Getting started
Found your village, learn the rhythm, and keep the fire from going dark.
You found a village. It comes as a single NFT, and that NFT is your village. Everything you do happens around its fire.
Watchfire runs on Ronin and Base. When you sign in you choose where your village lives; each chain is a separate world, and you can found a village on each. If you only play on one chain, you will never notice the other.
Connecting in
Connecting your wallet signs you in. You approve one quick signature when you connect, and from then on the village is yours to play. That single sign-in covers everything: gathering, stoking, building, invites, and setting a battle defense all work with no extra prompts. Your session sticks around even if the wallet drops, so play keeps going; connect a different wallet and you just sign in again as that one.
1. Keep the fire lit
The fire is the whole game. You have 3 days to stoke it before it goes out. Each stoke costs 3 wood and a small amount of $FIRE (about a dollar's worth).
Set a reminder. As long as you stoke once every three days, your village lives.
If you miss it, the fire burns down to embers on its own — there's nothing to trigger. You are not finished yet: you have a rescue window to relight the watchfire before the village goes dark for good. See Stoking the fire for the full lifecycle.
2. Gather what you need
Two resources keep a village alive:
- Wood fuels the fire and builds everything. Chop it every 6 hours.
- Food feeds your villagers. Gather it every 3 hours.
More in Resources.
3. Grow your village
When you stoke, the fire checks your food. With food to spare and room in your huts, new villagers arrive. Run short on food and villagers leave.
So the growth loop is: gather food, build huts for room, and keep stoking. Each stoke that adds villagers also raises your score, which is what earns rewards. See Villagers & score.
4. Grow into a Village
Once your camp has grown enough villagers, you can raise the Council Lodge — the build that turns your Camp into a Village. It unlocks lumber camps, farms, and villager work parties, so reach for it as soon as it appears. See Building.
5. Automate the work
You will not want to tap "gather" forever. As a Village, build a lumber camp and a farm and assign villagers to them. They produce wood and food continuously while you are away.
6. Meet the neighbors
Other villages are right next door. Every 6 hours you can raid one for resources, and they can raid you. Pick what to defend before they strike. See Battles.
A healthy daily rhythm
- Stoke the fire when its timer is up (every 3 days).
- Gather food a few times a day; chop wood when its 6-hour timer is ready.
- Build a hut whenever you have spare wood and full huts.
- Once you are a Village, stand up a lumber camp and farm, then assign villagers to them.
- Check the raid tab, take a swing, and set your defense.
Tip
Always keep at least 3 wood on hand for the next stoke. Building yourself out of fuel is the most common way a village goes dark by accident.