How to play

You are the mayor and the central bank. The city builder part is familiar. The part underneath it is not, so this page says plainly what is going on.

Lay a street, then build on it

Nothing works without a road at its door. Roads pick their own shape from their neighbours, so you just draw the network you want and the corners and junctions sort themselves out.

Feed the city before you grow it

Every resident eats one basket a week. Works make baskets, shops put them within reach. Run short and the city buys abroad with reserves it may not have.

Watch where the money went

The cost of a building does not vanish. It lands in the pockets of whoever built it, which means every project you fund is an injection of currency into your own city.

Build the Mint

Until the Mint stands you have taxes and nothing else. Once it does you get the press, the policy rate and the reserve ratio.

Keep money and city growing together

The panel shows both rates. Money ahead of the city means inflation is coming. City ahead of money means prices and wages are about to fall.

Survive eighty weeks

Then the books close and the run is scored on how big the city got, how well off it was, and how steadily you ran the money.

What you can build

RoadEvery building needs one on its doorstep. Tiles pick their own shape.§ 45

Row houseSix residents. The cheapest way to grow a workforce.§ 300

Apartment blockEighteen residents, but only where a water tower reaches.§ 860

ShopFour jobs. Puts goods within reach of residents and collects sales tax.§ 400

WorksTen jobs making the goods the city eats. Loud, and it stains the sky.§ 740

OfficesTwelve jobs selling services abroad. Exports are the only source of reserves.§ 1,080

BankTurns deposits into credit. Unlocks the reserve ratio and lending.§ 1,500

The MintYour central bank. Unlocks the policy rate and the printing press.§ 2,200

TowerSixteen jobs and a skyline. Lifts the value of every plot around it.§ 3,000

ParkNo jobs, no rent. Buys back the happiness the works costs you.§ 130

Water towerServes apartment blocks within three cells.§ 460

Prices shown at a price index of 1.00. Building costs move with the price level, so letting inflation run makes the city dearer to build.

How a run is scored

Size and prosperity

Residents at the close, and real output per resident. Real means measured against the price index, so inflating the numbers does not inflate the score.

A stability multiplier

Measured across the whole run, not the final week. Inflation off target, unemployment, a debt burden above a year of output, unrest, thin reserves and bank failures each take a bite. Weeks with prices in the band pay a bonus.

A run that ends early keeps a quarter of what it earned. There are four ways to end early: the bond auction fails and the city defaults, the treasury empties with nothing left to borrow against, prices run away entirely, or the last residents leave.

The first run is meant to go badly

Practice runs are free, need no wallet and are not scored.

Start one