Welcome to the comprehensive guide for Drum Corps: The Game! This tutorial will help you understand all aspects of managing your drum corps organization and competing successfully.
To begin playing, you'll need to create an account. Registration is simple:
Once registered, you'll have access to your dashboard where you can manage your organization and corps.
After registration, you can create your first drum corps:
Your corps will start with a budget based on its division. Use this money wisely to hire staff and members, and register for shows.
The premier division with the highest starting budget. Members age out at 22 years old.
A competitive division with moderate starting budget. Members age out between 18-19 years old.
An inclusive division with lower starting budget. Members can participate until age 65, when they retire.
Your corps dashboard provides a comprehensive view of your corps' status:
You can customize your corps through the edit page:
Your corps information is visible to other players, so make it memorable!
Each corps has its own budget separate from your organization funds:
Keep a close eye on your corps finances to avoid running out of money mid-season.
Organization Minutes are an automatic activity log for each of your corps. The game records meaningful events—competition results, roster and staff changes, season rollover outcomes, and periodic snapshots—so you can review what happened and when without digging through every screen.
Entries are read-only: you cannot edit or delete them. They are created by the game when actions run or when scheduled jobs process the season.
You can jump straight to that tab with this link: Organization dashboard → Minutes.
Each row shows the date, season, corps name, category, and a detailed description of the action.
Minutes are grouped for easier review:
Note: Daily trivia play is not listed here; legacy trivia-only minute rows are hidden from this view so the log stays focused on corps and organization activity.
Staff members are essential for improving your corps' performance:
Important: The site randomly generates staff members, and each staff member can only be associated with one corps at a time. Once a staff member is hired by a corps, they become unavailable to other corps until they are fired or leave.
Higher effect staff typically cost more, but provide better performance improvements.
Different staff positions affect different aspects of your corps:
Each staff member's effect rating determines how much they improve their respective sections.
Staff members require payment:
Balance your staff quality with your budget to maintain financial stability.
Staff loyalty affects retention:
Maintaining high staff loyalty helps ensure continuity and stability for your corps.
Staff members retire at age 66:
You can fire staff members at any time:
Consider the timing of firing staff, as you'll need to find replacements before the next season.
Members are the heart of your corps:
Important: The site randomly generates members, and each member can only be associated with one corps at a time. Once a member is hired by a corps, they become unavailable to other corps until they are cut, age out, or leave.
Choose members that fit your budget and performance goals.
Your corps consists of several sections:
Each section has maximum member limits. Fill your sections strategically to maximize your scoring potential.
Each member has several important attributes:
All attributes work together to determine a member's value and contribution to your corps.
Members have a price that must be paid:
Manage your member roster carefully to ensure you can afford everyone.
You can cut members from your corps:
Strategic cutting can help optimize your roster and budget.
Members age out based on their division:
When members age out:
Plan for age-outs by maintaining a pipeline of younger members and monitoring your roster's age distribution.
A fleet is required: motor coaches are how your members and staff move on tour, and you buy or lease from the catalog on your corps page. The game uses your fleet to cap how many people you can carry, to charge travel fuel or charging costs when you register for the next show (based on distance from your previous venue), and to set how much practice focus time you can allocate across captions. Buses also tie into member health over the season through the first bus in your fleet’s catalog health rating.
Both options are paid from corps funds. Purchase price and lease price are listed per model. Owned buses show ongoing maintenance in your fleet summary; leased units do not. Bus models are either diesel or electric—compare range (miles per tank or per charge) and cost to fill or recharge when you think about long legs between shows.
When you commit to a model, the game adds enough identical units so that total seat capacity covers your current members plus staff (rounding up). Larger coaches mean fewer vehicles for the same headcount. If your roster grows later, you cannot add buses mid-season—you are locked in until the season ends—so plan hires with seats in mind.
If you ever have more people than seats, the corps page warns you that you are over capacity and lose the usual bus benefits (travel economics, practice focus budget, and health bonuses) until you cut the roster or next season lets you resize the fleet.
You may only lock in your fleet once per season; after that you cannot add more buses until season rollover. You can sell the entire fleet or cancel a full lease only before you have registered for any show that season and before the corps has competed in the first show of the season. Proceeds are 60% of the current catalog buy or lease value for the units you remove, credited to corps funds. Clearing the fleet also resets practice focus time if you had allocated any, because that budget comes from your buses.
Each registration can include a travel gas (or electric) line item. The game estimates the road leg from your last completed show’s venue to the new one (or skips the charge when there is no prior show). Cost scales with how many buses you run and with the fuel economy snapshot taken from the first bus row in your fleet (range and cost to fill).
Your corps’ practice focus point budget is the sum of practice boost on every bus in the fleet—there is no separate base. You distribute those points across captions on the corps page to nudge scores; the total you assign cannot exceed that combined budget. More or nicer buses mean more flexibility for how you emphasize brass, visual, ensemble, and so on.
Daily health gains for assigned members can improve when your fleet’s lead bus (first row in the fleet listing) has a higher health rating on the catalog—that model is treated as setting the standard of comfort and care on tour.
Open a corps from your organization dashboard. The Bus Fleet card summarizes your coaches, links to the catalog when you need to compare or select models (within season rules), and offers sell or lease cancellation when permitted. Purchases and changes are also recorded under Organization Minutes for auditing.
Shows are competitions where your corps competes:
Plan your show schedule carefully to balance competition opportunities with your budget.
Each show has a registration fee:
Budget for show fees when planning your season. You can unregister and receive a refund as long as the show hasn't been scored yet.
It's important to register for enough shows:
While you can compete with fewer shows, you'll be at a disadvantage. Aim for 10 or more shows to maximize your competitive potential.
Your corps improves throughout the season:
This progression system rewards consistent participation and helps simulate real drum corps season development.
The DCI Individual & Ensemble (I&E) Competition is a prestigious event that showcases the exceptional talent of individual performers from drum corps across the country. This competition provides members with the opportunity to demonstrate their skills in solo performances across various categories.
I&E competitions celebrate the artistry and technical excellence of individual performers, highlighting the dedication and hard work that goes into perfecting each performance.
The I&E Competition features soloists across multiple categories:
To send members to compete in I&E:
Choose your members wisely - send your most talented performers to maximize your chances of winning.
Participating in I&E offers several benefits:
If your members place in the top 3 of their category:
Top 3 placements are determined per section, so there are multiple opportunities to win across different categories. The competition is scored based on member talent, staff effect, health, and loyalty.
I&E is held once per season, the day between the regular season shows and Prelims. Make sure to register your members before the competition date!
There are two types of money in the game:
You can transfer money between your corps and your organization in both directions. Transfer money from corps to your organization to consolidate funds and manage your overall financial strategy. You can also transfer money from your organization back to corps when they need additional funding.
Each division starts with a different budget:
These budgets are designed to reflect the different competitive levels and operational costs of each division.
You can transfer money in both directions:
Transfers are instant and cannot be reversed, so plan carefully.
If you find yourself short on funds, loans are available:
While loans can help in emergencies, the interest payments can strain your finances. Use them wisely.
There are several ways to earn money:
Diversifying your revenue sources is key to long-term success.
If your organization runs out of money, you may need to file for bankruptcy:
Bankruptcy is a serious action that cannot be undone. It's better to manage your finances carefully to avoid this situation.
If you go inactive (either through bankruptcy or lack of funds), your corps will not compete in the next season but can return in future seasons.
Every day, you have the opportunity to answer a trivia question to earn money for your organization:
Make sure to check back daily to take advantage of this opportunity to boost your finances!
When you answer a trivia question correctly, you earn money for your organization:
Choose your category wisely - higher rewards come with greater risk!
Answering trivia questions incorrectly can cost you money:
Be careful when attempting higher value questions - make sure you're confident in your answer, or stick with lower value questions to avoid penalties.
The header of the website features a "Did you know?" section that displays trivia information:
Pay attention to the "Did you know?" section - it can help you learn facts that might appear in future trivia questions!
Show scores are determined by multiple factors:
Understanding how scores work helps you make better strategic decisions.
Member health directly affects performance:
Investing in health & wellness staff helps maintain member health throughout the season.
Member talent is a primary factor in scoring:
Hiring talented members is essential, but balance talent with your budget.
Staff members improve their respective sections:
Hiring quality staff is crucial for competitive success.
The size of your corps affects ensemble scores:
Balance your corps size with your budget to maximize performance.
You can invest in show design to improve scores:
Strategic design point allocation can help you emphasize your corps' strengths.
Your corps improves throughout the season:
This system rewards consistent participation and simulates real drum corps development.
At the end of each season, several automatic processes occur:
These processes happen automatically, so plan ahead to ensure your corps is ready for the next season.
Retention is based on several factors:
Maintaining high loyalty and sufficient funds is key to keeping your roster intact.
Several financial transactions occur between seasons:
Ensure you have sufficient funds to cover all expenses, or you may lose members and staff.
Everyone ages between seasons:
Plan for age progression by maintaining younger members and staff, or be prepared to replace those who age out.
You now have a comprehensive understanding of how Drum Corps: The Game works. Remember:
Good luck building your championship-winning drum corps organization!