OGame Crawler

What are Crawlers?

Crawlers are a special unit in OGame that fundamentally differ from all other ships: they cannot fly. Crawlers are ground-based machines that are permanently stationed on your planet and provide a direct percentage production bonus to your resource mines.

Each crawler slightly increases the production of the metal mine, crystal mine and deuterium synthesiser. A single crawler alone is barely noticeable — but dozens or hundreds of crawlers together can significantly boost a planet's daily production. For players who focus on the miner playstyle, crawlers are therefore one of the most important investments.

How many crawlers can I build?

The maximum number of usable crawlers is limited and depends directly on your mine levels:

Maximum = (Metal mine level + Crystal mine level + Deuterium synthesiser level) × 8

For example, if you have metal mine at level 20, crystal mine at level 17 and deuterium synthesiser at level 13, this gives (20+17+13) × 8 = 400 crawlers. Crawlers beyond this maximum provide no additional bonus — save these resources for other buildings.

Example calculations

Collector class: Why crawlers are essential here

All three OGame classes can build and use crawlers — but the collector class is clearly optimised for crawler players:

• Increased bonus per crawler: Collectors receive a significantly higher production bonus per crawler than general or discoverer
• Additional crawler slot: The collector class can operate additional crawlers beyond the normal class limit
• Energy bonus: Fewer energy problems due to the class bonus on energy production
• Plasma technology synergy: The collector class's resource bonus stacks with the crawler bonus

For general and discoverer classes, crawlers are less attractive: the bonus per unit is lower and other investments provide quicker benefits.

Energy costs and optimisation

Crawlers consume energy. The more crawlers you operate, the more energy is required. If your energy production isn't sufficient, crawlers are automatically shut down and produce no bonus.

Therefore, regularly check your energy balance:

• Keep solar power plant at a high level
• Use fusion reactor as an alternative later on
• Use solar satellites as a flexible energy source
• Research energy technology for more efficient production

The collector class has another advantage here: the class's energy bonus reduces overall energy requirements and allows more scope for a large crawler fleet.

Building crawlers: When is it worthwhile?

Crawlers are a long-term investment. The building costs per unit are cheap, but with hundreds of crawlers, the effort adds up. As a guideline:

• Early game phase (mines at level 5–10): Crawlers don't yet play a major role — invest first in mines and research
• Middle game phase (mines at level 11–20): Gradually build up crawlers, use full capacity as soon as possible
• Late game phase (mines at level 20+): Crawlers are now a central part of the collector strategy and maximise the gap to other players in resource production

Unlike ships, crawlers cannot be attacked or stolen — they are permanent on your planet and are only lost if your planet is bombarded in combat.