This guide offers hints and strategies for playing Clash Royale.

1. Join a clan.

• When you're in a clan, you can request 1 rare card or 10 common cards every 8 hours.
• You can also challenge your fellow clan members to a friendly battle. These battles don't affect your trophy score, but they're a great way to test your skills or try out a new deck.
• Donating cards to others in your clan gives you experience and gold. It also "makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside".

2. Drag cards instead of tapping.

• Dragging cards to an area will help make sure you place them exactly where you want.
• If you drag cards onto the field, you can also play multiple cards simultaneously.

3. Collect free chest rewards when you can.

• Even if you're not playing games or thinking about your deck strategy, you can collect cards every day for free. This will help you build your deck without spending much money.

4. Claim your achievements.

• Claiming achievements will give you experience points and gems. As you level up, you'll gain more hitpoints for your towers.

5. Don't neglect the common cards.

• Epic and rare cards may look cooler, but they aren't always better.
• Elixir control is very important. If your average elixir cost is low (3-4), you'll be able to deploy more troops than your opponent. This is how higher level common cards can take out a lower level epic card easily.

6. Watch the pros.

• Check out TV Royale every once in a while. You'll gain a sense of what cards the top players are using, and how they're playing them.
• Their successes can also indicate which cards are the most useful at the moment to level up.

7. Be patient on the battlefield.

• If you can, let your opponent make the first move. It's easier to crush their army if they're within range of your defensive units. This will give you an elixir advantage, and will give you information about their deck.
• Don't deploy everything at once if you can help it. If you run out of elixir, you'll soon watch your towers fall to your opponent.

More resources:

• Clash Royale Guide - Chest Drop Misconceptions
• Clash Royale on Reddit