The opening months of an empire game decide more than any battle that follows. Here is how we pace them, week by week, across every world on our list.
Days one to seven: read the ground before you build on it
The temptation on day one is to click every upgrade the moment it becomes affordable. Resist it for an hour. Look at the map around your city first: who your neighbours are, how large their cities already look, whether you share an island, a valley or a stretch of river with them. In Ikariam this means noting which luxury good your island yields; in Grepolis, how far the nearest strait is; in Travian, which oases sit near your village.
Then follow the tutorial, but with your eyes open. Every game on our list uses its opening quests to teach the build order it considers sensible, and they are mostly right. The rewards are generous, the timers are short, and you will finish the first week with a city that works. What the tutorial rarely tells you is how quickly the protection around new players ends, so find that date and write it down.
Finally, spend before you sleep. A full warehouse is an invitation to every raider on the map, while resources already turned into buildings or troops are safe. This single habit, repeated every night, protects new players better than any wall, and it costs nothing but a little planning before you close the tab.
Weeks two and three: the economy grows teeth
By the second week the generous opening is over and your economy has to stand on its own. This is the moment to think in ratios rather than single upgrades. In Travian, crop has to keep pace with your army; in Tribal Wars 2, the farm caps everything; in Tentlan, corn feeds the whole production chain. Find your game’s bottleneck and upgrade it a step ahead of what you think you need.
Defence becomes real too. Raise your wall steadily, keep a small standing force at home, and use scouts or spies to learn which neighbours are active and which have quietly abandoned their cities. Inactive cities are often the best early targets for raids, and active ones are the best candidates for friendship. Knowing the difference is worth more than any single troop type.
Most importantly, this is the window to choose an alliance. Wait too long and the good ones fill up or stop recruiting; join too early and you may pick one that collapses within a week. Look for an alliance with an active forum, clear rules, and members spread across your part of the map rather than clustered on the far side of the world.
The first month: research with a destination in mind
Research trees in these games are long, and wandering through them at random is the most common way new players stall. Decide what your second city will need and research toward it. In Grepolis that usually means the colony ship; in Ikariam, the seafaring discoveries that open the embassy and better trade; in Travian, the buildings and troops your tribe needs for its first real campaign.
Keep a short written plan, even a few lines in a notebook. We do this for every review, and it changed how we played. Writing down the next five upgrades and the resources each requires turns every visit into a small, satisfying step forward instead of a confused scroll through menus. It also helps you notice when a neighbour’s raids are costing more than you can spare.
This is also when the gods, rituals and festivals start to matter. Grepolis favour, Tentlan’s seasons and Anocris’s festivals all reward players who plan around them rather than using them on impulse. Save them for the moment they multiply something you were going to do anyway: a big construction push, an expedition, a defence you can see coming.
The second month: your second city and the shape of a realm
Expansion is the great test of the middle game. Every title on our list makes your second city expensive, whether through culture points, settlers, colony ships or a nobleman’s slow work on a rival’s loyalty. Do not rush it. A second city founded in a poor location, or before your first can defend itself, becomes a liability rather than an asset.
Choose the site the way a merchant would. Is it close enough to support with troops and resources? Does it give you something your capital lacks, such as a different luxury good, a better production boost, or access to a new stretch of coast? Will your alliance be able to reach it in an emergency? The best second cities answer yes to all three.
Once it stands, give it a clear role. Many experienced players specialize: one city for defence and economy, another for offence or naval power. Specialization makes each city simpler to manage and makes your realm stronger than the sum of its parts. It also keeps the growing number of menus from becoming overwhelming.
Day ninety: deciding whether this world is yours
Three months in, you know far more than any review can tell you. Take an honest look at how the game fits your life. Are you logging in because you want to, or because you are afraid of losing something? Do you enjoy the alliance chat, or do you skim it with dread? These questions matter more than your rank on the leaderboard.
If the answers are good, settle in for the long haul. Worlds in these games can run for many months, and the most memorable moments, a wonder race, a desperate defence, a great alliance merger, tend to arrive late. If the answers are mixed, consider a calmer game from our list, or a fresh world where you can apply what you have learned without the pressure of an established reputation.
Either way, the first ninety days are never wasted. Every game on our list teaches the same core skills: managing an economy, reading a map, cooperating with strangers and planning beyond tonight. Those skills transfer from Greek islands to the Nile, and from one world to the next. Many of our editors are on their fourth or fifth world, and still learning.