How to Play Clash Royale

Start a match. To start a match, open Clash Royale and tap the battle tab at the bottom of the screen. It's the tab with two swords crossing at the bottom-center of the screen. Then tap the yellow button that says Battle to begin a match.

Understand the arena. The arena is divided into two sides containing three towers on each side. Your side of the arena is at the bottom of the screen and your opponent's side is at the top of the screen. Both sides are divided by a river with two bridges. The two towers on the sides are the defensive towers. The large towers in the middle are the King's towers.

Understand elixir. Elixir is needed to deploy units. Each player starts the match with 5 elixirs and can hold a maximum of 10 elixirs. At the start of the match, players gain 1 elixir every 2.8 seconds. After 2 minutes, the game enters double-elixir time and each player gains an elixir every 1.4 seconds.^[1]

Deploy units and attacks. Your units and attacks are represented with the cards at the bottom of the screen. Cards can be a unit, such as a knight, minions, archer, or a giant. It can also be an attack such as a fireball or volley of arrows. The number at the bottom of the card represents how many elixir it takes to deploy the unit. Tap and drag a card to where you want it to deploy in the arena. You cannot deploy units to areas shaded in red on the arena. Cards can be used to attack your opponent's towers or their units.

• Units can be used to attack your opponent's towers or their units.
• You can deploy multiple cards at a time, provided you have enough elixir. Try deploying a primary attack card, such as a knight, or a giant, with minions, or archers as a backup.

Destroy your opponent's towers. In Clash Royale, you win a match by taking out your opponent's towers. The large towers at the back of the arena are the King's towers. If a King's tower falls, the match is over.

Collect your reward. You win a crown for each tower you destroy during a match. You also win a chest each time you win a match. To open the chest tap the icon above the chest that says Tap to Unlock, then tap Countdown to unlock to begin the countdown. The countdown timer may take anywhere from 1 hour to 8 hours. Once the countdown timer is finished, you can tap the chest to open it. Each chest contains random rewards. Most chests usually contain some gold and some cards. You can have up to 4 chests at a time.^[2]

Open the cards tab in Clash Royale. To open the cards tab, open Clash Royale, and tap the icon that resembles 3 cards at the bottom of the screen.

Select a deck of cards. You can have 10 unique decks of cards. To select which deck you want to use, tap one of the numbered boxes at the top of the battle deck menu.

Select cards you want to use. The cards in your deck are at the top of the battle deck menu. You can have 8 cards in your deck. All cards you have found are listed in your card collection below your deck of cards. To select a card from your collection, tap the card, then tap Use. Tap the spot you want it to go in. If there is already a card in the spot, it will be swapped out.

• Think strategically about how you assemble your deck. Your deck should have a win-condition, which is your main offensive card. Pick other cards that compliment your win-condition card. The type of deck you assemble is called the "Archetype". Assemble a deck that best suits your play style.

Upgrade your cards. When the bar below a card is green, it can be upgraded to the next level. To upgrade your cards, tap Upgrade below the card, and then tap Upgrade again on the upgrade screen. Upgrading your cards adds new perks, such as increased damage and health to the card.

Collect new cards. Collecting new cards allows you to create powerful combinations of troops. As you battle and level up, you will unlock new arenas. Each arena has new cards for you to find. You can also use one of the following steps to find new cards:

• Join a clan by tapping the icon that resembles social tab. The social tab has an icon that resembles a shield with people on it. Then you may request cards by tapping on the orange request button. Assuming there are willing donors, you will soon get the card you request.
• Purchase cards from the shop. The shop is the tab that has an icon that resembles a chest full of treasure. The shop has 1 common card (10 gold), 1 rare card (100 gold), and 1 epic card (1000 gold) for sale. They will refresh in 12 hours.
• Open the free chest. You get a free chest every 4 hours. You can have as many as two free chests at a time.
• Open the Crown chests. If you win 10 crowns from matches, you can open the Crown Chest. To open the Crown chest, tap the gold icon that says Claim when it is available. The tap the cards in the Crown Chest to claim each reward.
• Compete for the clan chests and tournament chests. Clan chests happen every 2 weeks. Your clan collects crowns to unlock a chest. It has levels, each better than the last. When you are at level 8, you can join tournaments. If you win 12 matches, you get the grand prize chest, although you will get a small chest just for joining the tournament.