🎯 OBJECTIVE

Build a thriving metropolis! Manage zoning, roads, crop yields, and municipal balances to support citizens. Avoid bankruptcy — debt exceeding -$10,000 triggers a city collapse.

🎮 CONTROLS

• Pan: Arrow keys or WASD
• Quick Pan: Click and drag on the Minimap
• Zoom: Mouse scroll wheel or keys [ / ]
• Rotate View: Keys , / . to rotate left/right (2.5D Isometric only)
• Simulation Speed: Keys 1–9 set speed multiplier; 0 = 10×.
• Roads: Select the road tool, click to place ($50). Click on existing road to remove ($10). Click and drag to paint continuously.
• Zones: Select a zone type, click on empty sand (needs a clear 2x2 area). Costs range from $150 to $15,000.
• Demolish: Select the 🚜 Bulldozer tool, then click any building, road, or prop ($50 for zones/props, $10 for roads).
• Inspect: Click any tile while NO tool is selected to see level, population, upgrade progress, attractiveness, and road status.
• Close Modals: Press Esc to close any open overlay or info bubble.

📊 INTERFACE

• Status Tab: City metrics (population, jobs, food), demand bars, treasury, and economy summary. Click the Treasury card for a full budget breakdown; click the Economy card for a detailed census.
• Construct Tab: Tool buttons, current funds, and project cost reference.
• Inspection Bubble: Click any building, road, or prop with no tool active to open. Shows road connectivity, occupancy, attractiveness breakdown, and service distances. Closes when selecting a tool or pressing Esc.

📊 SERVICE UNLOCKS

Public safety buildings unlock at population thresholds and reduce fire/crime/health/postal penalties on housing demand. Each must be road-connected to be active.

• 👨‍🚒 Fire Station — Unlocks at 50 pop. Requirement scales with population (√ formula). Coverage: 26 tile radius. Upkeep $100/tick. Each missing station: -15 residential demand penalty.
• 🚔 Police Station — Unlocks at 100 pop. Requirement scales with population (√ formula). Coverage: 32 tile radius. Upkeep $150/tick. Each missing station: -20 residential demand penalty.
• 📮 Post Office — Unlocks at 150 pop. Requirement scales with population (√ formula). Coverage: 40 tile radius. Upkeep $200/tick. Each missing office: -15 residential demand penalty.
• 🏥 Medical Clinic — Unlocks at 250 pop. Requirement scales with population (√ formula). Coverage: 50 tile radius. Upkeep $250/tick. Each missing clinic: -25 residential demand penalty.
• 🏛️ City Hall — Unlocks at 300 pop. Adds +20 attractiveness to all zones within a 15-tile radius.
• 🏟️ Grand Stadium — Unlocks at 600 pop. Adds +25 attractiveness to all zones within a 20-tile radius.

🏭 PROXIMITY NUISANCE

Industrial and agricultural zones emit a nuisance that reduces attractiveness for nearby residential and commercial zones within 2 tiles (Chebyshev distance).

• 🏭 Industrial — −50 attractiveness to adjacent residential zones, −25 to commercial zones.
• 🌾 Agricultural — milder −15 to residential zones, −8 to commercial zones.

Buffer roads or parks between workplaces and housing to avoid the penalty.

🌿 PROPS & DECORATIONS

• 🌳 Park ($150): 2×2 zone. +10 attractiveness to zones within 7 tile radius (up to +20 total).
• 🌲 Pine Tree ($20): 1×1 decorative prop. Costs $0.25/tick to maintain. Adds +2 attractiveness to adjacent tiles.
• 🏮 Streetlamp ($15): 1×1 prop. Costs $0.25/tick to maintain. Glows warmly at night and adds +2 attractiveness in 2-tile radius.
• ⛲ Fountain ($30): 1×1 prop. Costs $0.25/tick to maintain. +2 attractiveness to adjacent zones.
• 🌿 Mini Park ($25): 1×1 prop, 5 varieties. Costs $0.25/tick to maintain. +2 attractiveness to adjacent zones.
• 📸 Speed Camera ($3,000): 1×1 prop. Reduces traffic 20% in a 3-tile radius. Earns $1/tick in fines.
• 🪑 Bench ($15): 1×1 prop. Costs $0.25/tick to maintain. Adds +2 attractiveness to adjacent tiles.
• 🚏 Bus Shelter ($250): 1×1 prop. Must be road-adjacent. Costs $5/tick to maintain. Reduces traffic by 20% in a 4-tile radius. Two or more shelters summon a bus every 2 minutes.

🎁 RANDOM EVENTS

Occasionally, interactable items appear on the map — click them before they disappear!

• 🪙 / 💰 Treasure on sand tiles — worth $75.
• 🐕 🐈 🐑 Stray Animals on sand tiles — worth $25 each.
• 📦 Lost Cargo on road tiles — worth $120.

😊 CITY MOOD

City Mood (0–100) reflects how happy your citizens are. It starts at 60 and slowly decays unless you keep them satisfied. The mood meter is shown in the Status panel.

• 😄 Happy (≥ 70): Citizens take pride in their city — municipal upkeep costs drop by 20%. Keep building parks and services!
• 😐 Neutral (40–69): Business as usual. No upkeep modifier.
• 😠 Unhappy (< 40): Littering, vandalism, and general disorder raise municipal upkeep by 20%.

What boosts mood: Parks (+0.4 each), high job fill rate (>80%), sufficient food, good civic service coverage, strong residential demand.

What hurts mood: Missing civic services (fire, police, clinic, post office), unemployment (<50% fill rate), food shortages, disconnected zones.

Mood is saved with your city and persists across sessions.

⚠️ BANKRUPTCY

If the city treasury falls below -$10,000, municipal services collapse and the game ends. Manage your tax-to-upkeep balance — residential taxes are reduced by unemployment, and civic buildings charge upkeep whether connected or not. Extreme cash hoarding triggers a federal tax seizure (70% of funds seized when reserves exceed $50,000 and 100× your net income).