O-Game is a strangely popular MMORTS, or Massively Multi-Player Online Real Time Strategy, game that continues to grow day by day. New players and old start new empires, either to test out this oddly addicting game or to put tried-by-fire strategies into a new start in an attempt to create an empire to be feared.
As an O-game addict myself, and a player of the last three years, I thought I'd toss out a few tips to players both new and old on how to create a successful empire.
Tip #1: It's all about production!
As your factories and mines become stronger and larger and colonies spring up on distant worlds, players tend to watch with pride as their resource reserves grow to insanely large proportions. Millions and millions of metal, crystal, and deuterium sit on planets waiting to be used to build that massive fleet of destroyers or that new nanite factory. But trust me, nothing is more disheartening than watching someone even more powerful than you move in, smash your prided defenses, annihilate your fleet, and steal your hard-earned resources.
The way to avoid this: Don't worry about it.
It may sound ridiculous, but it's true. You'll never be able to stop every attack or anticipate every strike and smuggle out your resources. Eventually, you're going to get hit hard. When that happens, you don't want huge amounts of resources. What you want is a massive level of production, so even after you lose massive amounts of resources, you can replace them in a matter of hours. Production is the most important part of this game, because with huge levels of income, you can shake off the odd attack and come back firing with both barrels in short order.
Tip #2: Ships are better than defenses
In the early stages of the game, you might be tempted to build a series of missile towers and laser cannons to defend your planets from enemy attack. This might help you ward off a few attacks, but don't let yourself be drawn into defenses. No matter how many cannons you have, there will always be someone whose fleet is large enough - and has enough bombers - to smash right through them.
Plus, the obvious is true with defenses: They can't be moved. You can't send them out of harm's way when a fleet too large to stop is inbound, and even more importantly, you can't send them to strike out at an enemy and steal crucial resources. Even in the early stages of the game, a force of fighters and the occasional cruiser is a better force than a battery of lasers and missiles. In the later stages of the game, when bombers begin to reign supreme, even the awesome plasma cannon just isn't worth the money it takes to put up.
Tip #3: Colonize!
This one might seem obvious, but never underestimate the value of a second planet. Having a second source of income can bring your production up by an exponential amount, and having a place to run to in the face of overwhelming odds can save your fleet and your hard-earned income from destruction at the hands of a potential fleet-smasher.
One good tip for a colony world is to specialize the planets you expand to. For instance, every level of solar power plant can support a single level of both metal and crystal mines. If you don't add power-sucking deuterium to a colony, you can really spike the production of metal and crystal and focus another colony on deuterium - where a single level power supports a single level of deuterium mine.
Tip #4: Don't pick fights
A policy of speak softly but carry a big stick can really be advantageous in this game. If you don't cause trouble, most people will tend to leave you alone. On the other hand, is you play the bully and start hitting everyone in your sector, it won't be long before one of your targets calls his superpower ally to deal with you, or someone just decides randomly to chop you down to size. Once you are labeled as a target by a higher power, you don't tend to lose that label for a long time, if ever.
Tip #5: Enter an Alliance, even if it's just you
Though I can only speak for myself and the few friends who I've spoken to who play the O-Game, I'll tell you that seeing the alliance tag next to a player's name is a very large deterrent to attack. No one wants to mess with an alliance; unless your alliance is willing to back you or you're just that powerful, messing with an alliance member is just asking to be swatted flat. Often, just seeing the alliance tag is enough; few players will take the time to check the power of the alliance or the number of players inside it, so if you can't make it into an alliance, just make one of your own so you have that tag by your name. It just might keep you safer than you'd think.
Tip #6: Don't build a fleet too early
Fleets are the pinnacle of the game, but you shouldn't rush into them. Fleets will move you quickly up the points list and make you a target sooner, and many players are drawn to fleets for the potential of crushing them and then harvesting the remains. Creating an early fleet can cause people to move you up their priority list.
Also, remember building ships makes you a threat. As long as you have no ships, you're not a threat to anyone; as soon as you build a single fighter, people start to watch you much more closely and mention you to their alliances and superpower guardians as someone who could be a threat.
These are by no means the only things to consider in playing the O-Game, nor are they a formula to making you an instant O-Game champion. But they just might give you a leg up on that guy you just want to take out.
Good Hunting!
