Your first session

Creation steps

5

Starter goals

6

Goal rewards

₦18,900

First rent

Saturday

Before you start

• You need a browser on a phone, tablet or computer. Nothing to install.
• You must be 18 or older. The first step has a switch for it.
• You play as a guest at first. Your life is saved on our server, tied to that browser. Keep it with your email later (Phone → Settings) to play it anywhere.
• If you have played before on another device, tap Log in at the bottom of the creation screen.

Step 1: Your look

Your person stands large on one side of the screen and the choices sit on the other. Type a name (two letters or more), switch on I'm an adult (18+), then choose:

• Body, Hairstyle and Outfit.
• Fabric for the outfit: Ankara, Adire or Aso-oke prints, or plain.
• Skin tone, Hair colour, Outfit colour and Bottoms colour.

On the first three steps, Randomise picks for you if you cannot decide. Your name also becomes your @name, the handle other players see and the end of your house link. Pick something you are happy to keep: a fresh start later keeps the same @name.

Step 2: Your nature (two traits)

Pick exactly two of the 10 traits. Most make one skill grow faster or make some activities more fun; a few change how fast a need drops, and two have a real downside. The full list is in traits and dreams. If you already know which job you want, a trait that speeds up its skill is the simplest good pick:

Step 3: Big dream

One long goal for this life. It shows on the Goals tab of your character panel. You can choose from:

Step 4: Fate draw (the birth lottery)

A card spins and lands on one of two starts. This is drawn on our server, once per account, and it never changes, even after a fresh start.

• Ajepako (82% of draws): Start with a ₦45,000 Kolanut Loans advance, paid back at ₦6,500 a week; Already handy: Hustle and Fitness start at level 1; Hard times taught you fast: skills grow 20% quicker; Your first room is in Agege or Dopemu. GRA is a long way off.
• Ajebota (18%): Your parents send ₦420,000 to settle you; They also pay the rent on the Ogba mini-flat, if you take it; An uncle put in a word: your first job starts at level 2; No loan to repay.

Tap Go house hunting to carry on. The birth lottery guide compares the two starts in full, with the loan worked out week by week.

Step 5: First home

Three homes are on offer. The card shows the weekly rent and how much money you begin with, which depends on your draw and, for Ajepako, on the home you pick. Tap one, then Move in.

For Ajepako, the starting money includes the ₦45,000 loan you pay back at ₦6,500 a week.

The starter goals, one by one

Once you move in, a 🎯 goal card sits at the top left. For most goals, tapping it takes you to the right object, app or place. Finish it and the next one appears, with a toast showing what you earned. The money goes to your welcome fund; the ✨ are sparkles you spend on perks.

All together: ₦18,900 and 4 ✨.

Tips for each goal

• Eat and wash. Your kitchen starts stocked, so the cooler box and stove work straight away. The pail and scoop does the wash.
• Find work. Applying is instant; there is no interview. Choose by workdays as much as pay (table below).
• Make the room yours. Tap Buy and place anything. The cheapest piece is the Carved Stool at ₦300.
• Lunch at the buka. Map → Iya Basira's Buka. Walking is free; the cheapest ride is Keke from ₦100.
• Greet a neighbour. Inside the buka, open People and tap anyone. Greet is the safe choice; a joke can fall flat.

Ajebota starts every job at level 2. Full pay ladders are in jobs and skills.

Your first shift

With a job, a Start shift button appears at the bottom right on your workdays. Start it from home with at least 10 energy. A shift lasts 60 real minutes and you can do one per Lagos day. During it you pick a work mode and answer 4 tasks; handle all of them well for 15% extra pay. You can leave early for part of the pay, or close the game and let it finish on its own.

Your first week, day by day

Day 1 is whatever day you start. Rent day is always Saturday.

Week-one checklist

• All 6 starter goals done
• A job whose workdays fit your week
• At least one full shift with all 4 tasks handled
• Kitchen restocked once on ChopNow
• A first gig at a venue
• Your first Saturday bills paid with nothing left unpaid
• A friend or two from greeting people in venues
• Your life kept with your email (Phone → Settings → Keep this life on any device)

Common beginner mistakes

• Doing goals out of order. Only the current goal can complete. Follow the card.
• Working tired or hungry. Any need under 20 cuts work performance and skill XP by 20%. Below 10 energy you cannot start a shift or a gig at all.
• Spending everything before Saturday. Furniture is tempting. Keep a week's rent (and ₦6,500 for the loan, as an Ajepako) in the bank.
• Logging out as a guest. A guest life that is not kept is gone once you log out. Keep it first.
• Logging off hungry after a shift. Being away never pushes a need below 20, but hunger, energy or hygiene that work left at 15 or lower stays there, and after6 hours you are sick.
• Trying to work twice. One shift per Lagos day. Use gigs for the rest of the day.
• Starting a fresh life to re-draw the lottery. It does not work: the card belongs to your account.

An Ajepako starts with at least ₦63,500, so there is room for a few mistakes. There is not room for many.

What next

• Climb your job: jobs and skills.
• Plan the money: money and budget, then businesses.
• Keep well: needs and health and food and cooking.
• Move up: homes and furniture.
• Meet people: friends and multiplayer.
• The big picture: how to play.