Getting Started

New to WinBolo? Welcome aboard. WinBolo is a multiplayer tank game for up to 16 players — you pilot a tank across a top-down island, capturing pillboxes and bases and battling for control of the map. This page walks you through getting into your first game. If you'd like to know more about the game itself first, see About the Game.


1. Get the game

WinBolo is free. Download it on the platform you play on:
  • Windows, Mac & Linux — free on Steam, available now.
  • iOS — free on the Apple App Store. (coming soon)
  • Android — free on Google Play. (coming soon)
  • Web — play straight from your browser. (coming soon)
Every platform plays together on the same servers, so it doesn't matter what your friends are on. An optional Supporter Pack is available if you'd like to help fund ongoing development — it's never required.

2. Create a WinBolo.net account

You don't need an account to play, but signing up lets the game track your ranking, stats and team partnerships, and share one profile between the game and this site. It's free, with no fees of any kind.
  • Open the Log in menu in the top-right corner of any page and choose Signup (or go straight to the signup page).
  • Prefer Steam? Choose Sign in with Steam and a linked WinBolo.net account is created for you automatically.
On a shared computer, remember to log out when you're done so nobody posts in the forums or leaves your teams under your name.

3. Sign in from the game

Launch WinBolo and sign in with your WinBolo.net account from the top-left of the welcome screen. From then on, the online games you play are tracked against your profile automatically. In a game, players using their WinBolo.net name are marked with a globe icon. Whether you use your WinBolo.net name is up to you, game by game.

4. Join your first game

Use the in-game server browser to find a game, or host your own — WinBolo opens your ports automatically, so self-hosting usually just works. Hosting a server drops you into a lobby where you can pick teams, vote on maps and add AI bots to fill out the sides.

You can also see who's playing right now without opening the game: the Active Games page lists live servers and the players in them, and you can watch a real-time log of any game in progress.


5. Learn the ropes

Ready to actually win? Head to How to Play for the core mechanics — capturing pillboxes and bases, building, mines and alliances. The FAQ answers the common account, team and ranking questions, and the Forums are the place to ask anything else.