New to Ogame?

OK, so if you're new to Ogame and are finding the whole thing a little overwhelming this is the article for you:

What is Ogame?

Ogame is a strategic space simulation game with thousands of people playing simultaneously in many different Universes. The game is set in deep space far into the future where spaceships and colonizing planets is nothing but reality. Although the game is set in the distant future i like to compare it to the world of today. The basic concepts of the game are to research new technologies and battleships, further the advancement of your planet in the form of mines and to become the best (afterall, who doesn't want to be the best?) There are many different features in the game which may seem daunting at first but believe me, you will become familiar with it!


How do i play?

First you will need to register on an Ogame universe. I recommend that you register on the highest universe. This will be the universe that was the newest being created, meaning other players will not have a large head start over you. All universes are the same apart from 5 and 30.

When you start the first thing you should do is to build up mines. The mines provide the resources (needed for doing anything in the game) that you use for researching and building fleets etc. The higher level of the mine the more will be created from it. Another point is mines will never be destroyed if your planet is attacked, they are a permanent source of income.

Once you have got a good source of income the next thing you want to do is to research new technologies. You will need to build a research lab for this. The more things you research and the higher they are, the more things you will unlock like new ships and buildings. The type of research done is all dependent on what type of game you will play. I suggest that you check the "Technology" tab down the left hand side and look to see what things you need for your game play. For example, if you want to raid planets for resources you will want all sorts of ships and so will need different drives like an impulse drive and a higher level shipyard. If you plan to mine most of your resources you will want to build a lot of defenses and will need various technologies like laser technology.

Once you have a these, put them into practice! If you're going to be a raider, raid someone! I suggest you send an espionage probe or two to many different planets before attacking to see planets defenses and resources etc. To see if raiding that planet will be profitable i suggest using a program called Speedsim. you can download it here. Simply input all the required information and it will compile a report for you.

Once you have decent technologies, defenses and fleet you can colonize an empty space in any galaxy or solar system. This is done by sending a colony ship to the co-ordinates. You can colonize up to 8 planets.


Quick Tips

If you are a raider, please learn to fleetsave by reading this article here (pending). This is VERY important if you want to keep your fleet.

If you are mining most of your resources with big defenses you may receive the tag of being a "turtle". Turtles are disliked by a lot of players and people may attack you even if it is not profitable, just to smash your defenses. Please beware.