Elder Kingdom on Android

You start with one city and a Keep. Wood, Stone, Iron and Grain come from four kinds of field, and you spend them on buildings, troops, wall defences and Academy studies. You can run two builds and two studies at a time, or three of each with VIP.

Everything runs on a real clock. A build that takes an hour finishes in an hour, whether or not the game is open. The first-week guide walks through the first builds, and the buildings guide covers the rest of the city.

The world map is 600 fields across and 600 down. Oases pay out resources, and hunting an oasis can pay Gold. Forts pay Gold every hour (20 at level 1, 200 at level 10), and barbarian villages send raiding parties at lords nearby. Without speed bonuses, a Footman needs 30 seconds to cross a field, so a march of 100 fields takes 50 minutes. An army moves at the pace of its slowest troop.

Titles decide how much of the map you can hold. There are 20, from 3rd Freeman to King. A new lord can hold one oasis. A King can hold up to ten oases and six branch cities. The world map guide shows how to scout, march and claim land.

A battle runs in rounds, 30 seconds apart, for at most 20 rounds. You can watch it live and change your orders between rounds to Advance, Hold or Fall back, or leave it to play out and read the report. Four troop types fight: Footmen, Riders, Bowmen and Catapults.

Your Town Wall has 15 places for defences, and it fights whether or not you are logged in.

An alliance takes up to 50 members, and it has its own chat, its own army and mines it can hold together. Alliances have 20 levels. The alliance guide explains the ranks and what a mine pays.

Phone alerts are off until you turn them on. Each kind has its own switch: building finished, training finished, march arrived, incoming attack and battle news, plus research and hunts. You can also set quiet hours. See the alerts guide.

The game is free to download. Coins are the premium currency: they cost real money and have no cash value. Gold, which pays for studies and upgrades, is earned in play. Hunting oases, holding forts, some tasks and some titles all pay Gold. The Coins guide lists what Coins buy.

Open Elder Kingdom on Google Play on your Android device and tap Install. The iPhone version is on the way. Questions about the game are answered on the FAQ page, and the game facts page has the full list of figures.