A five-step course on getting started with a free-to-play PC game, written for people who have never installed one
Five short lessons, read in order, each ending in a checklist you can work through on your own. Reading the whole course takes about an hour and a quarter; doing the checklists alongside it takes an evening or two, and nothing is spoiled by stopping halfway.
It is published by Fourasia s.r.o. for readers in Australia, and it assumes you know how to use a computer and nothing at all about games.
How this workbook is paid for
Some lessons name real products. Where we link to World of Warships, that link is a paid affiliate link: if you follow it and go on to create and activate an account, the affiliate network that operates the link pays Fourasia s.r.o. a commission. You pay the same either way, and the commission plays no part in what the lessons say or which products they mention.
You can finish all five steps and every checklist without following that link, without installing anything and without spending a cent. Our full explanation is on the Affiliate Disclosure page.
The five steps
- Step 1 — What free-to-play actually asks of you. Where the money comes from when the game itself has no price.
- Step 2 — Will your computer run it? Finding your own hardware details and comparing them to what a vendor publishes.
- Step 3 — Terms, ratings and the in-game shop. Reading the account agreement, the classification and the price list before you agree to them.
- Step 4 — Making an account and installing. Getting from a vendor's own site to a working installation without picking up anything else.
- Step 5 — The first month and your own limits. Settings, spending caps, other people in the household, and how to stop cleanly.
Every checklist is also gathered on the All checklists page, laid out to print so you can tick the boxes with a pen. Nothing here remembers what you ticked, because nothing here stores anything at all.
Who this course is for, and who it is not for
It is for an adult in Australia who has heard that a particular computer game is free, is mildly curious, and does not want to find out the hard way what "free" was shorthand for. It is also for a parent or grandparent asked to allow a game on a household computer who wants to understand the request before answering it.
It is not for people who already play, it is not a review and it ranks nothing, and it is not technical support — we cannot see your computer and no part of this site checks or scans the device you are reading on.
The one checklist to do before anything else
Before Step 1, spend ten minutes on four things. They cost nothing and they make the rest of the course shorter.
- Which computer would you install on, and does it run Windows, macOS or Linux? Most large desktop games are not published for Linux, including the one named here.
- Which email address would you use, and can you still sign in to it?
- What is the most you would spend on a game in a year, in dollars? Zero is a complete answer.
- Who else uses that computer, and is any of them under eighteen?
Keep the note beside you. Steps 2, 3 and 5 all refer back to it.
A worked example we follow through all five steps
Each step returns to the same hypothetical household. It is an invention written to illustrate the steps, not a real family, and no part of it describes anyone's experience of any product.
Picture a six-year-old desktop in a hallway, shared by two adults and a fourteen-year-old. Nobody has installed a game before. There is no strong feeling either way — just a wish not to break the computer, not to be billed by surprise, and not to have an argument in three months. Each step shows what they would write down; Step 5 shows the two decisions they reach. We never say whether they enjoyed anything, because a made-up household cannot report a result.
What you can do for free
Almost all of it. Every checklist can be completed with a browser and the system information screen your computer already has.
Reading your own hardware is free. So is reading a vendor's published requirements, reading an account agreement, looking a title up on the Australian Classification Board site, and setting a household rule about spending. So is deciding to install nothing, which is a complete outcome rather than a failure of the course.
Where World of Warships appears in the course, and why
World of Warships is a desktop naval game. The affiliate network that operates our link states that it runs the game's affiliate programme and that commission is paid on a single opt-in — a download, and the creation and activation of an account. That is the whole of what we have been told, and we do not add to it.
It appears in Steps 1 to 4 as a worked case, so the exercises are not abstract, and each appearance carries a one-line note saying the link is paid. One limit comes from the same material: the game is published for desktop Windows and Mac, with no Linux version.
Official Australian help
These are the bodies whose published material the course points to. We describe what each one is; we do not speak for any of them.
- Australian Classification Board — classifies films, games and publications, and publishes a searchable database of decisions.
- eSafety Commissioner — Australia's online safety regulator, with guidance on games and parental controls.
- Scamwatch — run by the National Anti-Scam Centre; collects scam reports and publishes warnings.
- Australian Cyber Security Centre — practical security advice for individuals and small businesses.
- ACCC — the competition and consumer regulator, responsible for the Australian Consumer Law.
- OAIC — the privacy regulator, which oversees the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).
Short FAQ
Do I have to finish the course in one sitting?
No. The steps are in order, but each is self-contained and ends in a checklist, so stopping between steps loses nothing.
Will this course tell me which game to pick?
No. It teaches you what to read and where the published facts sit, so that you can decide. We name one product and we are paid if you sign up through our link, which is exactly why we do not rank anything.
Does the site keep any record of me?
Our hosting provider keeps ordinary server access logs for 30 days. Beyond that, nothing: no cookies, no analytics, no sign-up, no saved progress. The Cookie Policy lists every technology we checked for.
Who writes it, and how often is it reviewed?
The Fourasia s.r.o. editorial team, with no individual bylines; twice a year, and whenever a change in Australian law or classification affects a step. The About page sets out the method in full. There is no certificate and nothing to register for.
Tide note — Even Datum is an independent workbook published by Fourasia s.r.o. It is not an official source for any game, and it is not a news outlet. Last reviewed 16 October 2026.