Malls are a lot of fun when you’re a customer. When you are the manager, however, it takes hard work to ensure the mall succeeds. Happy Mall Story is a casual simulation game from Happy Labs, where you get to design and manage your own mall. Available on Android and iOS platforms, this game lets you build different stalls, expand your property, interact with guests, and more.
Don’t forget to place plenty of decorations and entertainment options in order to attract more customers. The more money you earn, the more upgrades you will be able to buy for your mall. Be warned, though. The bigger your mall becomes; the more hectic things will be. Soon, you will be managing multiple floors filled with all sorts of stalls. Customers will flood in and will all look to you for answers. Make sure you establish a good foundation by following our Happy Mall Story guide for some useful tips, cheats and strategies!
1. Play Actively
Even though the shops earn money on their own, there are still a few things you can do in order to boost your income. Playing actively allows you to collect coins as soon as they become available. You will also be able to assist customers who are looking for specific stores. When you see a customer with a red exclamation mark on his head, that means he needs help. Tap on him to find out where he wants to go, then tap on the shop he is looking for. Assisting customers will reward you two stars for the Fever bar.
Every few minutes, a star will also float upwards on the screen. Tap on it to send it to the Fever bar. Once your Fever bar is full, you can tap on it to initiate Fever time. During this period, all your earnings are boosted and automatically collected. You also have a chance to gain a random item at the end of the Fever duration.
2. Think About Your Layout
While designing your own mall is one of the best features of Happy Mall Story, it isn’t really practical to follow your whims right off the bat. It’s better to focus on maximizing your earnings instead of aesthetics. Try to surround your decorations with as many stalls as possible. Just make sure you leave space for the customers to access the stalls. Floor tiles also add value to your stalls without blocking the paths, so you may want to place them at strategic locations. Don’t worry about missing out on the design part. Most of the better-looking items won’t be unlocked until later anyway. And you can’t really build the design of your dreams if you don’t have the money for it.
3. Use Your Items Wisely
Items can be used on both stalls and customers. They improve the stats of your stalls and increase the maximum amount spent of your customers. Naturally, you would want to use as many items as possible. Unfortunately, you don’t get a lot of them, so you will need to use them strategically. Low-level stalls usually get replaced by better ones later in the game, so you might want to hold off on investing items on them.
Each item also has specific stalls where they are most useful. You can usually tell by simply looking at what the item is. For example, the Book is effective in the Book Shop while the Canned Drink is effective in the Vending Machine. However, items are usually effective for other stalls as well. To find out all the stalls that are compatible with your item, just tap on the item shop and check the description. This will tell you as well if it’s better to hold on to your item and wait for a better shop to become available.
Items have the same effect on all customers, so you don’t have to worry about which item to give. What you do need to consider is whether or not you want to use up an item on a specific customer. You will be able to unlock big spenders later in the game. You might want to save your items for them as well.
4. Avoid Buying Items
Every time you unlock an item, it becomes available for purchase from the item shop. The does not mean, however, that you should buy up all the stock. The item shop stocks up to 10 of each item. When you purchase some items, they slowly restock over time. The problem is that an item’s price increases by 50 every time you buy it. The price also does not reset. That means if you bought one book for 50, the next one will be worth 100, then 150, then 200, and so on. Don’t go buying up stocks of items only to waste them on low-level stalls that you will replace later.
Instead of buying items, you can just wait to get them for free. As we mentioned earlier, you have the chance to get an item at the end of each Fever. Just hit Fever often, and you will have plenty of items to use. Tours also have a chance of dropping items. Just save item-shopping for later in the game when you have plenty of coins to burn.
5. Always Schedule Tours
On the left side of your mall is a lounge with a blonde attendant. Tap on her in order to schedule a tour. You will need to select one of your friends then select a time duration in order to schedule a tour. The longer the duration you choose, the better the rewards will be. Just make sure you choose an active friend because they will have to respond to your Tour request. If they do not respond on time, the Tour will fail, and you will receive less coins. The chances of getting an item will also be lowered greatly.
6.Add A Lot of Friends
Friends can visit each other to leave tips. If you have a lot of active friends, you will get plenty of tips. It’s another way to increase your income while you are still starting out. As you progress, you won’t be needing tips as much, but extra money is always welcome. Having a lot of friends will also give you several options when starting tours. Always choose friends who are often online and you know will respond within the time limit.
7. Complete Your Tasks
On the top left side of your screen, you will see Isabelle’s portrait. Tap on it to see the list of Tasks you need to complete. This mostly involves just building each type of stall, facility, and decoration available then leveling them up. Once you do, you will be rewarded with a Diamond, the game’s premium currency. This is one of the easiest ways to earn Diamonds without spending real money, so take advantage of it.
Aside from the building tasks, however, you will also be asked to Invest in certain things. Just tap on the Investment task and pay the required number of coins. A timer will appear, and you will need to wait for it to finish in order to complete the task. Once the task is done, you will be able to unlock a new type of customer. Unlocking new customers also unlock new item types, so it is important to stay on top of your investments.
8. Don’t Forget To Upgrade Stalls
As you progress in the game, you will sometimes come to a point where the next expansion is too expensive, and you have nothing new to build. When this happens, it might be because you have been neglecting to upgrade your stalls. Stall upgrades are a lot cheaper than construction, and you won’t need new space. Make sure you go through all your stalls to see which ones you can upgrade. Just make sure you prioritize stalls that you don’t think you’ll be bulldozing anytime soon.
9. Get Free Diamonds, Here’s How
Aside from completing Tasks, you can also earn free Diamonds by watching ads. Just keep an eye on the billboards beside the item shop. When a Diamond icon appears, just tap on it to launch the ad offer. Watch the ad and you will receive a Diamond in the end. It may not seem like much, but if you don’t want to spend any real money in the game, you need to take advantage of all free sources.
10. How To Play Without Ads
The pop-up ads can be pretty aggressive in Happy Mall Story. They often appear after Fevers or pretty much any significant event you encounter. You also have to wait a few seconds before you can dismiss the ads. If you want to get rid of them, you can opt to purchase Diamonds. Any Diamond purchase will remove ads from the game, and the cheapest one is less than a dollar.
Of course, there is a free alternative. You can just play the game offline and all the ads will not be able to play because they need internet. The downside to this option is that you can’t take advantage of the Diamond ad offer as well. If you don’t mind losing out on free Diamonds, then just keep playing the game offline in order to avoid all the ads.
Running an entire mall on your own is no easy task, but with the help of our Happy Mall Story guide, you will be building an empire in no time! If you happen to know additional tips or strategies for the game, please let us know in the comment section!