Getting Started¶
Character Creation¶
Start a new save to design your character: name, gender, sexuality, nationality, and a layered portrait (skin tone, eyes, eyebrows, hair, face shape). All characters begin with the same baseline stats — your decisions shape everything from there.
Sexuality (Straight / Bisexual / Gay) is chosen at creation and decides who approaches you romantically in events — a straight character is approached by the opposite gender, gay by the same, bisexual by either.
The Main Screen¶
Six buttons form the hub of your life:
- Work / Career — Jobs, education, assets, and the boxing, acting & music careers.
- Finance — Cash, debts, stocks, retirement, and tax history.
- Misc — Gym, spa, vacations, cinema, diet, hair studio, lottery, social media (PixelGram), crime, estate planning.
- Social — Relationships, Cinder dating, family tree, contacts, and anyone holding a grudge against you.
- Age Up — Advance one full year — the core game loop.
- Settings — Sound, achievements, patch notes, save/load.
Your header shows your name, age, job title, money and your reputation hashtags (#rich, #cheater, #megastar, …) — a live read of who you've become that also colours how other people treat you.
Filters let you toggle which life-event categories show in your feed — money, work, business, household, boxing, acting, crime, family and more, each colour-coded.
Core Stats¶
| Stat | Range | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| ❤️ Health | 0–100 | Risk of illness and death; bad diet, stress and age lower it |
| 💪 Fitness | 0–100 | Required for some jobs (police, fire, EMS); improves looks; raised at the gym |
| 🧠 Smarts | 0–100 | Unlocks jobs and university; raised by studying and education |
| 😊 Happiness | 0–100 | Affects wellbeing events; raised by activities and relationships |
| 😰 Stress | 0–100 | High stress harms health; lowered by spa, therapy, vacations |
| ✨ Looks | 0–100 | Affects fame/acting; raised by fitness and surgery; declines with age |
Tip
Stats shift every year based on lifestyle, job, and aging. Keep Health and Happiness above 40, and Stress below 60.
Core Mechanics: Money Flow¶
Each year-end, your income and expenses are tallied.
Income¶
| Source | Notes |
|---|---|
| Salary | Paid at year-end; varies by job |
| Acting pay | Film: lump sum on wrap. TV: monthly during contract |
| Boxing purse | Per-fight result |
| Music royalties | Sales, streams, tours and gigs |
| Endorsements | Annual brand-deal income (boxing/acting) |
| Stock dividends | Paid annually by dividend-bearing stocks |
| Rental income | Properties not set as your primary home |
| Residual income | Acting royalties from completed projects |
Expenses¶
| Expense | Notes |
|---|---|
| Diet / food | Monthly cost based on diet tier (7 tiers, $150–$6,000/month) |
| Mortgage payments | Per-property monthly deduction |
| Vehicle loans | Per-vehicle monthly deduction |
| Student loans | Monthly until cleared |
| Medical bills | One-off treatment charges |
| Trainer / agent fees | Boxing trainer & acting agent annual fees |
| Promoter / agent % | A percentage of earnings deducted |
| Income tax | US-style progressive brackets applied annually |
Warning
Monitor monthly outgoings in the Finance screen. Debt plus a low salary can spiral into repossession and bankruptcy.