Choosing your route

Facts checked 1 Nov 2026

You now know what Influence is, how to sign in, and where you might start. Next come the practical skills every crew needs: prospecting, extracting, refining, and manufacturing. There are two ways to learn them, and both lead to the same place.

Route one: practise with a tutor crew

Hire an Academy tutor crew by the day, and practise on the Academy's own asteroid before you buy anything.

• Best For: Players comfortable with using blockchain who'd like to try before they buy.
• What You Need: A wallet app such as Ready X or Braavos, with a little SWAY and STRK in it. Hiring on adalia.exchange doesn't work with an Influence Account yet.
• What It Costs: 100 SWAY a day, a tiny fraction of a cent, for about two weeks, with a tutor crew that has a Miner, an Engineer, a Scientist, and often a Merchant.
• Start Here: Course 02, Your Wallet and First Crew, shows you how to set up and fund a wallet, then hire and feed your crew.

Route two: start with your own crew

Get a crew of your own straight away, and learn as you go.

• Best For: Anyone, including players who would rather not deal with the blockchain at all. An Influence Account, using Google or an email address, is all you need.
• What You Need: A crew of your own: a single crewmate, recruited by card for about $5, or a starter pack. See Starter packs and your first crewmates, which also helps you choose their classes.
• Start Here: Course 08, Starting for Real, walks you through recruiting your crew and your first days. The game's starter missions then teach you prospecting, extracting, refining, and manufacturing on your own asteroid, and our Guides explain how each one works anywhere in the belt.
• Not the Training Ground: The Training Ground courses use the Academy's buildings and marketplace on Adalia Academy, so they need a tutor crew stationed there. A crew of your own, based elsewhere, can't follow them.

One thing to know for now: buying SWAY by card in the game's Store is temporarily unavailable, and the starter missions' SWAY rewards aren't switched on yet (checked 31 Oct 2026). Without SWAY you can't lease buildings or buy supplies, so for the moment this route works best with a starter pack, whose free lot leases, building materials, and food let you build your own on Adalia Prime. We expect both to be working before long, and we'll update this page when they are.

You can change your mind

• Own Crew Now, a Tutor Later: If your crew lacks a class you need, say an Engineer for refining, you can set up a wallet later and hire an Academy tutor crew, which has an Engineer and a Scientist as well as a Miner, and often a Merchant too.
• Practise First, Then Buy: After the Training Ground, you'll know which classes you want in your own crew, and Starting for Real takes you from there.