How to play the game?

Ok here i go.

let me try to do this a little generalize, this is what you got to do:

1-Destroy towers to open a path to the enemys citadel and destroy it ( i belive this is the standarize way of battle, but there are others ), and yes they can kill you quickly, thats why you got to use your creeps as shields, you cant control them, so you need to go with them and atack the same tower as them. You mentioned that they kill your demigod quickly, well i belive that maybe you are using a general or a demigod with low health like torch bearer or such, so you just got to sumon your minions and let them die. The game starts pretty slow cause must demigods cant beat a tower on thier own at lv1, actually i think none of them can, so you should just go on and kill enemy creeps until you have enough level. The only demigod, that i know if, that can kill towers at a very early level is rook with its ability to drain life from structures but even so he needs the help of some creeps and a couple of potions.

2-regarding DG vs DG battles i can only tell you to train if you encounter a assasin or a general there are diferent ways to deal with them depending on who you are and who they are, someone with more expirience will have to tell you more on that part.

3-regarding creeps i belive depending on your side they are slightly diferent in color, like light is more bluish white and dark a red.

4-As far as skills and items its best to now them from the start, like creating a game against an easy Ai just to see what each item do, and then learn to choose them quickly so you dont loose time.

I think this thread goes over the basics pretty well: http://forums.demigodthegame.com/332105

If you're still a bit lost after that, feel free to ask.

I would start reading a bit through the manual: https://www.stardock.com/demigodmanual.pdf

Also a good point to start is the Damigod Basics Thread:  Basics

I'm completely new to the game myself, but those two things got me started.
Also have a look at the strategy forum - maybe you'll find some good tactics there.

Which DG did you pick for the start?

Taking time to look over the descriptions of all your skill, deciding which ones to pick and not, Is something you WILL have to do at start so take the time you need, Everyone is expected to be a noob today so dont bother too much about taking your time. Try finding a demigod you find cool and then stick to him for a while and learn his abilities, try different orders and ways to pick them. Try to figure out what items that are good at start et.c

For starter items there is a chest for 550 that gives 400hp and 5 hp/sec that is great, also if you need mana there is a hat for 500 that gives some mana and 4 mana per second. buy those items and then move to the frontline.

Step by Step:

1. Start a Skirmish against an Easy AI

2. Pick a larger map, I suggest Cataract, on Conquest Mode

3. Give AI the "Sedna" DG, pick one yourself: I suggest the Torchbearer, Regulus or maybe the Rook for starters.

4. When the game starts, take a deep breath. You got plenty of time, as your minions will clash with the opponent for a while, and at low level DGs arent good at taking out towers (except Regulus with his increased range), so you have some time. Sedna isnt a dangerous opponent and the AI doesnt play her that well, so you dont have to hurry.

5. Now, first, look for the Gold counter on the bottom right. Gold goes into 2 distinct uses, one to buy stuff for your DG, one to boost your citadel. Also, the rightmost Slot in your hotbar is probably flashing right now: Minor Items that you can buy with Favor go there....Favor is basically earned by just playing.

Tactics: At the beginning, your DG is really, really weak, especially in terms of health. You can counteract that by buying Armor Pieces with +Health, but for now, Towers are too dangerous for you. Somewhere in the middle of the map, your Minions will soon be fighting against the opponents, so I suggest going there and getting a few levels by slowly pushing back those minions. Do not engage in Tower-Killing yet. If the enemy DG meets you, focus attacks on him until you drop to 25%, then retreat if he/she hasnt already. The easy AI often runs away from fights they could win.

Skills: This is why I suggested the Torchbearer or Regulus: They are pretty straightforward. Most DGs have 2 major ways of building them, with a bit of synergy thrown in. For the Torchbearer, I suggest deciding whether to go Fire or Frost primarily, and stick to it for now. Take your time, look at the choice, and then go with one. You ll soon run into mana problems. At this point, you ll be best of to invest in a good helmet back at the Item Store in your base.

Strategy: Demigod isnt quite as straightforward when it comes to winning. Most players will almost exclusively focus on boosting their demigods, especially if they play Assassins. Depending on what the victory conditions are that can work, but dont neglect your minions. In general, at least for the start, I strongly suggest investing in the first building damage upgrade to get splash damage (helps your towers dealing with unsupported minion waves and makes them last much much longer) priests, and possibly angels. Also, get the increase in gold income (Gold Mint) upgrade early.

After that, it really comes down to what you prefer. Its possible to win a game by slowly pushing with superior minions and using your own demigod primarily as a way to keep the enemy demigod from killing your minions, but thats slow going. You ll find your own way of doing it. Just keep in mind: You got time. Easy AI skirmishes are really forgiving, and you can take the time and learn different Demigods as well.

Just one last thing: Assassins are easier to play than Generals. Stick to Assassin DGs for the first few matches.

The references people provided are pretty good.  But maybe my description of the basics will also help.

The goal of the game is to destroy the enemy citadel before he destroys yours.  You will start near your citadel, and protecting your citadel and your side of the map are defensive towers.  In order to get to the enemy citadel, you'll have to destroy some of his towers.

You also have portals, which spawn groups of warriors (aka creeps).  These warriors can be defeated easily by a demigod, but they will generally just walk down a path and meet the enemy team's warriors.  With the help of a demigod, these warriors may defeat the enemy warriors and reach a tower where they'll immediately be killed.

However, once the demigods build up a supply of money, they can upgrade these waves so that they contain more than just warriors.  With enough upgrades, these waves of creeps will eventually get catapults and giants, and begin to do serious damage to the enemy's towers, and eventually the citadel.

Demigods build up money over time by controlling gold mines.  In every map, there will be gold mines in your base that you'll always control, and there may or may not be gold mines out in the middle of the map that you can take control of.  Demigods can also get money by killing enemy demigods.

You can use this money to buy things: you can buy items from the item shop in your base, you can buy citadel upgrades (such as the upgrades for your creep waves) at your citadel, and you can buy artifacts at the artifact shop (usually in the middle of the map but sometimes in your base).  Items will improve your demigods stats, such as health, armor, damage, etc.  Some can be used to heal yourself or damage your enemies, like a healing potion.  Artifacts are more powerful items that are mostly too expensive to purcahse until mid-game.

Throughout the map, there are also flags.  These flags can be controlled by one of the teams, and you will start out controlling the flags near your base, while the enemy controls the flags near his base.  There will also be flags in the middle of the map that are neutral.  If you control a flag, you will get bonuses, which you can see by mousing-over the flag. You can take control of a flag for your team by standing on it for a minute, and when you capture it, it will change to your color.  Of course, the enemy can later capture it back by doing the same thing.

As you kill creeps, capture flags, and kill enemy demigods, your demigod will gain levels.  At each level, you get a skill point that you can assign to one of your skills.  You can do this at any time, and usually you should do it as soon as you gain a level.

At any point, if your demigod dies, you will respawn at your base after about 35 seconds.

When starting the game, usually you'll first visit the item shop in your base and use your starting money to buy some items.  I often see people purchase boots of speed to start, or sometimes I'll see people purchase a healing potion and some armor, or sometimes people will just purchase a lot of potions.  After you purchase your items, you should place your first skill point.

At level 1, with only the starting items, you will be too weak to defeat a tower, so your primary goal will be to gain a few levels.  The best way to do this is by capturing flags and killing enemy creeps.  You can also try to kill enemy demigods, but it may be difficult to do, since following them into their towers will result in your death early on.  Killing enemy demigods is good for gaining money, but it won't get you as much experience as creeps and flags.

As you gain more levels and get better items, you'll be better able to take out enemy towers and kill enemy demigods.  But you'll want to pay attention to the enemy demigod's level, since especially as a new player, they may be leveling much faster than you.  Or they could be lower than you and be an easy target.  You can see an enemy demigod's level by mousing-over it and looking at its health bar in the bottom right.

The goal is to become more powerful than the enemy demigods and/or outmaneuver them to destroy their towers and citadel.

Also, your team will gain "war rank" over time.  This war rank increases faster if you control more flags.  You need to have a certain war rank in order to purchase higher-level citadel upgrades.  You can see your team's war rank by pressing tab.

A few tips:

The creeps are colored differently for each team, so you can tell whether they are yours by looking at their color.  But sometimes its difficult to see the color.  In this case, you can mouse-over them, and if they highlight green, they are freindly.  If they highlight red, they are enemies.  You can also look at the direction the creeps are moving.  If they are moving away from your base, then they are probably friendly.  If they're moving toward your base, then they're probably hostile.

Remember to purcahse the spawn wave citadel upgrades when you get a high enough war rank.  These are the upgrades that give you priests, then angels, then catapultasauri, then giants.  These will be very helpful in destroying the enemy base.  There may be some games where you don't need these upgrades, but if you aren't experienced enough to recognize that situation, then it's best to err on the side of purchasing them: they can really change the tide of battle.

When you are choosing your skills, you will see the level requirement for the skill at the top of the skill selection screen.  Similarly, the war rank required for a citadel upgrade is displayed at the top of the citadel upgrade purchasing screen.

Don't underestimate the auto-attack damage of your demigod, especially assassins and Oak.  With some good items and an artifact, these generals can attack very fast and do a lot damage with each hit.

General demigods can buy special items called idols at the item shop that let them summon more units using the white circles to the right of your mana bar.  There are three types of idols: minotaurs, archers/gunners, and priests.  You can have one idol of each type.

The assassin demigods are Torchbearer, Unclean Beast, Regulus, and Rook, and they're generally easier to play than the generals.  (The generals are Oak, Queen of Thorns, Sedna, and Lord Erebus).  Assassins tend to do a lot of damage, while generals can summon minions to help them.

As you play games, you will earn favor points (you get more if you win, and even more if you get awards).  You can use these points to purchase favor items, which you choose at any time by clicking the fourth item slot.

Hopefully this helped.

Extremely helpful input - thanks.  I started a new game, picked Torchbearer, and had a much better game this time.