Rise of Kingdoms is easy to start and hard to start well. The tutorial walks you through building and fighting, but it doesn’t tell you which habits pay off over months of play. These are the ones that matter most in your first weeks.
Pick a civilization for its bonus, not its looks
Lilith lists 15 civilizations, each with its own architecture, a unique unit and a set of bonuses — some favour infantry, cavalry or archers, others building, research or gathering. Choose the one that matches how you plan to play; you’ll also get a free starting commander tied to it. A civilization isn’t a life sentence, since the game lets you change it later with an item, but picking well from the start saves you that cost.
City Hall is the key to everything
Almost every building, troop tier and feature is capped by your City Hall level. When you have a choice, upgrade the buildings the next City Hall level requires before anything else, and keep your builders busy at all times — an idle builder queue is the most common way new players fall behind. Research at the Academy follows close behind: economy technologies early, military ones as your troop tiers unlock.
Join an active alliance on day one
An alliance is the biggest free boost in the game. Members tap “Help” to shave time off each other’s building and research, alliance territory raises gathering speed, and alliance gifts and technologies add up quickly. Look for an alliance that is active in chat and holds territory near the centre of the map, and move your city into its territory as soon as you can. If your city ends up somewhere quiet, check whether you still have a Beginner Teleport — it only works in the early game.
Build commander pairs, not just commanders
Each army is led by a primary commander and an optional secondary, and their skills stack. Focus your experience and sculptures on a small number of pairings — one for fighting barbarians and one for gathering is a good start — instead of spreading them across every commander you unlock. Talent points go further when each commander has a clear role.
Save speedups and protect your city
Speedups are the game’s most valuable currency. Rather than using them the moment a timer feels long, save them for events that award points for spending them, where the same speedup earns you extra rewards. Your starting protection wears off early, so when you log off with resources and troops at home, use a peace shield and keep resources below your storehouse’s protected amount.
Our take
Play consistently rather than intensely. Short daily sessions that keep builders, research and gathering running beat long weekend binges. Our Rise of Kingdoms review covers what the late game looks like, and our PC setup guide explains the official ways to play it on a computer.
