| Download | 
|---|
 1.  Download
                                the Populous installer (~25 MB) and run it. This will set up both singleplayer and
                                online play. In order to play singleplayer, just open the Populous shortcut on
                                your desktop after the installation is done.
 2.  In order to play online, open the Populous
                                Matchmaker shortcut and click the “New User? Create an Account” link,
                                then type the username and password you’d like to use.
 3.  On the left side, click on an empty space to join
                                a match. Each match is a group of four players. If you’re the first player (the
                                host), you decide when to start. Now play Populous!

Video
![]()
 On the left side of the Populous
                                Matchmaker, you can see a list of matches. Each match is a group of four players.
                                By clicking on “empty”, you join a spot. The first player (the host),
                                highlighted in red in this picture, chooses when to start the game.
 Once you have
                                    joined a match, you can see the names of all the other players that have joined. If
                                    you are the host, click the “Game” tab (circled in red) when you want to
                                    start the game.
 In the “Game”
                                    tab, click the button circled in red to finally start the game.