— How to play —
All the answers to the most frequently asked questions about Foundation. If an important question seems to be missing, don't hesitate to contact us.
Check the spam folder of your mailbox. Until you have received the confirmation email and clicked the link it contains, you are not registered.
You cannot pause your account during a mission, because the missions of many players interact with one another. However, once your mission is over, nothing forces you to start a new one right away — take all the time you need.
Yes, within limits. Foundation is also a role-playing game: one player may have several characters with different roles. Multiple accounts do not affect the balance of the game, as accounts belonging to the same player are very rarely assigned to the same galactic sector.
However, it is forbidden to create more than 3 accounts. Multi-accounting is monitored and any abuse will be punished. In practice, players at higher levels tend to give up their extra accounts for lack of time.
The best description would be “delayed real time”. There are no turns: all actions are processed continuously. But some orders (a transfer, a colonization) take time — for example 6 hours for a colonization. The game therefore consists of giving your orders, then coming back to see the results.
Not at all. The game is divided into missions and levels. War plays a big part in the first levels (Independents), with simplified economics. After that, diplomatic relations become essential.
Discovering the levels and how they are connected is just as important: a Founder can only fully play their role because they have already played the Empire and the Merchants. Discover the missions.
Simply complete your mission, and access to the next level is yours. Most missions are competitions between players of the same level: the best players of a series earn the right to move up.
No — Foundation is a game of discovery, and many aspects are kept secret on purpose. At first you only have the bare minimum to carry out your task. With each new mission, new rules are revealed as the situation becomes more complex.
Yes. You can play the whole game — 11 missions, between 3 and 6 months of play — without spending a penny. All missions are free.
Buying credits is entirely optional and will in no way affect your chances of completing the game. It simply helps pay for the development and the server.
Players who are out of mission (who have finished a mission without starting a new one) do not disturb the game: at the end of their mission they are removed from the map and wait in inter-mission until they are assigned to a new sector. They can stay inactive for as long as they like.
Only “Neutral” and “Empire” planets are managed automatically. These planets are inactive: they defend themselves (without reinforcements) but never attack.
The independent merchants, who trade with any planet, are also managed automatically.
When a planet is already the target of a colonization in progress, it can no longer be targeted. Wait for the current battle to end before launching a new attack.
After you leave, your former planets become neutral and will probably be conquered very quickly by other players.
Exception: if you were a general or marshal of the Empire, your planets remain under the Empire's control and the imperial AI takes over from you.
In some very particular circumstances, your planets can be manipulated by a third party — even when they are well supplied and you are very popular. If this happens, alert the Foundation player of your sector right away: they are the only one able to fight this phenomenon and tell you about its likely causes.
You can only ally with players in your sector. But some sectors overlap: you may see a player's planets while they cannot see yours. You can then offer them an alliance, but they will not be able to answer it.
To make sure everyone can see you, expand to all four corners of your sector.
There are two kinds of merchants: merchant players, who see your trade offers and freely choose the ones they prefer, and independent merchants, run automatically. The latter will never come if the exchange you offer is not profitable for them.
Leave them at least 2 containers of profit (e.g. 7 tin for 5 iron). The bigger the margin, the better your chances of being supplied.
It is hard to guarantee that every sector is equally populated. Sectors usually fill up during a mission: explore and wait until the second week of your mission (newcomers will arrive) before giving up. Remember that you can also get your trade offers accepted on “Neutral” and “Empire” planets — tedious, but very effective.
Buying credits is entirely optional — it simply keeps Foundation alive. You can buy a pack of 100 credits for €13 by credit card.
Contributing earns you the honorary title of “generous contributor”. You don't have to spend your credits, but you can from level 2 onwards:
Several options are open to you: