PUBG MOBILE for Beginners

PlayerUnknown's BattleGrounds Mobile, more commonly known as PUBG MOBILE was first launched on 19th March 2018 and has crossed over 60 million downloads on the Play Store and App Store combined. The game is extremely popular among Indians, especially college students. If you visit any college campus, chances are you will encounter at least 3-4 guys sitting together engrossed in their phones with loud gunshots all around them. If you ever wished to play this popular game, then keep reading, you will find everything you need to know in this post.

1. Downloading the game

Based on your device, you can download the game from either the Play Store or the App Store. If you are using an emulator, I have a different post highlighting the steps for using the Tencent Gaming Buddy (Official PUBG MOBILE Emulator).

2. Setting it up

After opening the game for the first time, you might encounter the following screens.

The game will automatically recommend the best graphics settings based on your device. You can change this later. Select Got it and proceed.

This is the main login page. You can either log in with a temporary Guest account (though it is not recommended as you might lose your data while switching devices in the future). Alternatively, you can either use your Facebook or Twitter account. You can also click on 'More' and select your Play Games or Game Center account, based on your OS. You are allowed to link a total of 2 social accounts to your PUBG MOBILE profile.

Next, you will be asked to select a default server and you should preferably choose your continent as you will have a much lower ping. You can edit this later. After selecting a server, you will see this window where you are supposed to edit your character appearance. You can choose either a male or a female character and edit their physical looks starting from their skin and body type, the hairstyle and hair colour, which you can edit later. In the beginning, you begin with no clothing items and you will get more of them as you progress in the game. You can choose to add your country's flag from the option below (which you cannot edit for 60 days) and finally, you have to enter a unique in-game ID for your character. Enter this carefully as moving forward, you will need a special card to change this nickname. After selecting all of this, you can press Create.

3. Home Screen

So this is the home screen for the latest 0.6.1 version. It might appear a little cluttered for a new player, but the developers have fixed it by bringing a much simpler home screen for the 0.7.0 version. The top left corner of the screen is where you actually select the game type and start the game. In the beginning, you are only allowed to begin with the classic Third Person Perspective game mode in the Erangel Map. More options will open up as the game progresses. I will mention all the other home screen features in a future post.

4. Recommended Settings

Before you begin your game, change a few settings that will help you in improving your gameplay. From the Home Screen and open the gear icon at the top right corner. This is the first screen that pops up. You can change the Crosshair Colour according to your preference. I have kept it green as it helps in visibility, especially in the desert map. Also, make sure you enable the Peek & Fire option, which comes handy during gunfights inside buildings. Next, open the Graphics option from the right side of the menu.

You have to set the graphics settings according to your device. choosing HR or HDR will enable shadows and more details in your game and help your game appear really good, but only the high-end devices that have the latest processors can support that mode. So if you have a mid-range Android or a relatively older iPhone, I would recommend a selecting Smooth or Balanced. The rest of the controls can be kept as default.

5. Tutorial

Now, go back to the home screen and click on the tiny arrow at the bottom right corner and select Tutorial. This will lead you to the in-game tutorial for new players that covers all the basic aspects of the game that a new player needs to understand. You can select all of the options on the right side and understand the controls for the game. The game also has an in-game tutorial that will assist you during your first game.

In case you want to first test out the gameplay, you can do so in the training arena. Look at the bottom left corner of the Home Screen and you can spot Training. Open that, and it will lead you to the Training Arena where you can test out all the features of the game.

After going through these basic steps, you are good to go for your first game. go to the Home Screen, select if you want to play solo, duo or squad, and press Start. 

You will be redirected to the lobby where you can just move around casually while the other 100 players join your game and then after the timer reaches 0, your game begins. Good Luck in getting that Chicken Dinner.

My In-game ID: @gimmerick

Image Credits: Screenshots from my phone.