Beginner's Guide (Level 1-20)

Welcome to Goodgame Empire, commander. The first hours will determine whether you will be raiding other players in a week or still cowering behind crumbling walls, watching as barons take your resources. This guide will take you through levels 1 to 20 as any experienced player would wish they could start over and avoid those embarrassing mistakes that every beginner makes. I won't promise you miracles, but if you stick to these few principles, by level 20 you'll have a castle that few will dare to challenge.

Don't skip the tutorial, but don't linger in it either

When you jump into the game, a guide will grab you and start leading you by the hand. Don't just click mindlessly through. The tutorial rewards you with rubies, resources, and often some decoration or speed-up bonus for each completed step. These are the cheapest rubies you'll ever get in the game because you don't pay for them with time or money, so collect them all and don't waste them on the first silly mistake.

Complete the tutorial fully and attentively. It will teach you how to build your first buildings, attack your first target, and occupy your first external estate. The important thing is that while the initial phase is running, you are protected from attacks by other players, so you can build in peace. As soon as the game sends you to attack a marauding baron, do it right away; it's safe and you'll gain experience and loot for it.

One thing that many newcomers overlook: don't rush into the first alliance that invites you in the first hour. First, go through the basics so you know what the game is about, and only then look for allies. We'll talk more about alliances later; it's one of the most important things in the entire game.

Economy first, war later

At the very beginning, your only goal is to get the flow of resources going. The game relies on four things: wood, stone, food, and coins. Wood and stone are produced by lumberjacks and quarries, food is produced by farms, and coins flow from houses and the marketplace. Without resources, you can't build or upgrade anything, so don't skimp here.

The order that works: first secure wood and stone, as you need them for everything else. Then build enough farms so that your food doesn't go into the negative. And continuously add houses for coins and especially for population, as the population is the workforce that keeps your buildings running at full capacity.

A typical beginner's mistake is to fill the castle with barracks and military buildings before you have your economy sorted out. You can only sustain an army when you have a surplus of food and resources. First economy, then war. And remember that buildings can be upgraded to higher levels. An upgraded lumberjack produces much more than two basic ones at a lower level, so instead of filling the entire castle, it's better to upgrade the ones you already have. This saves you precious building space, which you will always have too little of.

External estates are your real engine

This is what newcomers most often overlook and then wonder why they are growing slowly. Your main castle is not the only thing you have. As you progress through the levels, you gain access to additional territories around you, known as external estates, and this is where most of your resource buildings belong, mainly farms, lumberjacks, and quarries. In the main castle, you primarily leave military and defensive buildings and that part of the economy that doesn't fit anywhere else.

Each territory has fields where the respective production gets a bonus. It's worth building production buildings exactly on these bonus positions. When you build a farm on a field with a food bonus, you get extra percentages for free, and this will make a significant difference over long gameplay.

Don't be afraid to move and rebuild buildings as you gain space and new territories open up. Practical advice: keep your food slightly in the positive, but not excessively so. You won't use surplus food smartly, whereas every extra free field for wood, stone, or coins helps you build and upgrade faster. Around levels 6 to 10, you will unlock additional building areas and progress to external estates, so take advantage of them immediately; don't let them sit idle.

What unlocks on the way to level 20

This is the framework by which you can tell that you are growing correctly. The exact levels may vary slightly depending on events and game versions, but the order holds.

In the first levels (around 1 to 5), you focus purely on the economy, the first barracks, and the first attacks on marauding barons. Build a tavern as soon as the game allows you. In the tavern, you recruit and pay captains and commanders, and without a commander, you can't make a proper attack or defense, as the commander adds strength to the fight and leads the army. Never launch an attack on a player or a larger baron without a commander.

Around the halfway point (roughly 6 to 12), focus on the hospital. This is crucial; take it seriously: the hospital saves and heals a portion of your wounded soldiers after a lost or costly battle instead of losing them permanently. Without it, you burn through your army and resources much faster. Also, upgrade your walls, gates, and towers during this phase, as attacks from others will increase once your initial protection runs out.

In the higher levels (around 13 to 20), you will have your economy running, unlock additional external estates, stronger units, and combat tools. Here you stop just surviving and start choosing whom you dare to challenge. The goal by level 20 is to have solid production in your estates, decent defense at home, and a commander with an army capable of handling barons and smaller conflicts with players.

What awaits you on the way to level 20

Marauding barons are computer opponents on the map and in the early stages your main source of experience, loot, and training. Feel free to attack them constantly. Their defense is fixed and predictable, so you can calmly learn the entire combat mechanics on them without risking anything. Before you attack, read the defense preview. You can see what units the baron is defending with and how many there are, and based on that, you can assemble your army and choose a commander.

The basic principle of combat: units are divided into infantry (close combat) and ranged units. The defender has soldiers positioned on the walls, at the gate, and in the towers, and your attack targets the left flank, center, and right flank. Send more attackers against the flank that is weaker, and use tools (ladders, battering rams, siege towers) that reduce the defensive strength of the walls and increase the effectiveness of your soldiers. Infantry and ranged units counter each other, so look at what the baron is using to hold you back and deploy units that have the advantage against them. The commander adds his bonus, so never attack without him.

Defense of your castle: always keep some garrison at home; don't send all your troops into an attack. Invest early in upgrading your walls, gates, and towers, as fortifications will significantly increase your defense more than a few extra soldiers. And be careful; both barons and players can attack you, so never leave your castle unprotected. Once your initial protection against players runs out, have a protective shield (peace treaty) on standby and activate it when you leave your computer for an extended period or overnight.

Joining an active alliance

Once you master the basics, find an active alliance and join it. This is the most underestimated move by beginners, yet it will accelerate your growth more than anything else. An active alliance provides you with protection, as strong allies will avenge you, and no one will dare to challenge you easily. You'll receive advice in chat, shared goals, and most importantly, the ability to send each other support and defenders when things get tough.

Don't take the first alliance that invites you. Check how many members they have, whether they are active (live chat, recent activity), and what level they are. A large active alliance will help you much more than a dead shell with a fancy name. Right after joining, ask in the chat what to watch out for in the area and whom to avoid provoking. Experienced teammates will save you hours of mistakes that you would otherwise have to make on your own.

Thanks to the alliance, you'll also understand how rubies work and when it's worth spending real money (almost never at the beginning). The game can be played for free, just more slowly. Save rubies for things that will genuinely save you hours of waiting or rescue your army, like speeding up long construction or replenishing troops before an important action, not for immediate cosmetic purchases.

Most common beginner mistakes to avoid

Mistake number one: spending initial rubies on nonsense. In the tutorial and early levels, you receive a decent pile of rubies. Many people immediately spend them on instant completion of a cheap building or decoration. Hold onto them and only spend them on something that will genuinely save you hours of waiting or rescue your army.

Mistake number two: neglecting food. When your food drops into the negative, soldiers go hungry, and your defensive and offensive strength decreases. Always check if you can sustain a new army after building it. Mistake number three: sending the entire army into an attack and leaving the castle undefended. At that exact moment, someone will come for you. Always keep a garrison at home.

Other common blunders: getting into a conflict with a stronger neighbor or an entire alliance before you have your own allies behind you; attacking and healing without a built hospital, thus permanently burning through your army; building military buildings before the economy; and ignoring daily quests and ongoing events. Quests and events give you resources and rubies, so complete them. And open the game every day. Regularly collecting production and completing quests will advance you further than one big building spree on the weekend, as most constructions and recruitments run in real-time, whether you are there or not.

Back to Guides, Tips and Tutorials.