10 Mistakes That Are Slowing Your Progress in Lands of Jail

Making progress in Lands of Jail, but feel as though other players are advancing faster despite having played for roughly the same amount of time? The problem may not be how much you play, but how you use your resources.

Small daily decisions can have a major impact on your account's development. Unnecessary Diamond purchases, poorly timed speedups, resources spread across too many heroes, and unplanned event participation may seem harmless on their own.

Repeat those habits for weeks, however, and they can add up to a huge amount of wasted resources.

This guide covers 10 common mistakes that can slow your progress in Lands of Jail, how to avoid them, and one bonus mistake worth watching out for.

⏳ Using speedups as soon as you receive them

You finish one building upgrade and start another. The timer is long, and your inventory contains several speedups. The temptation is obvious: use them all and finish immediately.

Learning to control that impulse can make a real difference.

Speedups are valuable because they let you concentrate a large amount of progress into a short period. That can make them even more useful when you spend them strategically.

The same resources, different timing

You spent exactly the same resource. What changed was when you chose to use it.

How to avoid this mistake

When there is no urgent reason to finish immediately, build a reserve of:

• Construction speedups.
• Research speedups.
• Training speedups.
• Universal speedups.

Use large amounts when you have a clear objective.

💎 Spending Diamonds on small conveniences

This is one of the easiest forms of waste to overlook. A small purchase rarely feels important: 100 Diamonds here, a few more there, a short timer skipped, an extra attempt, or a refresh.

None of those decisions seems capable of hurting your account. The problem is the total.

Imagine spending just 500 Diamonds a day on things that offer little value:

500 × 30 = 15,000 Diamonds.

Those Diamonds could have been available for a much more important opportunity.

Not every small purchase is a bad one. The mistake is spending automatically.

For free-to-play (F2P) players in particular, keeping a Diamond reserve gives you more flexibility when worthwhile events and opportunities appear.

🦸 Upgrading every hero at the same time

You unlock a new hero and invest in them. Then you unlock another and do the same. A few days later, a third hero arrives—and receives more of your resources.

Before long, your investment is spread across many characters, but none of them has received enough support to perform the role you need.

Resources are limited—set priorities

As your account develops, deciding where to invest becomes increasingly important. Instead of trying to keep every hero equally upgraded, identify the characters that genuinely matter to your account.

A simple rule: before investing in a hero, ask, “Where exactly will I use this character?”

If you cannot answer, the investment may not be necessary yet. That does not mean you should never develop secondary heroes—only that your main priorities should not be starved of resources.

📈 Chasing power just to make the number bigger

Watching your power rise is satisfying: 10 million, 20 million, 50 million, 100 million.

The problem begins when increasing that number becomes your only goal.

Total power does not tell the whole story of your account. Heroes, troops, research, equipment, bonuses, and other systems contribute to performance in different ways. Two players with similar power can therefore have very different results in battle.

Avoid random upgrades

Before spending resources simply because an upgrade gives a large power increase, ask:

• Does this strengthen an important part of my account?
• Will I actually use the benefit?
• Is a more valuable upgrade waiting for these same resources?

The goal is to build an effective account, not just produce the largest possible number on your profile.

📅 Making major upgrades without checking events

This mistake is closely related to the first, but it goes far beyond speedups.

Imagine spending several days accumulating Hero Shards, resources, speedups, equipment items, and upgrade materials. You log in and use everything: hero upgrades, equipment improvements, troop training, and more.

The next day, an event begins that rewards some of those exact actions. Now your stockpile is gone.

That is a frustrating situation—and a good reason to create a new habit.

Check before you commit

Before a major round of upgrades, look at the active events and any upcoming activities announced in the game.

Over time, you may recognize patterns and learn which resources are worth holding in reserve. Still, check the current rules instead of assuming an event will always work exactly as it did before.

Whenever practical, look for rewards from upgrades you already intended to make.

🤝 Staying in an inactive alliance out of habit

You joined an alliance when you started. You know some of the players and may have made friends there.

Gradually, though, fewer people log in. Team events are nearly empty. Participation drops, and the leadership becomes difficult to reach. Yet you stay because the alliance feels familiar.

Remaining in a nearly abandoned alliance can limit your development.

What a useful alliance looks like

Look for a group with:

• Active players.
• Regular event participation.
• Clear communication.
• Organization.
• Members who help one another.
• Present, involved leadership.

You do not necessarily need to join the strongest alliance on your server. An active, organized community can be more useful than a group of powerful players who rarely work together.

🚶 Leaving your marches idle

Imagine two similar accounts. Both players stay offline for roughly eight hours.

The first leaves their marches idle. The second sends available marches to gather before logging off.

After one night, the difference may seem small. Repeat that routine for seven days, then 30 days, then six months, and those small advantages can add up.

Make it part of your routine

Whenever you expect to be offline for a while, check your marches. If they have no more important task, consider sending them to gather where it is appropriate and safe to do so.

Your account can still gain resources while you are not actively playing.

The goal is not to send marches out blindly. Take your current situation, alliance plans, and any risks into account.

🏆 Trying to compete seriously in every event

You do not need to win everything, especially if you are F2P or spend only a little.

When you commit heavily to every event, your reserves never get a chance to recover. You receive speedups and spend them. Collect shards and spend them. Earn resources and Diamonds, then spend those too.

When a particularly valuable opportunity appears, you may have nothing left to use.

Choose your level of commitment

Different events can deserve different approaches:

• Participate normally: make progress without major extra spending.
• Collect accessible rewards: stop when the next milestone becomes too expensive.
• Save for later: keep most of your stockpile intact.
• Make a planned push: invest when the event fits your goals and reserves.

A player who saves for several weeks may perform surprisingly well in a carefully chosen competition. That does not guarantee a win against stronger accounts—it gives you more options than entering every event with an empty inventory.

🎯 Entering events without understanding the objectives

Not every event is simply find an opponent → attack → score points.

Events can have very different objectives, and understanding them matters even more in alliance activities.

Crystal Clash, for example, involves objectives, scoring, roles, and timing. A player may be getting kills while still neglecting what their team needs most at that moment.

Before your first match

Spend a few minutes answering these questions:

• How are points earned?
• What are the main objectives?
• Do I have an assigned role?
• What does my team need to do to win?
• Has the alliance leadership set a strategy?

Five minutes of preparation can be worth more than rushing in and trying to figure everything out during the match.

🧭 Playing without a clear next goal

This is the mistake that connects many of the others: playing without direction.

You log in, see an available building upgrade, and start it. Then you notice some research and invest there too. A hero gets a few shards, troops get trained, and a few Diamonds disappear along the way.

You are making progress, but your resources are being distributed without a clear priority.

Keep your plan simple

You do not need a complicated spreadsheet. A short plan is enough:

Now your decisions have a direction. Whenever a purchase or upgrade becomes available, ask:

If not, it may be able to wait.

Bonus mistake: 🪞 Copying much stronger players without considering their circumstances

The best strategy for someone who regularly buys large amounts of resources is not necessarily the best strategy for an F2P player.

A player who spends regularly may be able to replenish speedups, Diamonds, shards, resources, and materials much faster. An F2P player usually needs more time to rebuild those same reserves.

As a result, the two players may need to make very different decisions.

Learn the reasoning, not just the action

You can learn a great deal by watching experienced, successful players. Just do not copy every decision automatically.

Ask yourself:

• Why are they doing this?
• Does this strategy work with the resources I have?
• Is there a more efficient alternative for my account?

Understanding why a strategy works is more valuable than copying it without context.

✅ How can you tell whether your habits are improving?

There is no perfect account, but there are useful signs that you are managing your resources more effectively:

• You keep a Diamond reserve instead of constantly reaching zero.
• Your speedups have a purpose.
• You know which heroes are your priorities.
• Your marches rarely sit unused for long periods without a reason.
• You check events before making major upgrades.
• You can ignore a ranking when competing is not worth the cost.
• You decide when to make a major investment instead of spending whenever you can.

That final change is especially important: you are choosing your progress instead of reacting to every available upgrade.

👥 Two players, the same weekly resources

Imagine two players receiving exactly the same resources over a week.

Both received the same starting resources. The second player looked for opportunities to turn some of them into:

Progress + Event points + Additional rewards.

Those extra rewards may provide resources for future goals. Over time, repeated improvements in efficiency can create a meaningful difference.

🔄 The efficient progression cycle

Use this simple cycle to give your decisions a structure:

1. Build your reserves

   Collect speedups, resources, Hero Shards, Diamonds, and materials while continuing useful everyday progress.

2. Plan

   Decide which upgrades genuinely deserve priority.

3. Check opportunities

   Review current events and upcoming activities announced in the game.

4. Invest

   Spend when there is a clear reason and the investment fits your plan.

5. Collect rewards

   Claim any additional rewards your eligible actions have earned.

6. Rebuild your reserves

   Prepare for your next goal, then repeat the cycle.

Save → Plan → Check → Invest → Collect → Save again.

The better you understand this cycle, the more purpose you can give each resource you spend.

📌 Quick recap: the 10 mistakes to avoid

1. Using speedups immediately. Save larger amounts for strategic moments when possible.

2. Wasting Diamonds on minor conveniences. Small purchases can add up to thousands.

3. Upgrading every hero at once. Set clear priorities for the formations you use.

4. Chasing power without considering efficiency. A bigger number does not automatically mean better performance.

5. Making upgrades without checking events. Look for rewards from progress you already planned.

6. Staying in an inactive alliance. Seek an active, organized community.

7. Leaving marches idle. Use offline periods for gathering when appropriate.

8. Competing heavily in every event. Choose when your stockpile is worth spending.

9. Joining events without learning the rules. Understand objectives and team strategy first.

10. Playing without goals. Know what your next important step will be.

❓ Frequently asked questions