This Astrakeep beginner guide boils down to a few habits: follow Orin's tutorial, put your three starting heroes on the platforms, win the first campaign levels and spend the loot on the Crystal Tower right away. Then, every day: finish the five quests, open the daily chest and keep a construction running. Here's the detail, step by step.
This page is part of the Astrakeep guide. Once you're up and running, the pages on islands and buildings and Astrakeep heroes take it from there.
The tutorial with Orin
The game opens with a message from your advisor: "Welcome to the Kingdom of Astra! I'm Orin, your advisor." In a few minutes, he shows you the basics:
- Claim today's login reward.
- Open the Campaign and start the first level. "Enemies follow the path. Tap a platform to place a hero on it."
- Place all your heroes: "together, they stop far more enemies". They attack on their own; when a special attack is charged, tap it at the bottom of the screen.
- Spend the loot: every level you win gives you wood and stone. Orin has you upgrade the Crystal Tower, whose level limits every other building.
- Level up a hero with your resources.
- Summon at the Summoning Altar with your tokens: a new game starts with ten.
- Check out the daily quests.
You can skip the tutorial and replay it any time with the "?" button in the kingdom. Orin also explains each new screen the first time you open it: take a moment to read those bubbles, they sum up how each feature works.
Your first three heroes
You start with three rare heroes that work well together:
- Lyra the Archer (Rapid fire): long range, very fast shots.
- Orin the Mage (Area damage): his mana orbs hit every nearby enemy.
- Kael the Knight (Heavy hitter): he blocks ground enemies' path, strikes them and slows them down.
Put Kael where the path runs within his reach so he can hold enemies back, and Orin near bends where groups bunch up. The Astrakeep campaign page goes deeper into placement.
Your priorities for the first days
1. Push through the campaign. It's your main source of loot, and winning level 2 unlocks raids on rival villages. Each level shows a recommended hero level: trust it.
2. Never leave the builder idle. Only one building goes up at a time, but "construction keeps going even when the game is closed". Start a long upgrade before you put your phone down. When less than a minute is left, you can finish it for free.
3. Level up the Crystal Tower. It caps every other building and unlocks new islands (at levels 3, 5 and 7). It also caps your heroes' max level.
4. Power up the heroes you actually use. Three strong heroes beat five weak ones.
Daily quests and the daily chest
"Complete the daily tasks to earn resources, then open the chest once they're all done. They change at midnight." There are five quests a day: win battles, defeat enemies, use special attacks, start a building upgrade, upgrade a hero, summon, finish an expedition, defeat a boss… Most of them fill up just by playing normally.
Once all five are done, the daily chest opens. It holds resources, a summoning token, gems and one legendary fragment. That fragment is the main reason never to skip a chest: 40 fragments unlock a legendary hero of your choice.
The login streak
The login reward runs on a seven-day streak ("Login: day 3 / 7"). Day seven gives you a summoning token. Come back every day, even for a minute: claiming the reward and starting a new construction is enough to keep the pace.
Expeditions, for heroes who aren't fighting
A hero sent on an expedition comes back with resources, but "can't fight while they're away". There are three destinations: Firefly Forest (30 min), Crystal Mines (2 h) and Sky Ruins (8 h, plus one token). Send a hero who isn't part of your formation, and save Sky Ruins for overnight.
Protect your game
At first you play on a guest account: "Your game only exists on this phone." Go to Account, then "Protect my game", and link an email address (with a 6-digit code) or a Google account. Your game is then saved in the cloud, and you get it back if you switch phones. This Djoox account is shared by all the studio's games.
If you allow notifications, the game lets you know when a construction, troops or an expedition are done, never between 10 pm and 8 am.
Astrakeep plays well in short sessions, which makes it a good pick among tower defense games on mobile for quick breaks. To follow the launch, visit the Astrakeep page.
Frequently asked questions
Can I replay the Astrakeep tutorial?
Yes. If you skipped it, the "?" button in the kingdom replays it from the start. Orin also explains each new screen the first time you open it.
What should I upgrade first?
The Crystal Tower, because its level caps every other building, unlocks the islands and limits your heroes' level. Meanwhile, keep your heroes at the level the campaign recommends.
How do I keep my game when I switch phones?
Protect it from the Account screen by linking an email or a Google account. Without that, a guest game only exists on the phone where it was created.
Does the game keep going while it's closed?
Yes: construction carries on, and a summary is waiting when you come back. Online features (attacks, alliance, chat) need a connection. For anything else, ask on the Astrakeep forum.
