Looking for a New MMO? Meet Crownfront, the Fantasy Kingdom on the Real-World Map

If you are looking for a new MMO to sink into, this post is for you. Crownfront is a fantasy sandbox MMORPG played on a map of the real world, and it is free to download on iPhone, iPad, Android and Windows PC. Everyone plays in one shared, persistent world. The land you claim, the buildings you raise and the kingdoms you join stay on the map for every other player to see.

This is a long read on purpose. It covers what the game is, how it plays, what you can build, how fighting and trading work, what money does and does not buy, and how to spend your first hour. Skip to whichever part you care about.

What kind of game is Crownfront?

Crownfront is a sandbox. There is no storyline pushing you down a corridor and no list of daily chores. You are dropped into a living world with a handful of tools, and what you do with them is up to you.

Some players are builders. They spread flags across their home town, raise a cabin and a workshop, and turn a quiet neighbourhood into their own territory. Some are crafters and traders who make their crowns at the market. Some are hunters who chase world bosses and hidden caves. Some are politicians who found kingdoms, sign alliances and start wars. Most players end up doing a little of everything.

If you enjoy games where the world is shaped by its players, where territory matters, and where a weapon is a long-term project rather than something you replace every hour, you will feel at home.

A real-world map, without the walking

The world of Crownfront sits on top of a real map of the Earth. Streets, coastlines and parks are all where you expect them to be, drawn in a dark fantasy style. Your home town is in the game. So is everyone else's.

This is not a walking game. You do not have to go outside, and your character does not follow you down the street.

• When you first enter the world you choose where to begin. You can start where you actually are, or start in a shared hub city instead.
• From there you move by tapping. Your character can walk anywhere inside a wide circle around your current base.
• To go further, you travel. Hop between flags, visit saved destinations, or accept a friend's invite and appear right beside them.
• Long trips cost Wayfeathers, a common item every new player starts with a pile of. Short hops are free.

You can play the whole game from your couch, and you can stand in a city on the other side of the planet five minutes after you start.

Claim land with flags

Flags are the heart of the game. Plant a flag and the ground around it becomes yours, tinted in the colour you picked when you made your account. Every other player can see it.

• Flags are cheap to build, so your first claim takes minutes, not days.
• Plant more flags at the edge of your land to grow outward, one after another.
• Every flag you own is also a travel point. A chain of flags is your own private road network.
• You decide who else may use your flags: everyone, nobody, or only players you approve. You can even charge a toll in crowns.
• A flag can be hardened so it is far harder to burn down, and a hardened flag can be raised into a personal tower that shoots at your enemies.
• Out at sea, a flag becomes a buoy, so even open water can be claimed.

Land can be lost as well as won. Rivals can attack a flag, weaken it and set it alight. If you are there to repair it, it stands. If nobody comes, it burns and the land goes back to the wild. Where two players' claims meet, a border is drawn between them, so the map always shows who holds what.

Gather, craft and build a home

Almost everything in Crownfront is made by players from things found in the world.

• Chop trees for wood, mine stone and iron ore, and forage wild plants.
• Hunt deer for leather, and tougher creatures for rarer drops.
• Pick berries from Mourning Trees, and plant the berries to grow trees of your own.

With those materials you build. A Log Cabin is your home, with a chest for storage and a War Room where you buy permanent upgrades. A Personal Workshop lets you smelt ore into iron and craft at a proper bench. A Metallurgy Station is where rare metals are made. You can also set decorations on your land, and plant a wooden sign with your own words on it almost anywhere.

Then you craft: swords, axes, spears, daggers, crossbows and staves, four kinds of armor, shields, backpacks that let you carry more, tools that speed up gathering, and meals that give you a temporary edge in a fight. New recipes are learned from blueprints, which are rare drops from creatures and can be traded like anything else. There is even a shovel, so you can bury treasure in the ground and dig it up later, or dig up someone else's.

Forge a weapon that grows with you

In many games a weapon is something you throw away every few levels. In Crownfront your weapon is an investment.

Any weapon, armor or shield can be enhanced at the forge. Each attempt has a cost and a chance of success. When it works, the item becomes permanently stronger. When it fails, you lose the cost of the attempt and nothing else. A failed attempt never downgrades your item. The exact odds and costs for every level are published in the game's own guide, so there are no hidden numbers.

Past the forge there is more to chase:

• Rare metals can be fused into a weapon for good. A fire weapon sets its targets alight. A gloom weapon slows them down.
• Gems add raw power and raise how far a weapon can be enhanced.
• Rings and amulets roll random bonuses when they are polished, in four tiers from Basic to Divine. No two are quite alike, and a great roll is worth a fortune at the market.

No classes: build the character you want

There is no class to pick when you sign up, and no wrong choice to regret later.

Fighting, crafting and building all earn experience. Each level gives you a skill point, and you spend points on a ladder of seventy skills: stronger attacks, tougher defence, faster gathering, better crafting, cheaper travel, more companions and much more. As you climb you can take one of fourteen specializations, from Knight and Ranger to Assassin, Gunslinger and Druid, each with its own track of abilities.

If you change your mind, you can reset and spend your points again. A swordsman this month can be an archer next month without starting a new character.

Hunt creatures, world bosses and hidden caves

The wild is full of things that want to eat you.

Wolves hunt on sight. Trolls hit hard, and they can also be recruited: a troll companion will follow you, fight beside you and carry a weapon and armor you hand it. Spiders spin silk for crafters. Mourning Sprites drift around certain trees and only fight if you start it.

Then there are the big fights.

• The Cinderroc is a legendary fire bird. Only about twenty are alive in the whole world at any time. It breathes fire across the ground, pins fighters with its wings and heals in its own flames. Bringing one down is announced to every player, and it drops the feathers that fire weapons are made from.
• The Wandering Delves are around a thousand hidden caves scattered across the planet. There is no marker on the map. You find one by exploring. Each cave holds a single run for whoever walks in together, with rooms of creatures, waves to survive and a boss called the Gravemaw at the bottom.

You can do all of this alone, but it is better with friends. Up to eight players can form a party, share experience from every kill and travel as one group.

Player versus player, on fair terms

Crownfront has open-world PvP, built so that a new player is not farmed the moment they step outside.

If you attack a player who is minding their own business, you land one blow and then the fight stops, unless they choose to hit you back. Fights between players who are both already fighting have no limits. Dying to a creature costs you nothing. Dying to another player drops some of what was in your bag and leaves a gravestone with the winner's name on it, but the gear you are wearing and your coins are never lost. Inside your own home, nobody can touch you.

The real wars are fought over land. Flags can be burned. Buildings can be besieged. Kingdoms and cities build towers that fire on their enemies, and attackers answer with golem armies, firebombs and catapults.

Kingdoms and cities, built by players

Kingdoms and cities in Crownfront are real places on the map with walls, treasuries and borders.

A kingdom is founded by a player, who chooses its name, tag and colour and becomes its Ruler. A kingdom has its own ranks with the permissions the Ruler decides, a Kingdom Hall at its capital, territory that spreads outward flag by flag, towers that guard it, a shared vault and warehouse, a tax on its members' bounties, and its own chat. Kingdoms name their allies and their enemies. If the Hall falls, the whole realm falls with it, so a capital is worth defending.

A city is different. It takes three players to found one, and anyone can become a citizen by building a house on its land. Citizens elect their Mayor every month. A city can build a Trade Hub, which is where the market lives, a Looking Glass where players change their hair, clothes and look, watch towers, and workshops where golems harvest crystal and oil. A rich city is a target, and its stores can be raided.

You can belong to a kingdom and a city at the same time. One is your banner. The other is your home.

An economy run by players

Crowns are the everyday coin. You earn them from hunting, and you spend them on enhancement, upgrades and other players' goods.

Almost everything in the game can be sold at a Trade Hub: weapons, armor, materials, blueprints, jewelry, cosmetics. Sellers set their own prices, buyers pick the best offer, and the city that hosts the hub takes a cut for its treasury. If you would rather deal face to face, pitch a Trade Tent and swap items and coins directly with another player.

We also publish the whole economy. The Economy page on this site counts every coin and every item in the world once an hour, so anyone can see how rare something really is.

Events and seasons

There is always a competition running. Events come one after another, each with its own leaderboard, milestones to claim along the way and prizes for the top players: races to plant the most flags, hunts for the most kills, crafting and forging contests.

Seasons bring their own surprises. This Halloween, from October 15 to November 1, ghouls and skeletons roam the world, an Event Vendor in every Trade Hub trades their drops for seasonal rewards, and a set of limited cosmetics goes on sale that will never be sold again.

One account on phone, tablet and PC

Crownfront runs on iPhone and iPad, on Android phones and tablets, and on Windows PCs through its own launcher. It is the same world and the same character everywhere. Play on your phone at lunch and pick up on your PC in the evening.

Chat, mail, friends and push notifications keep you in touch when you are away. If your flag is attacked while you are offline, your phone tells you.

Is Crownfront free?

Yes. The game is free to download and free to play.

There is one premium currency, Royal Sigils. Sigils are used to turn a full experience bar into a skill point, to unlock extra hotbar slots, to found a kingdom and to buy cosmetics from the Crown Collection. You can buy sigils, but you can also win them in events and buy them from other players for crowns at any Trade Hub. Every new account starts with some.

Your first hour

1. Download Crownfront from the App Store or Google Play, or get the Windows launcher from the Download page on this site.
2. Create your account with a username, an email and a password, and pick the colour of your territory.
3. Choose where to start: your own area, or the shared hub city.
4. Follow the guided tutorial. In fifteen short steps it has you gather wood, hunt a deer, plant your first flag, build a cabin and a workshop, and craft a sword and armor. It hands you materials at the right moments.
5. Tap any question mark you see. The in-game guide explains every item, creature and building, with the real numbers behind them.
6. Open Travel and visit the nearest city. The trip is free, and its Trade Hub is the best place to see what other players are making.
7. Say hello in the Help channel. Then find a party, a city or a kingdom, and make the world a little more yours.

Questions new players ask

Do I have to walk around in real life?

No. You move by tapping the map and travel by flags. You never need to leave your chair.

Does the game track my location?

Not in the background. Your location is read only at the moment you choose to place or move your character, and only if you agree. You can decline and start in the hub city instead.

Can I play on PC?

Yes. The Windows launcher installs the game, keeps it up to date and signs you in with the same account you use on your phone.

Can I play solo?

Yes. You can gather, craft, claim land, hunt and even clear caves alone. Kingdoms, cities and parties are there when you want them.

Can I avoid PvP?

Mostly. Another player gets one blow on you and no more unless you fight back, creatures never take your items, and inside your home you cannot be attacked at all. Towers do fire on their owners' enemies, and flags can be attacked, so pick your neighbours with care.

Is everyone in the same world?

Yes. There are no separate servers to choose between. Every player shares one map.

Come and claim your corner of the world

Somewhere on the map is the street you grew up on, and right now nobody has planted a flag there. Download Crownfront, claim it, and see how far your borders can reach.