How Should Beginners Start Their First OpenFront Game?

Updated

Start with the wiki's Early Game Guide, which is featured on the OpenFront Wiki homepage and focuses on learning the basics and expanding in the opening minutes. Read it before your first match, then use the wiki's Settings, Combat, Gold, and Nations pages to fill in the details. The wiki also links beginner video guides, including "OpenFront Beginner Guide (2026) | How to Win Your First Games" by Lonely_Millennial.

What the Early Game Guide Covers

The homepage describes the Early Game Guide as covering "the basics and expand in the opening minutes." That makes it the right first read: it is scoped to the part of a match where new players make the most consequential decisions, rather than to late-game systems like nukes or warships.

The wiki does not reproduce the guide's full contents on the homepage, so open the guide itself for the specific opening sequence. Treat the sections below as the supporting reference material to read alongside it.

Which Wiki Sections to Read First

The homepage's "Explore the Wiki" section links directly to these topics. Read them in roughly this order:

Order Section Why it matters early
1 ⚙️ Settings Set up controls and preferences before you play, so you are not adjusting mid-match
2 🪙 Gold Gold is the resource the wiki treats as a core mechanic; understand it before spending
3 ⚔️ Combat Covers how fighting works, which shapes your first expansion choices
4 🌍 Nations Explains the nations in the game, including the "smarter nations" behavior added in recent updates

Buildings, Port, Atom Bomb, Warship, Transport Ship, and Train are also linked from the homepage, but they matter more once you are past the opening minutes. Bots is worth a look if you want to practice against AI before facing other players.

Basic Expansion and Early Decisions

The wiki's structure points to the early priorities: gold income, combat, and the map you are playing on. A practical approach for a first game is to read the Early Game Guide, then check the Gold and Combat pages so you understand what your opening moves are funding and defending.

For context on how the game has changed, the v35 update (October 2026) added player levels, XP, and prestige up to Legend, plus Ranked Free For All and Ranked Clan Wars. These are progression and matchmaking systems layered on top of the core game, so they are not required knowledge for your first match, but they explain why the wiki now separates beginner material from ranked play.

Where to Find Beginner Video Guides

The homepage's "Featured Videos" section links two guides by Lonely_Millennial:

  • OpenFront Beginner Guide (2026) | How to Win Your First Games — the starting point for new players.
  • OpenFront Team Game Guide - How to Win More Team Games — save this for after you understand solo play.

A "More on YouTube" link leads to the game's YouTube channel for additional videos.

Other Entry Points

The wiki also links the game's official website, the official Discord, the development GitHub, the game's Steam page, and a Wiki Project Discord. The Steam release is noted as September 17, 2026 (from the v0.34.0 release notes), so the Steam page is a legitimate place to find the game itself. If you get stuck on a specific mechanic, the Discord communities are the fastest route to an answer.

A Simple First-Session Plan

  1. Read the Early Game Guide on the wiki.
  2. Skim Settings, Gold, Combat, and Nations in that order.
  3. Watch the Lonely_Millennial beginner video for a visual walkthrough.
  4. Play a match, ideally against bots first if you want lower pressure.
  5. Return to the wiki for Buildings, Port, and the unit pages once you have a feel for the opening.

The wiki does not state pricing or login requirements for the game on the pages summarized here, so check the game's website or Steam page for those details before you commit.