How to start

When you first log in you pick a city on the world map and settle there. Then a short tour walks you through the screens. After that a "First Steps" list appears: follow it and you will have learned the game's basic machinery without noticing.

First thing: settle in a city

The world map opens as soon as you log in. Two taps are enough: pick a country, then pick one of its cities.

Do not rush here, because what you see on the map is the real situation. Which cities belong to whom, where there is a war, which region is crowded — all of it is visible before you settle.

Tapping a city does not settle you there, it only selects it. To settle you must press the button at the bottom. So you can wander the map freely.

The city you settle in is where your home stands. You can move later, but moving costs money, so make the first choice deliberately. See The world, cities, your home for details.

The guided tour

After you settle, the game shows you a short tour. The screen dims and each button is explained one at a time. At every step the page being described opens by itself, so you do not just read about it, you visit it.

You can skip the tour whenever you like. If you skip it, it will not open again on its own — but this guide is always here.

The First Steps list

After the tour you will see a list on the home page called First Steps. It has six items, and the order is not an accident: each item opens the door to the next one.

  1. Work your first job. This is your first source of money.
  2. Open your first business. A place that earns money even when you are not playing.
  3. Collect your first earnings. The business piles money up; you come and take it.
  4. Finish your first research. The permission you need to build military vehicles.
  5. Build your first factory. A factory produces military vehicles for you.
  6. Collect your first production. Put the vehicle the factory made into your bag.

That is why the order matters: you cannot do the fifth step without the fourth. The list walks you through the door, and you never see that error.

The game goes easy on you for this first round. Your first business, your first research and your first factory arrive far faster and far cheaper than normal — some of them finish almost instantly. The second time you do them, full price and full time apply. So First Steps is not a display window; it is a real helping hand.

You also get a free rush gift: you can skip one wait at no cost at all. It works once for each kind of wait.

The five tabs at the bottom

There are five tabs at the bottom of the screen. The whole game lives inside those five:

Chat is always within reach: on a phone through the bubble in the corner, on a computer through the panel on the side.

The menu button in the top corner opens everything to do with your account: settings, security, the store, support, and this guide.

Level and experience

Almost everything you do earns you experience: working, collecting from a business, joining a war, finishing a quest. When experience piles up your level rises.

Level is not a badge, it is a key. Many things depend on it: better jobs, bigger businesses, the right to found your own party, moving forward in the research chain. If something says "not yet", the reason is usually your level.

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