Once known for word and trivia games like What’s The Pic?, What’s The Saying?, Letter Soup, and others, Candywriter has since become known as the company behind BitLife, the life simulator game for iOS and Android devices. This game puts you in control of a random person’s – or Bitizen’s – life, allowing you to control every decision they make from birth to death and in between. It’s up to you if you want these characters to live their best lives, or if you want to mess them up from the get-go. If you’re 17 years old and above (and we mention this due to the game’s oftentimes adult-ish content), the choices are all yours in this in-depth and addictive game!
If you liked Candywriter’s school update for BitLife, you’ll probably love the new update they rolled out recently – version 1.26, which revamps the work and properties mechanics of the game. This means all-new features for both office life and property selling, so be sure to check out our BitLife office update guide, as we tell you all there is to know about version 1.26.
We’ll tell you how to survive the new twists and turns your Bitizens’ lives can take at the workplace, and offer some tips on how to make use of the new features for selling stuff in the game. And since Candywriter followed up 1.26 over the weekend with version 1.27, we’ll be filling you in on what to expect from that update as well – they’re billing it as a surprise update, so do watch out as well for a more extensive guide once we’ve figured out all the new features!
The Newly Revamped Job Tab – An Overview
In the real world, the office can be a lot like school in a number of ways, but also much different at the end of the day. While you’ll have your usual circle of friends, as well as some coworkers you wouldn’t give the time of day to if you didn’t share the same office space, the stakes, of course, are a lot higher here. Your job is, after all, your means of putting food on the table, and while poor grades could get you held back at school, poor work performance could get you fired. That’s what the folks at Candywriter clearly had in mind with this new update, so let’s take a closer look.
When you click the Job tab, you may not notice anything new, but after tapping on the job title, you’ll see several options that are sort-of similar to the ones in the school sub-menus. Aside from the usual job performance meter and the options to adjust your weekly hours, resign, retire, or work harder, you can view a list of your fellow co-workers and report someone to Human Resources. Tapping on the Co-Workers tab will then pull up a list of the people you work with, starting with your immediate supervisor, then moving on to the rank-and-file employees and their respective positions.
Once you tap on an employee’s tab, you can tap again on their name to view their profile – here, you’ll see bars for your Relationship (how well you’re getting along with them), their Looks (useful if you’re thinking of asking them out – or hooking up with them), Professionalism, and Coolness. It’s with the latter two stats where things may get a bit more complicated.
A red Professionalism bar means they’ll likely be prone to doing, well, unprofessional stuff such as spreading rumors or playing pranks, while a green Professionalism bar means they aren’t the type to start trouble. Coolness, on the other hand, refers to their tendency to react to being pranked, gossiped about, or whatnot – if it’s red, they’re far more likely than not to snitch to HR, and if it’s green, they’ll just brush it off and focus on the job at hand.
As it relates to supervisors, low Professionalism bosses will likely brush off your complaints and favor the co-worker who messed with you, and they may even make you work extra-hard by increasing your weekly hours and forcing you to do unpaid overtime. Meanwhile, those with a green Professionalism bar will make fair decisions – if you messed up, you get punished, if they messed with you, they get suspended or fired. We’d say Coolness for Supervisors would modify their strictness in giving punishments – low Coolness means zero-tolerance measures, high Coolness means slaps on the wrist.
Below that option to view co-worker profiles, there are several interactions to choose from – Ask Out, Compliment, Conversation, Gift, Hook Up, Insult, Prank, Rumor, and Spend Time. Most of these are self-explanatory and should be familiar to longtime BitLife players, though we’ll discuss the new additions in a little bit.
For Supervisors, there are two additional options that were once available in the barer-bones Job menu of old – Promotion and Raise – as well as a Seduce option that works in a similar way to how it does for school administrators in college and other forms of higher education. Seducing your boss could, in theory, help you get a promotion or improve your Performance stat, but it could very well backfire on you if you’re dealing with a high-Professionalism boss.
Pranks And Rumors – How To Deal With Workplace Bullies In BitLife
One sad reality most of us learn when we start working is that some schoolyard bullies don’t exactly grow up once they reach adulthood. This time, though, instead of stealing your lunch money or giving you a wedgie after class, they pull nasty pranks and spread those proverbial watercooler rumors with any employee with an appetite for some hot tea. It’s often true in real life, and it’s also true in BitLife, where you may receive notifications regarding co-workers pranking you, spreading false stories about you, or stealing valuables from your desk.
As we mentioned above, you can also do the same to your co-workers – assuming this is one of those times when you choose to “live you worst life” – but mostly at your own risk, especially if you’re picking on someone with low Coolness and/or have a boss with high Professionalism and low Coolness.
When you’re the recipient of one of the above forms of workplace shenanigans, you would generally have four options – you can report the co-worker to your Supervisor, talk to the co-worker, or choose to ignore them completely, or you could take things into your own hands and rumble/tussle/scrap/other synonyms with them. In most cases, the safest thing to do would be to choose the “It doesn’t bother me” option and let it slide – generally, you shouldn’t expect much of an impact on your overall Popularity or Performance. You can also talk to the co-worker, though you might as well expect your relationship bar with that employee to empty out, thus costing you some Popularity.
Before reporting anyone to your Supervisor, it would be best if you know their stats beforehand, especially if it happens to be a new boss – old bosses can be replaced with new ones, so keep your eyes peeled each time you move forward one year in BitLife! It wouldn’t be worth reporting someone to a Supervisor with low Professionalism – as we warned you above, they’ll probably scold you or laugh at you, and your Performance could significantly go down as well. You can do so, however, if their Professionalism bar is green, and especially so if their Coolness bar is red to empty – that’s an easy way to get a troublesome co-worker fired!
Tussling with a co-worker, meanwhile, is only good for one thing in general – improving your Happiness stat. Otherwise, it’s a dangerous option that could do some damage on your Health (if the co-worker retaliates) and could get you fired from work, even if you “just grazed” the person you were attacking. They could, after all, still report you to the boss, and HR can launch an investigation that could, at best, damage your Performance and, at worst, cause you to lose your job.
How Does Reporting To HR Differ From Reporting To Supervisor?
This, we’d say, is a good question, and a good way to introduce the Human Resources tab that Candywriter added with version 1.26 of BitLife. So what’s the difference between simply reporting a troublesome co-worker to your boss and reporting them to human resources?
Reporting people to HR, either through the Human Resources tab or through a scenario (say, if your Supervisor pranks or insults you or makes unwanted advances), has some similarities, but is ultimately different from reporting to supervisor because HR appears to take a fair and balanced look at workplace situations, with no stats coming into play. Obviously, you can only use the tab if someone is actually out to get you at work – you can’t report co-workers or bosses at random if they haven’t done anything to you!
All in all, reporting to HR could lead to a better chance of your co-workers – this time, Supervisors included – getting reprimanded, suspended, or terminated. One quick word of warning, though – this also increases the chances that they could physically attack you and do some damage on your health!
Co-Worker Hookups And Seduction – The Seedier Side Of The Workplace
Although many would tell you it’s not a good idea to do your business where you eat, a lot of people do it anyway. BitLife version 1.26 made that possible in the in-game world, as you can now hook up with your fellow employees, or you can make a decision whether or not to accept or reject a co-worker’s advances. So what’s in it for you anyway?
Now if your Bitizen is in a happy, committed relationship or marriage, the answer would typically be “no” in any case. But if you’re willing to add some spice to your virtual character’s life, you will once again need to keep your co-workers’ Professionalism and Coolness in mind, as well as your Relationship with them and, in some instances, their Looks. The first two stats will matter the most, because high Professionalism co-workers are definitely not people you should be using the Hook Up option on. Not only will they reject you in almost every instance – they’re also very likely to report you to HR if their Coolness is on the low side. Low Professionalism employees, on the other hand, are a safe bet, though you should still make sure your Relationship bar with them is almost, if not completely full.
You could also take their Looks into account in case your activities with that individual result in someone getting pregnant – you might end up with some unattractive offspring if the person you hook up with isn’t on the up-and-up in terms of Looks. Not that it matters if you’re simply trying to ensure your Bitizen’s kids get good, high-paying traditional jobs, but if you want your next generation of Bitizens to become successful actors or singers, below-average Looks won’t get them any work in the entertainment business.
As a bonus tip, you should also remember that your co-workers’ profiles include information on their Sexuality. No matter how good your relationship is with an unprofessional co-worker, you won’t get anywhere, for instance, if you’ve got a straight Bitizen trying to seduce a gay co-worker, or vice versa.
What happens if you initiate a hook-up with the wrong co-worker? As we warned you earlier, this could get you into trouble at work if they report you to HR – once confronted by your Supervisor, you can either argue your case, apologize for your actions, insult your boss, or try to make things right (or open up a brand new can of worms) by seducing them. Apologizing is the safest option, unless your boss is low on Professionalism and low on Coolness, in which case no “sorry” will be good enough to change their mind on firing you. If you try to defend your actions (wrong as they are), a low-Professionalism Supervisor will likely look the other way, while one with high Professionalism won’t buy your lies, hence resulting in a huge Performance drop or even termination.
Insulting the boss is a no-no in all cases that don’t involve turning your Bitizen into a detestable character. And lastly, seduction will only work on low-Professionalism bosses; otherwise, it’s a shortcut to more trouble, a bigger drop in Performance, and once again, potentially getting sacked from your job.
As for refusing a hook-up opportunity if you get a notification, you’ll probably lose some Popularity since your Relationship with the person making the, well, indecent proposal may be damaged in the process. But the good thing, of course, is that you don’t need to worry about getting your spouse or partner angry if they find out about your side activities or worse, if your hook-up results in a new addition to the family.
Are You Too Proud To Beg For Your Job Back?
The reasons for termination in BitLife are a very close mirror of the things that could get you fired in the real world – health issues, substance abuse, and thanks to the new update, a history of making inappropriate advances, pulling pranks, stealing stuff, and/or spreading gossip. But in any event, the game now comes with a third, new option once your Bitizens get fired from their jobs. You can either insult them or wish them well, and now, you can beg your Supervisor to reconsider their decision and allow you to stay a little longer at your job.
The success of your attempt to beg for your job back will largely depend on a number of things – the type of actions that got you into trouble in the first place, your boss’ Professionalism and Coolness stats, and your Relationship bar with your boss. Chances are they won’t reconsider if your Relationship bar is low and you actually did some things that they didn’t like (e.g. trying to defend yourself to a high-Professionalism boss despite obviously doing something wrong), but if you’ve got a boss with high Professionalism and Coolness stats and you got terminated for things beyond your control (e.g. migraines, or even average-to-poor performance), you just might get your job back.
Just take note that you’ll essentially be returning on thin ice – you’ll need to choose the Work Harder option at least once a year and make absolutely sure to stay out of trouble if you want to avoid getting fired a second time, and fired for good!
Outside The Workplace – Houses And Property-Related Updates
Version 1.26 of BitLife may have focused a lot on providing a more in-depth workplace experience similar to the offices many of us have encountered through the years. However, it has also brought a ton of other new features to the game, such as the ones included in the massive revamp of the properties mechanic.
As you’ll notice when buying houses, you will now see that each house comes with a street address. This is mostly a cosmetic change at the moment, but it’s nice to see each house having a distinct address that adds to the realism of the game. What you’ll really need to pay attention to is the additional option that now comes along with Party and Sell. You can now choose the Renovate option and spiff up your home if it’s in less than perfect condition – once you tap on Renovate, you can then choose the budget for your fix-up project, with higher budgets meaning a greater effect to the property’s Condition.
Of course, you don’t need to consider this option if your home is still in very good to perfect condition, but if the Condition bar is orange or red, you’ll definitely want to consider this if you’re planning to sell the property and possibly flip it for a nice profit on the original purchase price.
Speaking of selling, there’s a brand new process you’ll need to go through if you want to sell any type of property you may have, may it be a house, a car, or a heirloom. For houses, the process is pretty straightforward – just choose a selling price from the drop-down box, with lower prices far more likely to attract buyers than higher ones, then tap on the List It button.
Again, pricing will depend on the condition of the asset at the time of sale, but don’t go for the low-ball price unless you’re really hard-up for cash, and don’t go for the higher options either, because nobody, for instance, would, in their right minds, overpay for a rickety property whose Condition bar is red. It’s best to go one notch, probably two at the most, higher than the midpoint, for your starting offer, then going down one notch gradually if no one is interested in buying.
The same process would mostly apply to cars, but with one notable difference – once you’ve chosen your list price, you have the option of posting an online ad or selling the car on the black market. The former option has a greater chance of drawing low-ball buyers than the latter, but if that happens to be the case, you always have the option to renegotiate and insist on your original list price. Some buyers will be hard to deal with and insist on the lower price they offered, but based on our playthroughs thus far, your chances are fairly good of getting a better offer by insisting on the original price.
For car transactions, the online ad/black market option will be available even for stolen vehicles, but that also means it’s still possible to sell your car to an undercover cop posing as a buyer! Also, cars will still depreciate in value as they grow older – the game still doesn’t come with any option to renovate them with new paint jobs, new parts, or whatnot, and you won’t be able to improve their condition by repairing them if there’s no actual mechanical issue.
As for heirlooms, there’s really no use haggling over cheap items that cost only a few dollars, so you can still sell them straight away if they don’t have any real value. The more expensive ones, however, can still be listed at a variety of selling prices – there doesn’t appear to be any other special twist aside from the option to choose a list price.
Odds And Ends (With Teasers For The New Update)
At the time of this guide’s writing, it appears that Candywriter has released a new version of BitLife – version 1.27 – though this time around, the developer chose not to include any details in the changelog, rather preferring to surprise players with the new features.
We’re still trying to get to the bottom of all the new additions, but we can offer a few teasers at this point – doctors, for one, now have Reputation bars, with green bars suggesting a high price of treatment and a high rate of success, and red bars hinting that the doctor may be as competent as Dr. Nick from The Simpsons, which is to say, not at all. Also, if your Bitizen has a son, you will also be asked if you want to circumcise the baby or not. We’ve yet to determine the long-term in-game effects of such a decision, however, but we hope to figure that out once time comes for our next BitLife strategy guide.
One thing Candywriter did say in the changelog is that BitLife now comes with multiple save slots – that means you can now go through more than one Bitizen’s life at the same time, and toggle between one character to the next at any time you wish. Characters or legacies started before version 1.27, however, cannot be saved.
As usual, Candywriter is very much on top of its pop culture game, and that shows in some of the new scenarios that have been introduced with versions 1.26 and 1.27. For example, Elon Musk’s infamous Tesla Cybertruck is the subject of one such scenario – do you want one, do you feel Teslas are overrated, or do you think Musk came up with such an outlandish design because he wants to go viral? As usual, your answer won’t really have any bearing on the game – it’s just a fun little scenario to spice things up as your Bitizens go through their lives.