All games tend to have that currency in them these days that costs actually money to acquire. In Forge of Empires, these are Diamonds. You can get a lot of cool things with diamonds, but is it necessary or worth it to do so? That’s a question that sometimes can be a struggle to decide on, but since actual money is involved, it’s a very important one to consider. The glory of this game though, is that it is entirely possible to play it without ever spending a single cent on diamonds. Many games cannot boast that. It doesn’t mean the pressure to buy won’t ever be there, though.

First and foremost it is important to remember that this game is a marathon, not a sprint. Diamonds can certainly speed up your growth in game, but it’s not necessary. There is a definite benefit to moving slowly and methodically through an era, and even sitting in an era until you’re ready to age up. So you should never feel pressured to spend money to buy diamonds to move up, especially if you’re not ready.

This game will actually give you diamonds, if you’re patient enough. You can win them from quests, in Guild Expedition, from certain special buildings (like Wishing Wells and Fountains of Youth), in the random events that happen around your town, and possibly more in the future. Naturally you’ll want to ration where and when you spend them, but the beauty of it is that you’ll get this rare currency for free, instead of with your hard earned cash. If you’re someone who is under 18 (so without a means to buy things online), or who barely makes enough to pay the bills, or who just doesn’t like to spend money on pixels; then this helps you out a lot.

You also need to recognize if you’re the kind of person who can get addicted to buying in-game currency, and possibly get yourself into trouble. A game is never worth that kind of issue, so if you think you might be this kind of person, or realize that you are, buying diamonds is not for you.

Of course, there will always be players who do buy diamonds, and this is a legitimate way to play the game. Inno does need money in order to provide the game to us, and so this is their way to get that money. Some people honestly have the disposable income to drop money on this game, and you can typically spot them without them admitting it. These are the people who seem to have no issues doing things in an amount of time that seems too quick to be true.

There is nothing wrong with buying and using diamonds, but since not everyone can do this it’s important to not compare your own growth to anyone else’s. We are all going to grow at our own pace, in our own way. Comparing yourself to someone else will only put pressure on yourself to perhaps buy something you don’t need to spend money on. Especially if the person you’re looking up to and/or comparing yourself to does use diamonds frequently (whether you know it or not), and you cannot afford to do the same; that will only serve to be disappointing.

Guild Expedition, and now Daily Quests, have also made it so that it’s possible to win premium items that cost diamonds for free. This means that these buildings, which used to be exclusively for those who would spend real money on the game, are now something anyone can potentially achieve. Therefore, there’s no reason why you have to buy diamonds to get some of this stuff. It also means that you can save the diamonds you win for absolute “necessity”.

The “necessity” usually comes when you have an above-age troop you’ve accidentally just killed and want to save, or if you “desperately” need an expansion, or if you’re trying to build Observatory and need just one more BP (since that one you cannot earn BPs through aiding/plundering). Even still, you don’t want to do this often, and you definitely do not want to do this if it means actually spending money you don’t have. If they’re diamonds you won through other methods, no worries. It cannot be stressed enough however that nothing in this game is worth ruining your budget for living expenses over.

Players who cannot buy diamonds with real money, but who want to fund their main city with diamonds to use as they determine they need them, will often set up what are known as diamond towns. All cities you have on a server share diamonds among them, so basically they just make cities to farm diamonds. This is usually achieved by doing enough GE and events to get a wealth of Wishing Wells and Fountains of Youth that they can collect daily, giving them diamonds regularly enough to call it good. There are more nuances than that, but this isn’t the topic to go into it under.

Essentially, the gist of this is to understand that if you cannot buy diamonds, it’s okay. You don’t have to buy them, but also don’t expect to move as fast at anything necessarily as those that do buy diamonds. That’s okay too, you don’t have to move quickly. There is absolutely no reason to buy diamonds if you cannot afford them, or don’t want to risk getting yourself into a sticky situation because of it. The game is totally playable without them. Plus, you can win them or earn a lot of the stuff they buy through other methods.

So play the game at your own pace, with what you have available. Realize too, that if you’re unable to buy diamonds (or just don’t want to), that you’re likely going to be a stronger player for it. When you buy diamonds and have an easier time reviving troops when you want to, or making it through quests, or getting BPs, etc.; you miss out on learning the subtle strategies of the game that really make you a powerful player. When you don’t have a safety net to fall back on, you have to learn to be more clever, more careful, and more strategic. It’s really coming to understand these nuances that make you stronger. You can only benefit by learning from this sort of experience. So even if you have the ability to buy diamonds, and perhaps even have bought them, or have farmed enough to make it seem like you did; it’s worth trying to play without relying on them to learn these things.

Again, the game is a marathon, not a sprint. Stop and smell the roses. Enjoy each era you’re in. Take the time to earn stuff the old fashioned way instead of buying them with diamonds. Learn something new. Refine a skill. And treat diamonds like a rare treat that you don’t need, but perhaps is nice to have on only the most special of occasions… maybe.