelligence and

espionage. Holes in security for team communications have led to teams intercepting troop movements ahead of time.

“We’ve all been exploiting so many windows of opportunity to one-up each other,” Young said. “And we’ve had successful espionage, which led to Branner accusing me of some pretty outrageous things.”

“Some of which aren’t true” he added.

While some have floated the idea of playing in spring quarter, most students saw Turf as a natural choice to become a yearly tradition, joining other Stanford institutions like Secret Snowflake.

“Spring quarter maybe, but next year definitely,” said Lyon. “It could be an annual thing that dorms can rally around and get excited for.”

Although the game has attracted enormous energy, the players are doing their best to keep their perspective.

“It’s all in good fun,” said Lyon. “There’s no prize except glory in the realm of online gaming.”

“It’s just a great way to procrastinate,” he added.