📱 Reading the screen
The HUD, the activity strip, the dock, the phone and the camera, explained.
The HUD
| Part | What it does |
|---|---|
| Top centre | City date and China time (UTC+8 during testing), mood, active players, wallet and top-up. |
| City toolbar | Lagos/Abuja/Port Harcourt label, Names and More tools. |
| Activity strip | The current activity, its name, progress and countdown. Tap it to open the full activity card. |
| Lower left | Your avatar, mood and six needs. On small screens the need grid expands from the summary. |
| Bottom dock | Home · Buy · Map, plus a separate round Phone button. |
| World pins | Places you can open. Labels become compact at far zoom. |
| Camera controls | Pan, walk, orbit, zoom, reset and help. Recenter follows your Sim; City centre returns to the harbour centre. |
The activity strip
Starting a home action, a place activity, a work shift or a journey creates one active activity. The strip stays visible while you browse the map or open the phone, so you can always find the countdown.
Open the activity card to see stages, progress, remaining time and any work decisions. You can cancel before completion or finish when ready. A travel cancellation charges nothing; a cancelled activity pays no reward.
While a decorating or arcade screen is open, the strip shows progress but its button is paused. Close that protected screen before switching activities so unsaved work is not lost.
Camera and movement
Drag the world to pan, scroll or pinch to zoom, and use Shift-drag or the orbit control to turn. Clicking a building only translates the camera; heading, tilt and zoom stay fixed. Recenter smoothly returns to your Sim; City centre is an independent overview.
The city uses a 55° tilt. Home and place interiors use a 40° view with Above and Eyes presets. Reducing motion removes animations and makes focus immediate.
Use WASD or arrow keys to walk, or tap a road or path. You can only walk on roads, sidewalks, bridge decks, the waterfront promenade and short paths in front of a plot. Grass, lawns and empty land are not shortcuts; the click is refused while you stay where you are. Walking follows a swept collision path and respects buildings, furniture, water and bridges.
Phone apps
- Jobs · today’s lead, applications, current career, promotion progress and work style.
- Wallet · cash, bank, savings, bonds, loan, index, insurance, tickets, ledger, documents, cars and luxury assets.
- Life · City Ladder, life goals, wishes, perks, skills, reputation, romance and family.
- Services · bank, insurance, property, business, school, land and repairs.
- Hustles · three daily tasks, daily bonus and the 50-tier season track.
- Album · 12 sets of nine cards, packs, passport stamps and secrets.
- Map · every place, filters, real city atlas and intercity travel.
- Messages · global chat, friends, direct messages, groups and live rooms.
- Gist · newspaper, City Cup, raids, elections, treasure hunt and weekly events.
- Elections · three city seats, parties, candidates and the count.
- Adventures · three case files with choices, clues and endings.
- Games · arcade cabinets, slots, blackjack, poker, lotto and the sportsbook.
- Settings · language, audio, graphics, privacy, holiday mode, sync and logout.
Language and keyboard
English, Simplified Chinese, Japanese and Korean are available in More → Language. Names, chat and player-written text are not machine-translated.
Keyboard shortcuts: M map, H home, B buy, P phone, I profile, Q/E horizontal camera turn, Escape close the current panel.