Game of War probably has the most intense UI out of any game in the App Store. At first glance it will all seem very overwhelming, but this article will answer all of your questions.
Start at the bottom left of your screen and goes counter clockwise (right).
Allows you to toggle between castle view and kingdom view. In castle view, you can manage all of the buildings inside your castle, your hero (top left), your VIP (top left), buy gold (top right), view your boosts (middle right), view recommended quests (bottom), and view any ongoing events (middle right). In kingdom view you can see the castles surrounding you, search for the coordinates of other people and rss, collect rss, attack others, and set rallies.
Simply a quest recommendation. Depending on your circumstances you may or may not focus on the recommended quest. After stronghold level 3 I stopped looking at the recommended quests and made my own decisions.
Allows you to view every item you receive. Items are divided into “Store” and “My Items”. The “Store” is where you can buy all the items available in the game with gold, and the “My Items” tab contains all the items you already own. You receive items at the start of the game just for downloading the app; also, from chests, the casino, event rewards, gifts, and anything you purchase with gold.
Allows you to view anything in regards to your alliance: leader, power, members, gift level, gifts, store, comments, resource help, reinforcement, rallies, members, stats, profile, and leaving the alliance.
It is divided into 4 sections: Inbox, Reports, Saved, and Notice. The Inbox contains all personal messages sent to you from other people and your alliance. The Reports contain scout reports, victory/defeat reports, gathering reports, event rewards, gift reports, and resources given or sent. The Saved tab contains all the messages you have saved (stared) from any other mail tab.
Hero you can do almost every task in the game in some way. Play around inside here to see all the features. I hardly ever use this except to search for player’s or alliance’s profiles.
This helps your alliance and yourself a lot! In the beginning it’s hard to understand all of its advantages. First off, spam this as much as possible to create a culture of helping each other in the alliance. The help button reduces the amount of time for you and your alliance members to build, research, train, and heal. The default instant construction speedup (the big FREE button) is activated at 5min when no VIP is active--it is higher when VIP is active. Also, although there is no instant research speedup, the help button does help speed-up your research. The higher level hero you have, the more help you can receive. Research help and training help work the same way. Furthermore, if your troops are wounded in the hospital and you want to heal them quickly, then heal them at your help level plus 1 or 2 minutes. For example, if you healed all of your troops at once for 45 minutes with only 15 minutes of help you would have to wait 30 min (45 – 15 = 30). But, if you healed 3 groups of troops for 15-17 minutes at a time then you would only have to wait a max of 6 minutes theoretically. I throw in 2 extra minutes to account for the time I think it takes my allies to click the help button, I assume it takes them about 2 minutes to hit the help button 15 times.
Allows you to view individual and alliance events. All events are explained when you tap on the icon.
These icons show you what boosts or shield you currently have active.
These are the entire count of all your resource you have at your disposal for building, researching, training etc. But, you may also have some resources you can use in your Items > My Items > Resources tab. (Quick Tip: If I am anticipating being attacked, like during a kill event, I will save up resources in my items bag so I can quickly restock if I get attacked)
Buy your gold here! I like to wait for the $100 gold packs to go on sale for +300%. (Quick Tip: Only use gold on research and building because those cause your power to rise permanently, troops can be healed or retrained. Although sometimes I also spend my gold on shields or books of war)
This is basically your personal profile tab tells you a lot of details about your castle. Scroll through this and try to understand what each line means to gain a better understanding of the game as a whole.
If this icon is blinking then your VIP is activated. Clicking this icon and then any VIP will show the benefits of having an active VIP.
See/Switch your armor, see your hero boosts, see how much hero XP for your next level, and see/use your skill points. If this icon is blinking then you have available skill points. If this icon is displaying jail bars then your hero has been taken.
This is a list of everything you are building, researching, training, questing, healing, and crafting. Select the speed-up option to use speed-ups on an item in the list.
Switch to Kingdom view and follow from top right to top left.
Expand the viewing screen to more effectively search for anything around the Kingdom.
This icon will take you to the all-mighty Wonder in the very center of your kingdom!
This will take you to your Map Inventory, Combine / Assemble Map Pieces, and your Journal.
Allows you see the all the other kingdoms in the game. Also, tapping this and then re-entering your kingdom will automatically center your screen on the Wonder.
Use this to search coordinates given to you. To search within your own kingdom, you only need the X and Y coordinates.
This is where all your bookmarks are saved. To bookmark something: click a tile, castle, or rss and when the dialogue box pops up, click the bookmark icon on the top left of the dialogue box.
Tap this to center your screen back on your castle after scrolling around the kingdom.
I hope you aren't freaking out so much anymore 
Enjoy!
Navi
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