Free Fire Game Mechanics Guide
Edit- Please note this is an old article and some of the information might be somewhat obsolete. For the latest Free Fire updates on BlueStacks, please read the Updated BlueStacks Guide and Smart Controls Guide for the best results in-game.
50 players go in, only 1 player comes out: Welcome to the survival island of Free Fire. If you are new to Free Fire (and Battle Royale games in general), this guide is for you: We will explain the basic game mechanics and what you need to do in this small but action-packed battleground. Let’s start: The island needs a king and we have 49 competitors.
What Are Battle Royale Games?
“Battle Royale” is actually the name of a Japanese movie that was shot in 2010. The movie is about a dystopian future, where a group of ninth-grade students kills each other for survival. Well, gamers love dystopian futures so they turned the concept of this movie into a game. The most known example of this genre is “Player Unknowns Battlegrounds”.
Free Fire is also a “Battle Royale” game. Its playing field is a small island, which looks like this:
50 players are “thrown” to this island and each one tries to be the last player alive. That’s right: Your goal is to kill other players. The island has lots of buildings and a rich flora. Buildings contain loot (such as weapons and armor) and flora can be used to hide and ambush other players. At the beginning of the game, nobody has any weapon or armor. Once you hit the ground, you are free to do whatever you want – it is even possible to attack other players with your bare hands. As can be guessed, however, arming yourself with weapons and protecting your body with armor before starting a massacre is a better idea. Let’s do that first, shall we?
First Steps: Starting the Game
The main screen of Free Fire is pretty simple:
Start by clicking on the “newbie rewards” button. Free Fire awards players free items based on the number of days they log in. Your first reward is a free t-shirt. 24 hours later, you can get a free armor crate too. Check this screen often to collect your rewards. Most of them are cosmetic items and give no advantage to you in terms of gameplay, but you get to look “cooler”.
Let’s start playing: You can play Free Fire solo, duo, or with a team. There are two types of matches: ranked and normal. Since we are a beginner, regular gameplay should be our choice until we have enough experience. Start a solo match now by pressing the same-named button. Based on the number of online players, your first match will start in a couple seconds or minutes. After the first loading screen, you will be placed in a “waiting area” with other players. Just wait until the countdown ends – there is nothing you can do in this area. Other than looking at the faces of your competitors of course.
Once the countdown ends, there will be another loading screen. This is where the game starts: You will be placed on a plane with other players. Feel free to jump from the plane any time you want. (Check our Where to Land First Guide for recommendations.) Open your parachute, and land on the island: Welcome to the battleground.
Hunting for Loot, Checking The “Safe Zone”
You will land on the island with no resources other than your fists. To be honest, you can’t do much with those. So, your first goal should be to find loot (weapons & armor) as quickly as possible and arm yourself. Check the nearby buildings: Loot can be found inside the buildings. At this stage, you will notice the “countdown” on top of your interface. You have 4 minutes until the first “safe zone” appears. However, most of this time will get wasted while you are trying to land, so in reality, you have 2 – 2.5 minutes before relocating to the safe zone. Use this time wisely and try to arm yourself. Snipers are most effective, especially at medium to long ranges. Duh! Also, Do not engage in combat at this point, let other players kill each other.
So, what is this “safe zone”? It is a big and wide white circle that can appear anywhere on the map. Inside of this circle is “safe”. Outside is not – if you stay outside of the white circle once it has appeared, you will keep losing your health and die in a couple minutes. So, you should stay inside the white-circle (safe zone) at all times. Well, not always, since you can get in and out as a tactic, but this is an advanced strategy which we will talk about in a different guide. As of now, know that you must stay inside the circle after it appears.
The fun part is, this safe zone constantly shrinks.
In other words, the game area keeps getting smaller and smaller. At the end of the game, it will be a tiny circle and staying outside will kill you much quicker. So if you are dreaming about hiding in a cozy spot until other players get bored, you can’t. Hiding and setting up ambushes is an important part of Free Fire, but you cannot stay in one place forever.
Combat Mechanics
You will find loot inside of buildings and once you go near them, you can see the list of loot at the upper right corner of your screen:
Click on the loot buttons to take and use them. If you have no weapons & armor, you will automatically equip the first ones you find. You can carry a primary weapon, a secondary weapon, and a sidearm at the same time and switch between them anytime you want. The extra loot you will find will be placed in your inventory, which you can open by clicking the bag icon at the middle-left side of your screen. For example, if you want to equip a different weapon you must open your inventory and click on that weapon.
Combat is not that hard if you are using BlueStacks: A simple right-click will bring up the aiming screen and/or the scope, if you are using a sniper rifle. Always aim for the head: Head-shots give the most damage. Equipping an armor will lower the amount of damage you receive too. Sooner or later, you will die: Do not worry, we just started playing and we will become better with each gameplay.
For more tips on Combat, you can read the Free Fire combat Guide by BlueStacks.
We hope this guide did a good job of getting you excited about Free Fire. Keep reading our guides to learn more about the game: We have just started and there are still lots of things to know if you truly want to become the king of the island.
