With the ever-growing popularity of The Sims franchise, it eventually paved the way for various spin-offs on mobile platforms. One of these spin-offs was SimCity, an open-ended city-building simulation game where your goal is to manage your city and expand it over time. Over the years, with the rise of mobile gaming, Electronic Arts eventually found themselves developing SimCity games that can tap the market. One of those games is SimCity: BuildIt.
Released in 2014 and developed by TrackTwenty, a Finnish mobile game development studio, the game has provided a nice, relaxing time for many casual players. But just like any game, there are a few strategies that new and old players alike may not know about their favorite game. For that, we’ve spent a couple of days learning the ins and outs of SimCity: BuildIt to provide you with a beginner’s guide that may help you efficiently build your flourishing city!
1. Connect Your Game to Your Account
While it is not mandatory, we highly recommend connecting your game to your Google, Apple, or Facebook account. This way, your progress will be saved online even if you delete the game. You’ll also be able to play it on a different device when you download it and log into the account you connected your progress to.
2. Prioritize Your Sims’ Happiness
Your Sims’ Happiness is the most important factor when it comes to your city’s progress and development. Happy Sims will pay higher taxes and will influence residential building upgrades. Unhappy Sims on the other hand will be forced to move out of their homes, abandoning the building. Abandoned buildings may be repopulated once you’ve met all their concerns.
To keep your Sims happy, there are a few key guidelines you have to follow:
- Keep their homes away from factories and other buildings that produce pollution.
- Build their homes next to a road.
- Pay attention to opinion bubbles. These will give you hints about what they like and what they need.
- Always have enough service buildings to meet the demands of all residential buildings.
Taking the time to listen to requests and tapping on thought bubbles may sometimes reward you with special items that can be used for expansions, upgrades, and disasters. You can easily check the happiness of the Sims in your housing individually by going to the Government tab.
3. Building Placement is Everything
In SimCity BuildIt, there are six types of structures and they all have different roles to fill in developing your city: Roads, Residential Buildings, Commercial Buildings, Industrial Buildings, Services, and Specializations. Some of these structures have requirements that need to be met before you can construct them such as resources, population, currency, or levels.
You place the buildings you want to construct by dragging and dropping them in the area of your choice. Once the zones are ready for construction, a yellow hard hat icon will appear above it. Tapping it will show you what materials you need for its construction. These materials are earned from Industrial and Commercial Buildings but may also be bought from your friends’ cities or Globe Trade HQ once you unlock them.
A green checkmark will appear next to the hard hat icon once you’ve collected everything and all you have to do is to tap the hard hat and drag these materials toward the building. Some of these buildings will still have yellow hard hats after construction, like the Residential Buildings because these buildings can continuously be upgraded.
The placement of your buildings and roads matters greatly as they can positively or negatively affect other buildings. If done right, it can increase population, influence upgrades and increase your Sims’ happiness. If you have built a structure at a location that is not ideal, you can just tap and press it to move it elsewhere with no cost required. This makes it easier for players to take their time and really think about the layout of their city.
Unfortunately, if you want to demolish a building, you may have to wait for a few levels before that option becomes available. Tapping and pressing a building should make the bulldoze button appear on the right side of the screen once you’ve unlocked it. If you bought the structure with Simoleons, you will get partially refunded for it.
To help you decide on where to place your buildings, we’ve listed a few helpful guidelines for you:
Place Buildings Next to Roads
Cities need to be connected to the main highway which is also connected to other structures and facilities which can only be unlocked after reaching a certain population number or level. All buildings must be connected to the roads in order to function. These buildings will automatically rotate themselves to face the road. Services like Power, Water, or Sewage rely on roads to reach Residential buildings.
When building roads, you’ll find 3 icons on the lower right section of your screen:
- Build Roads – This mode lets you build roads by tapping and dragging to draw a line on the ground. Intersections can be created when two roads overlap each other. Regular, Two-lane Roads that are available at the start can be built for free but other roads that are unlocked in later levels must be purchased. These roads are also capable of supporting Vehicles, Pedestrians, and Street Events but not all roads have this capacity. Cobblestone streets, which are Two-lane roads priced at 10,000 Simoleons and unlocked at level 10, can only Support Pedestrians and Street Events. To check, simply tap and press the road options in this mode.
- Upgrade Roads – This mode highlights roads that are due for an upgrade because of the amount of traffic it gets. These roads will be highlighted yellow if they have moderate traffic and red if they have heavy traffic. These upgrades will cost some Simoleons even if you started with the free Two-lane Roads. These upgrades are unlocked at level 9. Take note that not all types of roads are upgradeable.
- Bulldoze Roads – This mode allows you to destroy roads that you’ve built. This mode lets you destroy roads by straight lines. If you have any curved roads, you’ll have to destroy parts of them one at a time.
While roads can be built in any form you like, doing them in a simple grid is usually the best route, especially for beginners. Simple grid layouts will lower the need for road upgrades since it keeps the traffic flowing. If you don’t have the money for road upgrades yet but have several roads with moderate and heavy traffic, spreading your buildings around can temporarily solve the issue.
Place Housing Equal to Service Buildings’ Capacity
Residential buildings are important for growing your city’s population, earning Simoleons, and gaining experience points to level up. Upon constructing a Residential Building, Sims will immediately move in and increase your population count.
When building housing, you’ll find 3 icons on the lower right section of your screen:
- Build Residential Zones – This mode displays the total number of housing you have along with how many are abandoned, ready for upgrades, or epic buildings. Epic Buildings are unlocked at level 24 and are buildings that have been fully upgraded before being converted into an epic project.
- Land Value – This mode shows you the level of wealth of your housing by highlighting them in blue. The darker its blue shade is, the more expensive and luxurious it is. Specialization buildings can add to your land’s value.
- Wealth Forecast – This mode shows you what kind of homes will result in upgrading your houses. Those highlighted in yellow will turn into Standard Homes, yellow-orange turns into Premium Homes and orange turns into Luxurious Homes.
No matter which of the 3 modes you are in, it will give you an array of options for residential housing and allows you to rearrange the positions of your residential buildings.
The game limits the number of residential zones you can build at a time. It will not show you an exact number, but if you keep placing new homes without upgrading your existing ones or finishing their construction, the game will not allow you to put more residential homes. Because of that, it’s important to pay attention to your current housing and make sure that they are getting an upgrade and their needs sorted out before placing more.
If you don’t have enough money to provide services for each of them, such as water, power, sewage, and so on, we recommend holding off on placing new residences or even bulldozing ones you’ve already placed. These services do not need to be near these buildings. They only need to be in the same region.
Each housing zone has a Service Demand, a starting Max Population, and requirements which you can see by tapping and pressing one of the items. To make it easier for you to compare your options, we’ve listed them in the table below:
| Housing Zone | Max Population | Service Demand | Requirements |
| Residential Zone | 1,836 | Low | None |
| Art Nouveau Zone | 1,836 | Low | Level 6 |
| Old Town House | 300 | Low | Level 6 |
| Latin America Zone | 1,836 | Low | Level 6 |
| Parisian Zone | 2,019 | Medium | Airport |
| London Town Zone | 2,111 | Medium | Airport: Deliveries to London |
| OMEGA Zone | 2,550 | High | NeoMall |
| Tokyo Town Zone | 2,204 | Medium | Airport: Deliveries to Tokyo |
| Green Valley Zone | 2,347 | Medium | Region Unlocked: Green Valley |
| Cactus Canyon Zone | 2,347 | Medium | Region Unlocked: Cactus Canyon |
| Sunny Isles Zone | 2,347 | Medium | Region Unlocked: Sunny Isles |
| Frosty Fjords Zone | 2,347 | Medium | Region Unlocked: Frosty Fjords |
| Limestone Cliffs Zone | 2,347 | Medium | Region Unlocked: Limestone Cliffs |
Unlike other buildings, residential buildings do not have a price listed as their cost is in the form of resources used to construct and upgrade them.
Having residential buildings close to commercial buildings, specialization buildings, and certain service buildings will increase your Sims’ happiness, resulting in thought bubbles occasionally appearing above them. Opinion bubbles, when tapped and cleared, can earn you special items that you can use to increase your storage capacity or expand your land. Having these buildings in clumps and placing structures that boost population on the other hand will help you reach population requirements for other buildings and upgrades.
Once a residential building becomes fully upgraded, it can be converted into an Epic Building through an Epic Project. You’ll need to have the Department of Epic Projects built, must be level 24, and have specialization buildings surrounding the building you want to use before you can start an Epic Project.
Epic Projects are 24-hour events where epic offers will appear on specialization buildings surrounding it which will ask for a random quantity of an item (excluding special and OMEGA items) in exchange for 1-6 epic points. Epic Buildings have 31% more population and can generate Speed-Up Token parts based on what tier they reach at the end of an Epic Project:
- Turtle – 40 Epic Points – generates Turtle Speed-Up Tokens
- Llama – 100 Epic Points – generates Llama Speed-Up Tokens
- Cheetah – 200 Epic Points – generates Cheetah Speed-Up Tokens
Place Commercial Buildings Next to Residential Buildings or Factories
Commercial buildings primarily restock materials that you can use for constructing and upgrading your buildings. These materials are dependent on resources you produce from industrial buildings. Aside from this, they increase the chances of thought bubbles appearing above residential buildings when built close to them.
However, unlike specialization buildings, they do not provide population boosts. Because of this, their placement next to residential buildings should not always be prioritized above specialization and some service buildings.
Having your commercial buildings close to each other will make product collection easier, but you can also tap on the arrows to the left or right of their name to shift from one store to another. Placing them next to factories may also be a good idea for easy collection of materials and to fill up empty spaces that are surrounded by pollution. All Commercial buildings share the same size of 2×2.
To give you an idea of what commercial buildings you can build, what products they can create, along with their prices, size and requirements, we’ve listed them on the tables below:
Building Supplies Store
Requirements & Costs:
| Level Requirement | Price | |
| Build | 1 | 100 Simoleons |
| ★ | 13 | 2,000 Simoleons |
| ★★ | 25 | 24,000 Simoleons |
| ★★★ | 33 | 32,000 Simoleons |
Products:
| Item | Materials | Time (Not Upgraded) | Level Requirement | Trade Depot Max Value |
| Nails | 2 Metal | 5 min | 1 | 80 Simoleons |
| Planks | 2 Wood | 30 min | 3 | 120 Simoleons |
| Bricks | 2 Mineral | 20 min | 13 | 190 Simoleons |
| Cement | 2 Mineral 1 Chemicals | 50 min | 14 | 440 Simoleons |
| Glue | 1 Plastic 2 Chemicals | 1 hr | 15 | 440 Simoleons |
| Paint | 2 Metal 1 Minerals 2 Chemicals | Not Produced but 1 Hr when upgraded to 1-star upgrade | 16 | 320 Simoleons |
Hardware Store
Requirements & Costs:
| Level Requirement | Price | |
| Build | 4 | 2,500 Simoleons |
| ★ | 16 | 15,000 Simoleons |
| ★★ | 28 | 27,000 Simoleons |
| ★★★ | 36 | 35,000 Simoleons |
Products:
| Item | Materials | Time (Not Upgraded) | Level Requirement | Trade Depot Max Value |
| Hammer | 1 Metal 1 Wood | 14 min | 4 | 90 Simoleons |
| Measuring Tape | 1 Metal 1 Plastic | 20 min | 6 | 110 Simoleons |
| Shovel | 1 Metal 1 Wood 1 Plastic | 30 min | 9 | 150 Simoleons |
| Cooking Utensils | 2 Metal 2 Wood 2 Plastic | 45 min | 17 | 250 Simoleons |
| Ladder | 2 Metal 2 Plank | 1 hr | 20 | 420 Simoleons |
| Drill | 2 Metal 2 Plastic 1 Electrical Components | 2 hr | 30 | 590 Simoleons |
Farmer’s Market
Requirements & Costs:
| Level Requirement | Price | |
| Build | 8 | 5,000 Simoleons |
| ★ | 20 | 19,000 Simoleons |
| ★★ | 32 | 31,000 Simoleons |
| ★★★ | 40 | 39,000 Simoleons |
Products:
| Item | Materials | Time (Not Upgraded) | Level Requirement | Trade Depot Max Value |
| Vegetables | 2 Seeds | 20 min | 8 | 160 Simoleons |
| Flour Bag | 2 Textiles 2 Seeds | 30 min | 17 | 570 Simoleons |
| Fruits and Berries | 1 Tree Sapling 2 Seeds | 1 hr, 30 min | 18 | 730 Simoleons |
| Cream | 1 Animal Feed | 1 hr, 15 min | 23 | 440 Simoleons |
| Corn | 1 Minerals 4 Seeds | 1 hr | 24 | 280 Simoleons |
| Cheese | 2 Animal Feed | 1 hr, 45 min | 26 | 660 Simoleons |
| Beef | 3 Animal Feed | 2 hrs, 30 min | 27 | 860 Simoleons |
Furniture Store
Requirements & Costs:
| Level Requirement | Price | |
| Build | 10 | 8,000 Simoleons |
| ★ | 22 | 21,000 Simoleons |
| ★★ | 34 | 33,000 Simoleons |
| ★★★ | 42 | 41,000 Simoleons |
Products:
| Item | Materials | Time (Not Upgraded) | Level Requirement | Trade Depot Max Value |
| Chair | 2 Wood 1 Hammer 1 Nails | 20 min | 10 | 300 Simoleons |
| Table | 2 Nails 1 Planks 1 Hammer | 30 min | 16 | 500 Simoleons |
| Home Textile | 2 Textiles 1 Measuring Tape | 1 hr, 15 min | 25 | 610 Simoleons |
| Cupboard | 2 Glass 2 Planks 1 Paint | 45 min | 26 | 900 Simoleons |
| Couch | 3 Textiles 1 Glue 1 Drill | 2 hr, 30 min | 33 | 1,810 Simoleons |
Gardening Supplies
Requirements & Costs:
| Level Requirement | Price | |
| Build | 14 | 13,000 Simoleons |
| ★ | 26 | 25,000 Simoleons |
| ★★ | 38 | 37,000 Simoleons |
| ★★★ | 46 | 45,000 Simoleons |
Products:
| Item | Materials | Time (Not Upgraded) | Level Requirement | Trade Depot Max Value |
| Grass | 1 Shovel 1 Seeds | 30 min | 14 | 310 Simoleons |
| Tree Sapling | 1 Shovel 2 Seeds | 1 hr, 30 min | 16 | 420 Simoleons |
| Garden Furniture | 2 Plastic 2 Textiles 2 Planks | 2 hr, 15 min | 21 | 820 Simoleons |
| Fire Pit | 2 Brick 2 Cement 1 Shovel | 4 hr | 28 | 1,740 Simoleons |
| Lawn Mower | 3 Metal 1 Electrical Components 1 Paint | 2 hr | 30 | 840 Simoleons |
| Garden Gnome | 2 Cement 1 Glue | 1 hr, 30 min | 34 | 1,600 Simoleons |
Donut Shop
Requirements & Costs:
| Level Requirement | Price | |
| Build | 18 | 17,000 Simoleons |
| ★ | 30 | 29,000 Simoleons |
| ★★ | 42 | 41,000 Simoleons |
| ★★★ | 50 | 45,000 Simoleons |
Products:
| Item | Materials | Time (Not Upgraded) | Level Requirement | Trade Depot Max Value |
| Donuts | 1 Sugar and Spices 1 Flour Bag | 45 min, 30 sec | 18 | 950 Simoleons |
| Green Smoothie | 1 Vegetables 1 Fruits and Berries | 30 min | 20 | 1,150 Simoleons |
| Bread Roll | 1 Flour Bag 1 Cream | 1 hr | 25 | 1,840 Simoleons |
| Cherry Cheesecake | 1 Flour Bag 1 Fruits and Berries 1 Cheese | 1 hr, 30 min | 27 | 2,240 Simoleons |
| Frozen Yogurt | 1 Sugar and Spices 1 Fruits and Berries 1 Cream | 4 hr | 28 | 1,750 Simoleons |
| Coffee | 1 Seeds 1 Sugar and Spices 1 Cream | Not Produced but 54 min when upgraded to 1-star | 33 | 750 Simoleons |
Fashion Store
Requirements & Costs:
| Level Requirement | Price | |
| Build | 19 | 22,000 Simoleons |
| ★ | 31 | 30,000 Simoleons |
| ★★ | 43 | 42,000 Simoleons |
| ★★★ | 51 | 50,000 Simoleons |
Products:
| Item | Materials | Time (Not Upgraded) | Level Requirement | Trade Depot Max Value |
| Cap | 2 Textiles 1 Measuring Tape | 1 hr | 19 | 600 Simoleons |
| Shoes | 1 Plastic 2 Textile 1 Glue | 1 hr, 15 min | 21 | 980 Simoleons |
| Watch | 2 Plastic 1 Chemicals 1 Glass | 1 hr, 30 min | 22 | 580 Simoleons |
| Business Suit | 3 Textiles 1 Glue 1 Measuring Tape | 3 hr, 30 min | 32 | 1170 Simoleons |
| Backpack | 2 Plastic 2 Textiles 1 Measuring Tape | 2 hr, 30 min | 34 | 430 Simoleons |
Fast Food Restaurant
Requirements & Costs:
| Level Requirement | Price | |
| Build | 25 | 25,000 Simoleons |
| ★ | 37 | 36,000 Simoleons |
| ★★ | 49 | 42,000 Simoleons |
| ★★★ | 57 | 50,000 Simoleons |
Products:
| Item | Materials | Time (Not Upgraded) | Level Requirement | Trade Depot Max Value |
| Ice Cream Sandwich | 1 Cream 1 Bread | 14 min | 25 | 2560 Simoleons |
| Pizza | 1 Flour 1 Cheese 1 Beef | 24 min | 28 | 2560 Simoleons |
| Burgers | 1 Beef 1 Bread 1 BBQ Grill | 35 min | 31 | 3620 Simoleons |
| Cheese Fries | 1 Vegetables 1 Cheese | 20 min | 33 | 1050 Simoleons |
| Lemonade Bottle | 2 Sugar and Spices 2 Glass 1 Fruits and Berries | 1 hr | 37 | 1690 Simoleons |
| Popcorn | 2 Corn 1 Microwave Oven | Not Produced but 27 min when upgraded to 1-star | 43 | 1250 Simoleons |
Home Appliances
Requirements & Costs:
| Level Requirement | Price | |
| Build | 29 | 30,000 Simoleons |
| ★ | 41 | 40,000 Simoleons |
| ★★ | 53 | 52,000 Simoleons |
| ★★★ | 61 | 60,000 Simoleons |
Products:
| Item | Materials | Time (Not Upgraded) | Level Requirement | Trade Depot Max Value |
| BBQ Grill | 3 Metal 1 Cooking Utensils | 2 hr, 45 min | 29 | 530 Simoleons |
| Refrigerator | 2 Plastic 2 Chemicals 2 Electrical Components | 3 hr, 30 min | 35 | 1060 Simoleons |
| Lighting System | 1 Chemicals 1 Glass 1 Electrical Components | 1 hr, 45 min | 36 | 890 Simoleons |
| TV | 2 Plastic 2 Glass 2 Electrical Components | 2 hr, 30 min | 38 | 1280 Simoleons |
| Microwave Oven | 4 Metal 1 Glass 1 Electrical Components | 2 hr | 42 | 480 Simoleons |
Vu’s Random Generator
Requirements & Costs:
Level 3, Vu Tower, 2,000 SimCash
Unlike other commercial buildings, this building does not have its own products and merely mimics other existing commercial buildings. It changes every 24 hours and cannot be upgraded.
Place Service Buildings Close or Far Away from Residential Buildings
When it comes to service buildings, some of them must be close to residential buildings for their benefits to be applied while some don’t have to be. To make things easier for players, we’ve categorized each of them as area-dependent and independent.
Area-Dependent Service Buildings Should be Close to Housing
Service Buildings such as Fire, Police, Health, and ControlNet need to be close to residential buildings to apply their effect. Just like most buildings, they have their own area of effect, price, and requirements which we have listed below for easy comparison:
Fire
This service is unlocked at level 5 and prevents fires from destroying buildings.
| Structure | Size | Area | Requirements | Price |
| Small Fire Station | 1×1 | 6×8 | Level 5 | 3,100 Simoleons |
| Basic Fire Station | 2×2 | 10×12 | Level 5 | 5,500 Simoleons |
| Deluxe Fire Station | 4×2 | 22×22 | Level 5 | 21,000 Simoleons |
Police
This service is unlocked at level 12 and keeps crime in the city under control.
| Structure | Size | Area | Requirements | Price |
| Small Police Station | 1×1 | 6×8 | Level 12 | 5,100 Simoleons |
| Basic Police Station | 2×2 | 12×12 | Level 12 | 9,400 Simoleons |
| Police Precinct | 4×2 | 24×24 | Level 12 | 36,000 Simoleons |
Health
This service is unlocked at level 16 and helps keep your Sims healthy.
| Structure | Size | Area | Requirements | Price |
| Small Health Clinic | 1×1 | 6×8 | Level 16 | 6,200 Simoleons |
| Health Clinic | 2×2 | 12×12 | Level 16 | 12,000 Simoleons |
| Hospital | 4×2 | 24×24 | Level 16 | 32,000 Simoleons |
Among these four services, they all have Maxis Manor listed in their options. Maxis Manor can be constructed to replace Fire, Police and Health buildings. It also offers Dr. Vu’s special items for sale.
| Structure | Size | Area | Requirements | Price |
| Maxis Manor | 2×2 | 22×22 | Level 22 Vu Tower | 1,000 SimCash |
ControlNet
This service is unlocked at level 30 and controls all futuristic technologies.
| Structure | Size | Area | Requirements | Price |
| Small ControlNet Tower | 1×1 | 6×6 | Level 30, OMEGA Residential Building | Free |
| Basic ControlNet Tower | 1×2 | 8×12 | Level 30, 8 OMEGA Residential Buildings | 15,000 OMEGA Zones |
| Deluxe ControlNet Tower | 2×2 | 16×14 | Level 30, 16 OMEGA Residential Buildings | 37,000 OMEGA Zones |
Independent Service Buildings With Pollution Should be Away from Housing
Service Buildings such as Power, Water, Sewage, Waste Management, and Drone Buildings do not need to be near residential buildings for their roles to be fulfilled. They only need to be connected to these homes through roads. Because of this, there is a lot of flexibility when it comes to the placement of Service Buildings, especially those without a Pollution Radius. In many cases, the best location to place them is the empty lots surrounding factories.
When constructing one of these service buildings, their window will show you the total capacity of all buildings that provide the service and the total demand or the number of houses that need the service. To prevent Sims from becoming unhappy and abandoning a housing unit, you must build enough service buildings to meet the demand.
Each of these buildings has a set capacity of homes they can service, price, pollution radius (if any), and requirements which we have listed below for easy comparison:
Power
This service is unlocked at level 1 and distributes electricity to the city.
| Structure | Capacity | Size | Pollution Radius | Requirements | Price |
| Wind Power Plant | 6 | 1×1 | None | None | 6,000 Simoleons |
| Coal Power Plant | 12 | 2×2 | 10×10 | None | 4,500 Simoleons |
| Deluxe Wind Power Plant | 22 | 2×2 | None | 2,000 Population | 15,000 Simoleons |
| Solar Power Plant | 35 | 4×2 | None | 23,000 Population | 22,000 Simoleons |
| Oil Power Plant | 40 | 4×2 | 8×8 | 40,000 Population | 15,000 Simoleons |
| Nuclear Power Plant | 60 | 4×3 | 12×12 | 70,000 Population | 35,000 Simoleons |
| Fusion Power Plant | 75 | 3×3 | None | University | 90,000 Simoleons |
| OMEGA Power Plant | 100 | 2×2 | None | Level 30, 3 OMEGA Zones | 10,000 NeoSimoleons (increases by 10k for every building to a max of 300k per building) |
Water
This service is unlocked at level 1 and distributes water to the city.
| Structure | Capacity | Size | Requirements | Price |
| Basic Water Tower | 9 | 1×1 | None | 6,000 Simoleons |
| Water Pumping Station | 55 | 3×2 | 15,000 Population | 45,000 Simoleons |
| OMEGA Water Tower | 100 | 1×1 | Level 30, 3 OMEGA Zones | 10,000 NeoSimoleons |
Sewage
This service is unlocked at level 8 and manages wastewater from the city.
| Structure | Capacity | Size | Pollution Radius | Requirements | Price |
| Small Sewage Outflow Pipe | 7 | 1×1 | 10×10 | Level 8 | 4,000 Simoleons |
| Basic Sewage Outflow Pipe | 28 | 2×2 | 12×12 | Level 8 | 12,000 Simoleons |
| Deluxe Sewage Outflow Pipe | 55 | 3×2 | None | Level 8 | 35,000 Simoleons |
| OMEGA Sewage Treatment Plant | 100 | 2×2 | None | Level 30, 3 OMEGA Zones | 10,000 NeoSimoleons |
Waste Management
This service is unlocked at level 14 and manages garbage from the city.
| Structure | Capacity | Size | Pollution Radius | Requirements | Price |
| Small Garbage Dump | 15 Waste Management | 2×2 | 10×10 | Level 14 | 6,000 Simoleons |
| Garbage Dump | 31 Waste Management | 3×2 | 12×12 | Level 14 | 12,000 Simoleons |
| Garbage Incinerator | 40 Waste Management | 2×2 | 16×16 | Level 14 | 15,000 Simoleons |
| Recycling Center | 70 Waste Management | 3×2 | None | Level 14 | 60,000 Simoleons |
| OMEGA Recycling Center | 100 Waste Management | 2×2 | None | Level 30, 3 OMEGA Zones | 10,000 NeoSimoleons |
Drones
This service is unlocked at level 30 and can replace Fire, Police and Health services. This building must be built per 1 OMEGA Zone created.
| Structure | Capacity | Size | Requirements | Price |
| Small Drone Base | 4 | 1×1 | Level 30, OMEGA Lab, OMEGA Zone | Free (Level 1) 200,000 NeoSimoleons (Level 50+) |
| Basic Drone Base | 9 | 1×2 | Level 30, OMEGA Lab, 8 OMEGA Zones | 6,700 NeoSimoleons (Level 1) 250,000 NeoSimoleons (Level 28+) |
| Deluxe Drone Base | 20 | 2×2 | Level 30, OMEGA Lab, 16 OMEGA Zones | 21,000 NeoSimoleons (Level 1) 300,000 NeoSimoleons (Level 16+) |
Government
Unlike the previous service buildings above, government buildings do not provide any services or effects to residential buildings but are essential to unlocking your city’s operations. While these buildings can be freely moved like other buildings, they cannot be stored or bulldozed. Aside from this, the government tab will also display which residential buildings contain Sims who are likely to upgrade (represented by a green happy face) and Sims who are likely to move out (represented by a red sad face).
Below are the buildings you can create from the government tab:
| Structure | Size | Pollution Radius | Build Limit | Requirements | Purpose | Price |
| Town Hall | 2×3 | None | 1 | Level 1 | Used to access the City Journal | 100 Simoleons |
| City Storage | 3×2 | 8×6 (Hidden) | 1 | Level 4 | Used to unlock City Storage | Free |
| City Hall | 2×3 | None | 1 | Level 5 | Used to collect Tax Revenue | 100 Simoleons |
| Mayor’s Mansion | 3×3 | None | 1 | Level 6 | Used to access City Achievements | 100 Simoleons |
| Department of Epic Projects | 2×2 | None | 1 | Level 16 | Used to unlock Speed-Up Tokens and Epic Projects | Free |
| NeoBank | 2×2 | None | 1 | Level 30, Small ControlNet Tower | Used to Store NeoSimoleons | Free |
| OMEGA Research Center | 2×2 | None | 2 | Level 30, NeoBank (First) Level 45 (Second) | Used to process OMEGA Material | Free (First) 2,000 SimCash (Second) |
| OMEGA Research Booster | 2×2 | None | 2 | OMEGA Research Center | Used to reduce OMEGA transformation time in the OMEGA Research Center | 750 SimCash |
| OMEGA Lab | 2×2 | None | 10 | OMEGA Research Center, 4 OMEGA Zones | Used to produce OMEGA Material | Free (First) 2,500 NeoSimoleons (Second) |
| OMEGA Storage | 2×2 | None | 1 | OMEGA Lab | Used to store OMEGA items | Free |
Place Industrial Buildings Away from Housing and Near the Main Road
Industrial buildings or factories serve to manufacture raw materials that are used for the construction of buildings and the production of commercial goods such as nails and planks. However, each one of these buildings except for the final one produces pollution around its area which negatively affects your Sims’ happiness.
To avoid this, we highly recommend placing residential areas as far away from factories as possible and instead placing other buildings around them. From our playthroughs, we’ve discovered that placing factories at the edge of your territory is effective as it halves their area of influence.
Placing them near main roads is ideal since placing them next to an area that you can expand on will still affect that area later once you purchase it. Whenever you’re in the industrial buildings tab, you’ll be able to view the areas affected by pollution.
Placing your factories close to each other makes it easier to collect the items that they produce once they’re done. This is also true for when you place commercial buildings next to them as well. If they are far away from each other, tapping the arrows to the left or right of their name lets you move through factories quickly.
To give you an idea of each factory’s cost, slots, pollution radius, and requirements, we listed them down for you in the table below:
| Structure | Production Slots | Size | Pollution Radius | Requirements | Price |
| Small Factory | 2 | 2×2 | 12×12 | None | Free |
| Basic Factory | 3 | 2×2 | 10×10 | 4,000 Population | 500 Simoleons |
| Mass Production Factory | 4 | 2×2 | 8×8 | 27,000 Population | 7,000 Simoleons |
| High-tech Factory | 5 | 2×2 | 6×6 | 80,000 Population | 20,000 Simoleons |
| Nano-tech Factory | 5 | 2×2 | None | 150,000 Population | 50,000 Simoleons |
Place Specializations Close to Residential Buildings
Structures under Specializations serve to boost your residence buildings’ population, influencing upgrades. Other than that, they don’t serve any other purpose other than being used as a requirement to build more specialization buildings. They are generally expensive and cost Simoleons, SimCash, Golden Keys, and Platinum Keys.
Most must be placed next to roads with the exception of Landscapes which can be placed in between buildings. Make sure that their areas of effect fit within the scope of your territory so that their positive influence will not go to waste. These cannot be demolished but will instead be put in storage if removed.
Some of these buildings have a green arrow next to them in the build mode. These are Hot Spots, specialization buildings that can be upgraded. There are several types of specialization structures and we’ve listed them all below:
Parks
Parks are natural spots for relaxation and recreation. They are unlocked at level 3 and are typically has a large boost area and boost size. We recommend placing this on a spot surrounded by residential homes and next to a road. There are currently no Park Hot Spots in the game. Among the parks you can place, we’ve listed a few that we believe are good choices that are very affordable but still gives the most beneficial boosts:
| Structure | Size | Area | Population Boost | Price | Requirements |
| Plumbob Park | 1×1 | 6×8 | 20% | 140 SimCash | Level 3 |
| University Park Cafeteria | 2×2 | 8×10 | 25% | 14,000 Simoleons | 10,000 Population |
| Reflecting Pool Park | 1×2 | 8×6 | 20% | 6,000 Simoleons | 2,000 Population |
| Peaceful Park | 1×2 | 6×10 | 25% | 8,000 Simoleons | 5,000 Population |
Most of the other items have the same population boost percentage and area of effect but have higher prices. Other items that have higher areas and boosts on the other hand tend to feel too overpriced. While other specialization buildings have a way larger area of effects, these have higher population boosts than most.
Landscape
Unlike most buildings Landscapes are special in a sense that they don’t need roads to function or utilize their positive effects on Residential Buildings. These are unlocked at level 6 and can help fill up those empty spaces in between buildings and are recommended to be placed in the middle of several residences in order to maximize their effect.
Since there are many items in the Landscapes tab, finding which one gives the biggest boost for the most affordable price can be challenging. To aid you with this dilemma, we’ve listed a few that we highly recommend:
| Structure | Size | Area | Population Boost | Price | Requirements |
| Food Alleyways | 1×2 | 12×12 | 16% | 50 SimCash | Level 6 |
| Plumbob Bridge | 1×2 | 16×16 | 16% | 50 SimCash | Level 6 |
| University of Sciences Bridge | 1×2 | 14×14 | 16% | 30 SimCash | Level 6 |
| Brass Arch Bridge | 1×2 | 14×14 | 16% | 30 SimCash | Level 6 |
These items not only provide a visually interesting appeal to your city, but it also provides a large boost for a very low price and requirement level. Most of the other items that give you a 16% population would usually cost 100+ SimCash, Golden Keys, or Platinum Keys.
Trees and ponds that are already on the land before you build anything on them do not hold the same effects as built landscapes. These are merely there for aesthetic purposes and do not fulfill any other role so feel free to build on top of them. They cannot be moved nor can they be returned to their previous state after something has been built on top of it or next to it.
Education
Education buildings are unlocked at level 10 and will require you to build the Department of Education before building any of the other structures in the tab. Unlike other specializations, there aren’t many options in Education and some of those buildings require you to build the buildings before them (ex: you have to build a High School before building a Community College). While they provide very high population boosts, they are also quite expensive. So instead, we will provide you a list of education Hot Spots that are available per region:
| Structure | Size | Area | Population Boost | Epic Points | Price | Requirements |
| Contemporary Art Museum | 3×2 | 12×14 to 26×28 | 15%-80% | 1-5 | 1,200 Leaf Simoleons | Department of Education, 1,000 Regional Population, Green Valley Region |
| Martial Arts School | 3×2 | 12×14 to 26×28 | 15%-80% | 1-5 | 1,200 Lime Simoleons | Department of Education, 1,000 Regional Population, Limestone Cliffs Region |
| Northern Lights Research Institute | 2×2 | 12×12 to 26×26 | 15%-80% | 1-5 | 1,500 Fish Simoleons | Department of Education, 1,000 Regional Population, Frosty Fjords Region |
| Oceanographic Institute | 2×3 | 12×14 to 26×28 | 15%-80% | 1-5 | 1,200 Wave Simoleons | Department of Education, 1,000 Regional Population, Sunny Isles Region |
| Secret Research Lab | 3×2 | 12×14 to 26×28 | 15%-80% | 1-5 | 1,200 Cactus Simoleons | Department of Education, 1,000 Regional Population, Cactus Canyon Region |
Transportation
Transportation helps your Sims travel from place to place and is essential to a growing city. It is unlocked at level 10 and will require you to build the Department of Transportation before you can build other structures in the tab. Like Education, transportation buildings are typically expensive with a high population boost.
Among all the buildings we highly recommend the London Bus Terminal as it has a pretty decent population boost of 20% and a wide-area reach for a lower price than most. However, you’ll need to have at least 3 London Town Homes before you can build it.
| Structure | Size | Area | Population Boost | Price | Requirements |
| London Bus Terminal | 2×2 | 16×14 | 20% | 5 Golden Keys | Department of Transportation, 3 London Town Homes |
There are also a few Transportation Hot Spots that you should consider adding to your cities:
| Structure | Size | Area | Population Boost | Price | Requirements |
| Bicycle Rental | 2×2 | 12×12 to 24×24 | 15% to 80% | 1,500 Leaf Simoleons | Department of Transportation, 1,500 Regional Population, Green Valley Region |
| Hoverboard Terminal | 2×2 | 12×12 to 26×26 | 15% to 80% | 1,500 Leaf Simoleons | Department of Transportation, 3,500 Regional Population, Green Valley Region |
| Tuk Tuk Station | 2×2 | 12×12 to 26×26 | 15% to 80% | 1,500 Lime Simoleons | Department of Transportation, 1,500 Regional Population, Limestone Cliffs |
| Big Rig Route | 3×2 | 12×14 to 26×28 | 15% to 80% | 1,200 Cactus Simoleons | Department of Transportation, 1,500 Regional Population, Cactus Canyon |
| Quad Bike Station | 2×2 | 12×12 to 26×26 | 15% to 80% | 1,500 Fish Simoleons | Department of Transportation, 1,500 Regional Population, Frosty Fjords |
| Taxi Stop | 2×2 | 12×12 to 26×26 | 15% to 80% | 1,500 Wave Simoleons | Department of Transportation, 1,500 Regional Population, Sunny Isles |
Beach
Beach Specialization structures are unlocked at level 15 and can only be built on beaches. When comparing population boosts and prices of beach structures to parks, the latter tends to be more practical since parks are less expensive, provide better boosts, and can be placed in more locations. That said, if you are only after the visual appeal, beaches would definitely make your city more interesting.
However, if you value population boosts more, we recommend spending your currencies on other specializations. Among the options in the beach tab, we do have a few that we can recommend for boosting population at a more affordable price:
| Structures | Size | Area | Population Boost | Price | Requirements |
| Surfer Beach | 1 tile wide | 3×12 | 10% | 20,000 Simoleons | Level 15 |
| Lifeguard Tower | 1 tile wide | 4×12 | 20% | 10 Golden Keys | Level 15 Surfer Beach |
| Relaxing Beach | 1 tile wide | 3×20 | 20% | 12 Golden Keys | Level 15 Surfer Beach |
Entertainment
Sims also crave entertainment in their everyday lives. Entertainment buildings are unlocked at level 20 and require you to build Entertainment HQ before the other structures in the tab. They provide high population boosts but will usually cost SimCash, Golden Keys, or Platinum Keys. Below are a few good options from the Entertainment tab:
| Structures | Size | Area | Population Boost | Price | Requirements |
| Hotel | 2×2 | 10×10 | 25% | 8 Golden Keys | Entertainment HQ |
| Expo Center | 6×4 | 18×16 | 40% | 10 Golden Keys | Entertainment HQ |
| Track and Field Stadium | 6×4 | 20×20 | 50% | 16 Golden Keys | Entertainment HQ |
There are also a few Entertainment Hot Spots that you should consider adding to your cities:
| Structure | Size | Area | Population Boost | Price | Requirements |
| Pet Park | 3×2 | 12×14 to 26×28 | 15% to 80% | 1,200 Leaf Simoleons | Entertainment HQ, 3,000 Regional Population, Green Valley Region |
| Tea House | 2×2 | 12×12 to 26×26 | 15% to 80% | 1,500 Lime Simoleons | Entertainment HQ, 3,000 Regional Population, Limestone Cliffs |
| UFO Landing Site | 3×2 | 12×14 to 26×28 | 15% to 80% | 1,200 Cactus Simoleons | Entertainment HQ, 3,000 Regional Population, Cactus Canyon |
| Longship Museum | 2×3 | 12×14 to 26×28 | 15% to 80% | 1,200 Fish Simoleons | Entertainment HQ, 3,000 Regional Population, Frosty Fjords |
| Luau Party | 2×3 | 12×14 to 26×28 | 15% to 80% | 1,200 Wave Simoleons | Entertainment HQ, 3,000 Regional Population, Sunny Isles |
Mountain
Mountains are similar to beaches in that only specialized Mountain structures can be built on them. But unlike beaches, they have a much higher population boost. They are unlocked at level 23 and have no Hot Spots. Mountain structures have a mix of expensive and inexpensive options and below are some of our recommendations:
| Structure | Size | Area | Population Boost | Price | Requirements |
| Cozy Cottages | 1 tile wide | 3×12 | 20% | 10,000 Simoleons | Level 23 |
| Mountainside Cottages | 1 tile wide | 4×12 | 25% | 4 Golden Keys | Level 23 Cozy Cottages |
| Mountain Lift | 2 tiles wide | 4×20 | 30% | 30,000 Simoleons | Level 23 Mountainside Cottages |
| Mountainside Train Station | 4 tiles wide | 6×20 | 40% | 15 Golden Keys | Level 23 Mountainside Cottages |
| Ski Jumping Hill | 2 tiles wide | 6×20 | 40% | 15 Golden Keys | Level 23 Mountain Lift |
Gambling
Gambling structures are very lucrative and are one of the specializations that bring in the most population. They are unlocked at level 25 and require you to build Gambling HQ before you can build the other structures in the tab. While these structures cost Golden Keys, they don’t require too many of them to purchase high population-boosting buildings. Below are a few options that we highly recommend building:
| Structure | Size | Area | Population Boost | Price | Requirements |
| Gambling House | 2×2 | 8×10 | 20% | 3 Golden Keys | Gambling HQ |
| Sleek Casino | 2×2 | 12×10 | 25% | 5 Golden Keys | Gambling HQ |
| Sci-fi Casino | 2×2 | 12×12 | 30% | 8 Golden Keys | Gambling HQ |
| Luxurious Casino | 2×2 | 16×16 | 50% | 10 Golden Keys | Gambling HQ |
| Luxurious Casino Tower | 2×2 | 16×16 | 60% | 12 Golden Keys | Luxurious Casino |
There are also a few Gambling Hot Spots that you should consider adding to your cities:
| Structure | Size | Area | Population Boost | Price | Requirements |
| Mahjong Hall | 2×2 | 12×12 to 26×26 | 15% to 80% | 1,500 Lime Simoleons | Gambling HQ, 3,500 Regional Population, Limestone Cliffs |
| Oasis Casino | 2×2 | 12×12 to 26×26 | 15% to 80% | 1,500 Cactus Simoleons | Gambling HQ, 3,500 Regional Population, Cactus Canyon |
| Ice Casino | 2×2 | 12×12 to 26×26 | 15% to 80% | 1,500 Fish Simoleons | Gambling HQ, 3,500 Regional Population, Frosty Fjords |
| Volcano Casino | 2×3 | 12×14 to 26×28 | 15% to 80% | 1,500 Wave Simoleons | Gambling HQ, 3,500 Regional Population, Sunny Isles |
Landmarks
Landmarks are the most expensive specialization structures in the game. They are unlocked at level 30 and require the Department of Culture to be built before you can build other structures in the tab. Because of their costs, we generally advise against buying these structures over other specialization structures since the others can offer high boosts for lower costs. Still, there are a few options that we think are worth getting:
| Structure | Size | Area | Population Boost | Price | Requirements |
| Arc de Triomphe | 3×2 | 14×16 | 40% | 16 Golden Keys | Department of Culture, 5 Parisian Zones |
| MaxisMan Statue | 2×2 | 16×16 | 50% | Free | Department of Culture, Vu Tower Level 18 |
| Nazca Bird | 4×4 | 12×12 | 20% | 20,000 Simoleons | Level 30, Department of Culture |
Mayor’s Pass
Structures in the Mayor’s Pass tab are unlocked at level 11 and contain structures that can be placed once you reach a certain tier in Mayor’s Pass. To know more about Mayor’s Pass, go to “6. Earn Cash and Rewards” in the “Take on Assignments” section. These structures’ population boosts range from 20% to 65%. Below are the usual structures you can find under this tab:
| Structure | Size | Area | Population Boost | Price | Requirements |
| Castle of Towers | 3×3 | 22×22 | 20% | 2,000 Plumbobs | Reach Tier 1, Premium Pass |
| Country Castle | 2×3 | 22×18 | 20% | 5,000 Plumbobs | Reach Tier 2 |
| Island Fort | 3×3 | 24×24 | 25% | 36,000 Plumbobs | Reach Tier 10, Premium Pass, Placed on top of water next to a road |
| City Palace | 3×3 | 26×26 | 30% | 112,000 Plumbobs | Reach Tier 19, Premium Pass |
| Explorer’s Castle | 4×4 | 26×26 | 35% | 126,000 Plumbobs | Reach Tier 20 |
| Beach Castle | 5 tiles wide | 18×34 | 50% | 270,000 Plumbobs | Reach Tier 29, Premium Pass |
| Castle of the Knights | 4×6 | 26×30 | 65% | 509,000 Plumbobs | Reach Tier 39, Premium Pass |
| Grand Fortress | 4×6 | 24×28 | 50% | 541,000 Plumbobs | Reach Tier 40 |
Each season has unique buildings that are only available during that season. Because of this, we highly recommend checking this tab for buildings you may be interested in at the start of a new season.
4. Keep an eye on Your Resources
Resources that you produce from factories and stores as well as special items you obtain from your Sims’ thought bubbles play a valuable role in your city’s development. While special items are obtained at random and cannot be controlled, materials from factories and stores can still be replenished effectively. Below are some tricks we’ve learned from our playthrough:
Keep Your Factories and Stores Busy
For as long as your game is open, we highly recommend constantly giving your factories and shops materials to manufacture and restock. Factories can work on two or more materials at a time while shops can only restock one slot at a time.
Since these resources have different production and stocking times, choosing those with short durations while you’re active is ideal so you can quickly restock again. Choosing those with longer durations when you’re about to end your gaming session on the other hand will make the time spent away worth it when you come back.
Increase Your Storage
All those resources you’ve worked hard to produce will only go to waste if you don’t have enough space in your storage. At the start of your playthrough, you can only have 30 resources at a time. As soon as you reach level 4, you can build a City Storage, raising the limit to 40.
However, if you want to continue increasing the cap, you’ll need to gather special items, specifically Storage Cameras, Storage Locks, and Storage Bars, from Sims’ thought bubbles. For every batch, you can increase the cap by 5. But as you do, the required quantity of items will also increase.
Buy Resources from Other Cities
In some cases, you may find yourself in need of materials that you cannot obtain immediately due to your factories or stores currently busy producing a different item from what you need or that item takes too long to create. When that happens, you can buy your materials from Globe Trade HQ or from your friend’s city’s trade depots. Take note that their prices can be changed and may be cheaper or more expensive than the usual price.
To help you make a more informed decision when making these deals, we’ve made a table to compare the max prices of each material you can manufacture, supply and obtain arranged based on source or collection:
Factory
| Item | x1 | x2 | x3 | x4 | x5 |
| Animal Feed | 140 | 280 | 420 | 560 | 700 |
| Chemicals | 60 | 120 | 180 | 240 | 300 |
| Electrical Components | 160 | 320 | 480 | 640 | 800 |
| Glass | 120 | 240 | 360 | 480 | 600 |
| Metal | 10 | 20 | 30 | 40 | 50 |
| Minerals | 40 | 80 | 120 | 160 | 200 |
| Plastic | 25 | 50 | 75 | 100 | 125 |
| Seeds | 30 | 60 | 90 | 120 | 150 |
| Sugar & Spices | 110 | 220 | 330 | 440 | 550 |
| Textiles | 90 | 180 | 270 | 360 | 450 |
| Wood | 20 | 40 | 60 | 80 | 100 |
Building Supplies Store
| Item | x1 | x2 | x3 | x4 | x5 |
| Nails | 80 | 160 | 240 | 320 | 400 |
| Planks | 120 | 240 | 360 | 480 | 600 |
| Bricks | 190 | 380 | 570 | 760 | 950 |
| Cement | 440 | 880 | 1320 | 1760 | 2200 |
| Glue | 440 | 880 | 1320 | 1760 | 2200 |
| Paint | 320 | 640 | 960 | 1280 | 1600 |
Hardware Store
| Item | x1 | x2 | x3 | x4 | x5 |
| Hammer | 90 | 180 | 270 | 360 | 450 |
| Measuring Tape | 110 | 220 | 330 | 440 | 550 |
| Shovel | 150 | 300 | 450 | 600 | 750 |
| Cooking Utensils | 250 | 500 | 750 | 1000 | 1250 |
| Ladder | 420 | 840 | 1260 | 1680 | 2100 |
| Drill | 590 | 1180 | 1770 | 2360 | 2950 |
Farmers Market
| Item | x1 | x2 | x3 | x4 | x5 |
| Vegetables | 160 | 320 | 480 | 640 | 800 |
| Flour Bag | 570 | 1140 | 1710 | 2280 | 2850 |
| Fruit & Berries | 730 | 1460 | 2190 | 2920 | 3650 |
| Cream | 440 | 880 | 1320 | 1760 | 2200 |
| Corn | 280 | 560 | 840 | 1120 | 1400 |
| Cheese | 660 | 1320 | 1980 | 2640 | 3300 |
| Beef | 860 | 1720 | 2580 | 3440 | 4300 |
Furniture Store
| Item | x1 | x2 | x3 | x4 | x5 |
| Chairs | 300 | 600 | 900 | 1200 | 1500 |
| Tables | 500 | 1000 | 1500 | 2000 | 2500 |
| Home Textiles | 610 | 1220 | 1830 | 2440 | 3050 |
| Cupboard | 900 | 1800 | 2700 | 3600 | 4500 |
| Couch | 1810 | 3620 | 5430 | 7240 | 9050 |
Gardening Supplies
| Item | x1 | x2 | x3 | x4 | x5 |
| Grass | 310 | 620 | 930 | 1240 | 1550 |
| Tree Saplings | 420 | 840 | 1260 | 1680 | 2100 |
| Garden Furniture | 820 | 1640 | 2460 | 3280 | 4100 |
| Fire Pit | 1740 | 3480 | 5220 | 6960 | 8700 |
| Lawn Mower | 840 | 1680 | 2520 | 3360 | 4200 |
| Garden Gnomes | 1600 | 3200 | 4800 | 6400 | 8000 |
Donut Shop
| Item | x1 | x2 | x3 | x4 | x5 |
| Donuts | 950 | 1900 | 2850 | 3800 | 4750 |
| Green Smoothie | 1150 | 2300 | 3450 | 4600 | 5750 |
| Bread Roll | 1840 | 3680 | 5520 | 7360 | 9200 |
| Cherry Cheesecake | 2240 | 4480 | 6720 | 8960 | 11200 |
| Frozen Yogurt | 1750 | 3500 | 5250 | 7000 | 8750 |
| Coffee | 750 | 1500 | 2250 | 3000 | 3750 |
Fashion Store
| Item | x1 | x2 | x3 | x4 | x5 |
| Cap | 600 | 1200 | 1800 | 2400 | 3000 |
| Shoes | 980 | 1960 | 2940 | 3920 | 4900 |
| Watch | 580 | 1160 | 1740 | 2320 | 2900 |
| Business Suits | 1170 | 2340 | 3510 | 4680 | 5850 |
| Backpack | 430 | 860 | 1290 | 1720 | 2150 |
Fast Food Restaurant
| Item | x1 | x2 | x3 | x4 | x5 |
| Ice Cream Sandwiches | 2560 | 5120 | 7680 | 10240 | 12800 |
| Pizza | 2560 | 5120 | 7680 | 10240 | 12800 |
| Burgers | 3620 | 7240 | 10860 | 14480 | 18100 |
| Cheese Fries | 1050 | 2100 | 3150 | 4200 | 5250 |
| Lemonade Bottle | 1690 | 3380 | 5070 | 6760 | 8450 |
| Popcorn | 1250 | 2500 | 3750 | 5000 | 6250 |
Home Appliances
| Item | x1 | x2 | x3 | x4 | x5 |
| BBQ Grill | 530 | 1060 | 1590 | 2120 | 2650 |
| Refrigerator | 1060 | 2120 | 3180 | 4240 | 5300 |
| Lighting System | 890 | 1780 | 2670 | 3560 | 4450 |
| TV | 1280 | 2560 | 3840 | 5120 | 6400 |
| Microwave Oven | 480 | 960 | 1440 | 1920 | 2400 |
City Storage Expansion Requirements
| Item | x1 | x2 | x3 | x4 | x5 |
| Storage Bars | 650 | 1300 | 1950 | 2600 | 3250 |
| Storage Camera | 650 | 1300 | 1950 | 2600 | 3250 |
| Storage Lock | 650 | 1300 | 1950 | 2600 | 3250 |
Land Expansion Requirements
| Item | x1 | x2 | x3 | x4 | x5 |
| Dozer Blade | 800 | 1600 | 2400 | 3200 | 4000 |
| Dozer Exhaust | 800 | 1600 | 2400 | 3200 | 4000 |
| Dozer Wheel | 800 | 1600 | 2400 | 3200 | 4000 |
Beach Expansion Requirements
| Item | x1 | x2 | x3 | x4 | x5 |
| Ship’s Wheel | 1500 | 3000 | 4500 | 6000 | 7500 |
| Scuba Mask | 1500 | 3000 | 4500 | 6000 | 7500 |
| Lifebelt | 1500 | 3000 | 4500 | 6000 | 7500 |
Mountain Expansion Requirements
| Item | x1 | x2 | x3 | x4 | x5 |
| Snowboard | 1500 | 3000 | 4500 | 6000 | 7500 |
| Compass | 1500 | 3000 | 4500 | 6000 | 7500 |
| Winter Hat | 1500 | 3000 | 4500 | 6000 | 7500 |
Tokyo Zone Upgrade Requirements
| Item | x1 | x2 | x3 | x4 | x5 |
| Lucky Cat | 2200 | 4400 | 6600 | 8800 | 11000 |
| Lantern | 2200 | 4400 | 6600 | 8800 | 11000 |
| Bonsai Tree | 2200 | 4400 | 6600 | 8800 | 11000 |
Parisian Zone Upgrade Requirements
| Item | x1 | x2 | x3 | x4 | x5 |
| Fashion Clothes | 1800 | 3600 | 5400 | 7200 | 9000 |
| Luxury Bag | 1800 | 3600 | 5400 | 7200 | 9000 |
| La Baguette | 1800 | 3600 | 5400 | 7200 | 9000 |
London Zone Upgrade Requirements
| Item | x1 | x2 | x3 | x4 | x5 |
| Bobby’s Helmet | 2000 | 4000 | 6000 | 8000 | 10000 |
| Teapot | 2000 | 4000 | 6000 | 8000 | 10000 |
| Telephone Box | 2000 | 4000 | 6000 | 8000 | 10000 |
Disaster Requirements
| Item | x1 | x2 | x3 | x4 | x5 |
| Vu’s Battery | 500 | 1000 | 1500 | 2000 | 2500 |
| Vu’s Gloves | 500 | 1000 | 1500 | 2000 | 2500 |
| Vu’s Remote | 500 | 1000 | 1500 | 2000 | 2500 |
Change Building Materials
If it is just not possible to get the materials a building needs, you can always choose to change the building materials for it. You can do this by selecting the building and tapping the refresh button just below the rewards. Take note that changing the building materials will take 30 minutes so only do this if you have time to spare and you have no other choice.
5. Expand Your Territory
As you grow your city, you’ll eventually run out of space to build. When this happens, you have two options:
Get More Land
As you level up, you’ll eventually be able to expand your territory be able to build on adjacent land, beaches and even mountains:
- Land Expansions are unlocked at level 10 and require you to collect Dozer Blades, Dozer Exhausts and Dozer Wheels for them.
- Beach Expansions are unlocked at level 15 and require you to collect Ship’s Wheels, Scuba Masks and Lifebelts for them.
- Mountain Expansions are unlocked at level 23 and require you to collect Snowboards, Compasses and Winter Hats for them.
These required special items can be obtained randomly from your Sims’ thought bubbles.
Go to Different Regions
Once you reach level 25, you’ll start unlocking new regions. Each region has its own theme, currency, local products produced by their unique factories and shops, local service, and an increased demand for a specific service:
Green Valley
This region is made of a small island that connects two larger pieces of land with two bridges. It has a lush green environment and an eco-friendly theme. This region also has a few beach zones, has Organic Food as its local service, and has a high demand for Waste Management services. Their local products include Recycled Fabrics, which are manufactured by their Green Factories, and Reusable Bags, Ecological Shoes, and Yoga Mats, which are supplied by their Eco Shop.
Sunny Isles
This region is made of four islands of varying sizes connected by bridges. It has many beautiful beach zones and a tropical theme. Their local service is Tourist Info and has a high demand for Power services. Their local products include Coconut, which is harvested from their Coconut Farms, and Coconut Oil, Face Cream, and Tropical Drinks, which are supplied by their Tropical Products Store.
Cactus Canyon
This region is a desert land with no water as well as beach or mountain zones. Instead, it has a large land area with cactus canyon zones. This region also has Gas Stations as their local service and has a high demand for Water services. Their local products include Crude Oil, which is produced by their Oil Plants, and Motor Oil, Car Tires, and Engines, which are supplied by their Car Parts Store.
Frosty Fjords
This region is made of two snowy lands and one land with lush greenery, all connected with bridges and surrounded by multiple mountain zones. This region also has Central Heating as their local service and has a high demand for Power services. Their local products include Fish, which is grown by their Fisheries, and Canned Fish, Fish Soup, and Salmon Sandwiches, which are supplied by their Fish Marketplace.
Limestone Cliffs
This region is filled with beautiful green fields and hills with a large amount of land shaped like an H. However, this region has no beach or mountain zones. It has Street Food as its local service and has a high demand for Sewage services. Their local products include Silk, which is harvested in their Mulberry Grove, and Strings, Fans, and Robes, which are supplied by their Silk Store.
6. Earn Cash and Rewards
There are many ways to earn Simoleons, SimCash and other currencies in the game without having to buy them with real money along with other rewards. Below are some that we discovered in our playthrough:
Build and Upgrade Residential Buildings
Building and upgrading residential buildings is one of the surefire ways to earn Simoleons. Unlike other structures, building and developing these homes do not require any Simoleons to be spent and will instead ask you for materials. These materials can be manufactured by your Factories, supplied by your commercial buildings, or bought from Global Trade HQ or your friends’ cities.
Collect Taxes
Once your city has reached level 5 and you’ve built a City Hall, the building will periodically collect taxes from its citizens. A Simoleon icon will appear above the building once there is revenue that you can collect.
The longer you’ve been away or the longer you haven’t collected any, the more you can obtain. Tapping the City Hall will tell you the tax rate, the total population, and the total daily income. The more developed your city is, the higher your tax revenue will be.
Choose Deals Wisely
Occasionally, you will encounter thought bubbles with a Simoleon icon. Tapping on it will show you a trade deal. These deals will typically ask for a few pieces of a material or special item in exchange for Simoleons. While it may be tempting to quickly accept all deals that come your way, not all deals can be beneficial.
Some are underpriced and will cause you to lose valuable resources for just a portion of their max price. You can check “4. Keep an eye on Your Resources” under “Buy Resources From Other Cities” to see the price list we made for these items as reference.
Sell Resources at the Trade Depot
Upon reaching 8,000 population, you will unlock the Trade Depot. This building is found below the large billboard, by the road that connects your city’s roads to the main road. It does not need to be built and will allow you to post materials and special items to sell for Simoleons to other players. You can advertise an item for free but must pay 1 SimCash for each succeeding one.
Alternatively, you can wait for 1 minute after the first to get free advertising. You can add up to 5 quantities of an item to one slot and can decrease the price to 1 and increase it up to a certain extent depending on the item. If you want to post more items, you can buy extra slots using SimCash. We highly recommend selling items that take a long time to produce or are hard to obtain as they are what most players look for.
Any items you do not successfully sell will eventually be bought by Daniel (the NPC on your friend’s cities list) so if you’re not in a hurry to gain Simoleons, you can post them at the highest price possible to get the most profit. To get an idea of the max prices you can assign to your items, you can check “4. Keep an eye on Your Resources” under “Buy Resources From Other Cities.”
Buy and Sell
One way to earn extra Simoleons without having to depend on the materials you produce is by buying and selling. You can look at the items posted in Globe Trade HQ and buy items that are posted cheaply. The items listed can be refreshed every 30 seconds. Upon tapping on the item, the game will take you to that player’s Trade Depot, allowing you to see their other wares.
To help you decide which items are worth taking, you can refer to the table under “4. Keep an eye on Your Resources” under “Buy Resources From Other Cities.” Alternatively, you can go to your friends’ cities and buy their wares. Daniel’s City is always worth buying from since he will always sell lower than most people.
Accomplish the City Journal’s Tasks
Tapping on the Town Hall will show you your City Journal. This contains tasks you need to accomplish to earn a surprise reward. These tasks may range from producing certain materials, making deals with Sims, earning a certain amount of Simoleons, and so on. Surprise rewards may contain Simoleons, SimCash, and or Special Items that you can use for expansions, upgrades, or disaster launches.
City Achievements
By level 6, you’ll be able to build a Mayor’s Mansion. Tapping on it will give you access to City Achievements. These are long-term goals that you can passively work towards while you play the game. The tasks listed here range from gaining a certain population, providing a specific service to your residential buildings, collecting a particular amount of taxes, and so on.
Each achievement has three levels, with each increasing the number or difficulty of the goal along with the rewards you can earn. Rewards obtained from City Achievements come as SimCash.
Complete a Collection in the City Album
Once you unlock the city album, you can earn a reward for completing the collections highlighted in gold and shown on the left side. Rewards vary from different currencies and special items.
Vote or Participate in City Design Challenges
At level 9, you become qualified to vote and earn rewards in City Design challenges. However, if you want to submit a design that you made, you’ll have to wait until you reach level 17. Rewards you can obtain include Design Simoleons, which are used to buy Services and upgrade roads, and Blueprints, which are used in Blueprint Exchange to get gorgeous buildings.
Fight Dr. Vu’s Monsters
You’ll eventually be able to summon and fight Dr. Vu’s monsters by tapping on the boat to the south of your city. These monsters will appear every few days but can be summoned immediately by paying SimCash. To fight off these monsters, you’ll need to launch War Disasters and earn War Points.
These Disasters need specific War Items which can be obtained by completing War Deliveries in the War Deliveries Depot, the building found next to the Airport Terminal. Disasters can also be upgraded when you collect additional Disaster Cards. Using upgraded Disasters will earn you even more, making it easier to defeat Vu’s Monsters.
Each Disaster requires you to have varying amounts of energy before you can launch them. Take note that some monsters are immune to some Disasters and thus cannot be launched against them. There are also four randomly selected Disasters to which these monsters can be vulnerable which can be seen on the right side of the monster view when you’re fighting the monster.
More Disasters can be unlocked when you collect Disaster Cards which are earned from Vu Pass. Vu Pass gives you rewards for every disaster you launch. If you purchase the premium Vu Pass with real money, you’ll get even more rewards.
Take on Assignments
At level 11, Assignments are unlocked and can be accessed by tapping on the hexagon icon at the lower left corner of the screen. This page shows you a list of tasks you can take on which has a specific deadline. You can only do one Assignment at a time and will only be rewarded if you accomplish them on time.
Watch Ads
Occasionally, you’ll find a clip icon in one of the thought bubbles that pop up in your city. Tapping on this will let you earn Simoleons, SimCash, or a Special Item in exchange for watching an ad.
Alternatively, you can go to the shop, which can be accessed by tapping the yellow shopping bag icon on the upper left corner of your screen and tapping Watch under Earn SimCash. You can watch an ad in the shop every 2 minutes.
Play Other Games
Inside the shop, you can also tap on SimCash Offers to find a list of games you can play along with tasks you need to accomplish in them. This is a good way to discover games you haven’t played yet while earning SimCash on the side. Completed rewards will be claimable from your Messages.
Daily Bonus
Daily Bonus can be claimed at the shop once you get to level 7 next to “Earn SimCash.” You can obtain Simoleons, SimCash, keys, and materials. Every 7th chest is a Golden Chest so be sure to not skip a day!
And this marks the end of our Beginner’s Guide to SimCity BuildIt! We hope that it helps you make the best business decisions to grow and flourish your city! While this article covers many parts of the game, it barely scratches the surface of its features and what you can do in SimCity BuildIt.
That said, if there are any effective tips or tricks that you’ve discovered that we did not cover in our guide, we’d love to hear about them! Feel free to share them in the comment section below as they could help fellow players with their own cities!