Subterfuge guide - Tips and tricks to help you establish underwater supremacy

Six days ago, I was riding high on the seas of Subterfuge's aquatic world. I was cranking out the game's vital resource (Neptunium), maintaining a decent force, and even had a contingency plan set up in case everyone turned on me.

This was before everything changed and hubris got the best of me. I'm here to share my tale with you so that you don't make the same mistakes as me in your week-long game of undersea strategy.

Keep a low profile

First-off, I'd recommend you don't build a mine right away to try and take an early lead - even if you've forged alliances. These can break easily, and spending 50 of your precious drillers early on leaves you in a compromised and weakened position.

If you do decide to try this approach, it's probably best to try and make a funding deal with someone (if possible) for protection rather than launch any attacks of your own.

See who's online when

Keep tabs on all of your opponents right from the start. When do they log in? When are their downtimes? Are they online right now? Could they be talking to each other? These are all things you should consider, because it's likely going to be valuable information for you and your allies.

It might take 10 hours to get a sub to attack your enemy but if you launch it when you know someone's gone to bed, you might get a head start on your strike and they won't be able to recover quickly enough.

Don't count out the specialists

Specialists in Subterfuge can turn the tide of individual battles or the entire game if players use them correctly. Plan ahead for your next specialist hire or promotion so you can either create synergy between your current hires or counteract your opponent's.

Will you go with a team based on mobility, or one that's more defense and production-focused? These are questions you should ask yourself early and often.

Hang in there

In Subterfuge, anything can happen given enough time, so don't quit as soon as things look bad. You could still end up winning.

In my current game I fell very far very fast, but I stuck in there, had a climactic last stand and came out in second place.

In the wind down of the game, I also got to exchange tips with the winner so I can be more prepared for my second game.

Have you been enjoying Subterfuge? Do you have any tips to share with us? Let us know in the comments below!