Town to City: Your Master Guide to Happiness, Economy & Building

Introduction: The Philosophy of a Cozy Mayor 👋

Welcome, Mayors, to the idyllic, sun-drenched shores of Town to City! ☀️ You’ve arrived in a world yearning for greener pastures, a place where the brutalities of modern industrial life give way to the gentle hum of a flourishing community. If you’ve come seeking high-stress, unforgiving spreadsheets… you’re in for a lovely surprise! 🧘 This is a different kind of challenge. Developed by Galaxy Grove, the creators of Station to Station, Town to City is a “cozy city builder,” a genre that prioritizes relaxation, creativity, and community nurturing over ruthless optimization.

This guide is built on a single, foundational philosophy: in Town to City, true mastery isn’t achieved by conquering complex systems, but by harmonizing them. It’s about understanding that aesthetics 🎨 and efficiency 📈 are not opposing forces, but two sides of the same coin. 🤝 Here, citizen happiness is your everything! It’s the ultimate currency, the engine of all growth, and the primary metric of your success. 💖 The game’s core objective isn’t just accumulating wealth, but cultivating a beautiful and bustling community where people are thrilled to live.

To understand what makes Town to City unique, it’s helpful to look at the genre’s history. Since the text-based The Sumerian Game (1964) and the genre-defining SimCity (1989), city-builders have often emphasized a continuous struggle 😫 against budgets, pollution, traffic, and disaster. They’re intricate “software toys” that model complex urban systems, often rewarding hyper-efficient, grid-based dystopias just to keep the numbers in the green. Town to City consciously steps away from this tradition. It’s been described as a middle ground between the complex supply-chain management of a game like Anno and the pure aesthetic creation of Townscaper. It’s a “town-painter” as much as it is a management game, where you’re given the systems of a city-builder but the elegance and freedom of an artist. 🖌️

This philosophy is embedded in the very mechanics of the game. Newcomers will quickly discover a remarkable level of forgiveness. There’s no penalty for moving a building you’ve misplaced. 📦 There’s no cost to drawing, erasing, and repaving roads. ✏️ Unhappy citizens don’t riot or set fire to their homes; they simply wait patiently at the station for you to finish agonizing over the perfect placement of a decorative shrub for their yard. 🌸 These aren’t features of an “easy mode.” They’re deliberate design choices that communicate a core strategic principle: experimentation and iterative design are not failures to be punished, but are the intended and most effective path to mastery. 🥳

Traditional city-builders often demand that a player create a perfect, static blueprint from the outset, punishing any deviation with costly demolition. The freedom in Town to City liberates you from this rigid mindset. The layout that perfectly serves your initial Dwelling will be inefficient for a Hamlet. The needs of a Village are vastly different from those of a bustling City. The game doesn’t expect you to predict these future needs with perfect clairvoyance. Instead, it invites you to engage in a process of continuous, penalty-free urban renewal. It encourages you to see your settlement not as a fixed blueprint, but as a living canvas—a beautiful diorama that you constantly refine, repaint, and redesign as it grows and evolves. 💖

This Ultimate Master Strategy Guide is structured to guide you through that evolutionary process. We’ll begin with your first days as mayor 🏡, establishing the foundational principles of happiness and logistics as you grow from a tiny Dwelling to a vibrant Village. From there, we’ll dive deep into the heart of the game—the intricate systems of citizen happiness 💖—and explore the advanced economic strategies 📈 required to manage a thriving metropolis. You’ll learn the art of creation 🎨, mastering the game’s unique grid-less building tools to design cities that are both beautiful and functional. We’ll then expand your horizons to the complexities of farming 🌽 and multi-town empire management 🗺️. Finally, this guide will serve as your comprehensive almanac 📚, complete with detailed spreadsheets on every building, resource, and research upgrade in the game.

Prepare to break free of the grid. 🚀 Your journey from a sleepy town to a prosperous city begins now!

Chapter 1: Your First Days as Mayor – From Dwelling to Village 🏡

The journey of a thousand citizens begins with a single house. This chapter will guide you through the critical opening hours of Town to City, transforming an empty plot of land into a thriving Village. We’ll cover the foundational gameplay loop, establish your first supply chains, and achieve your first major milestones, all while embedding the core strategic principles that will serve you throughout your mayoral career.

1.1 Reading the Land: Your First Decision 🤔

Before you place a single cobblestone, your most important tool is the pause button. ⏸️ Upon starting a new map, whether in the campaign or sandbox mode, your first action should be to stop time and survey the landscape. Town to City offers a variety of unique maps, each with its own distinct geography—from the gentle hills of Belvue to the challenging mountain-split valley of Montedeux, the vast flatlands of Ventelieu, or the farm-ready fields of Fontebrac. Each cliff, lake, and hillside is both a constraint and an opportunity. 🗺️

Take a moment to brainstorm. Where will your town center be? 📍 A bustling market square nestled by a pond could become a focal point for citizen happiness. Is there a large, flat expanse perfect for the sprawling farms you’ll eventually need on the Fontebrac map? Where will your high-end residential districts go? Perhaps on a scenic hill overlooking the water. 🌄 This initial planning phase is crucial. While the game is forgiving and lets you move any structure freely by pressing the ‘M’ key, thinking ahead can save you significant time and effort in the long run.

A common beginner mistake is to build immediately adjacent to the train station. 🚂 While logical, this can trap your town in a corner of the map, limiting future expansion. A more advanced strategy is to identify a central, open area on the map and “paint” your main road from the station to that location. This designated center will become the heart of your town, with ample room to grow in all directions. Your initial settlement will be a small cluster, but your city will one day span a much larger area. Give it room to breathe from the very beginning. 🌬️

1.2 The First Settlers: Establishing Your Dwelling 👋

With a basic plan in mind, it’s time to welcome your first citizens. New families will arrive by train, waiting patiently at the station with a small ‘house’ icon above their heads, indicating their need for a home.

Your first steps are as follows:

Build Houses: 🏠 From the build menu at the bottom of the screen, select a basic house and place three of them near your designated town center.
Draw Roads: 🛣️ Select the “Draw Roads” tool. Start your main road by connecting it to the station, then extend it to the front of your newly placed houses. You can adjust the road’s style and size, but a simple dirt path is fine for now.
Assign Families: 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Click on one of the waiting families at the station, and then click on an empty house to move them in. Repeat for your other families.

This simple sequence—build, connect, assign—forms the core gameplay loop of population growth. As you keep your current residents happy, more will arrive, and you’ll repeat this process, expanding your town one house at a time. It’s a good practice to pre-build a few empty houses so you can accommodate new arrivals immediately, which helps maintain your town’s growth momentum. 👍

1.3 Laying the Foundation: Basic Needs and Early Economy 🍔🪴

A house is just a shelter; a home requires sustenance and a pleasant environment. Your new citizens have two fundamental needs you must immediately address: Food and Decorations.

The Food Supply Chain: chain:

Your early economy revolves around a simple, three-part supply chain.

The Station 🚂: All goods, including food, arrive here by train.
The Warehouse 📦: This is the logistical hub. You must build a Warehouse near the station to receive and store the incoming goods. The initial “Small Warehouse” has a limited range for distribution.
The Stalls 🛍️: These are your retail outlets. Initially, you’ll have access to a Poultry Stall 🐔 and a Cheese Stall 🧀. Place these stalls within the distribution range of your Warehouse and close to your houses. If they’re too far from homes, it’ll negatively impact citizen happiness.

Once these three buildings are placed and connected by roads, you must assign labor. 👷 Click on the Warehouse and each stall to assign at least one worker. These workers will transport goods from the station to the warehouse, and then from the warehouse to the stalls, making food available to your townsfolk and satisfying their primary need.

The Decoration Need:

The second early-game need is for a pleasant environment. Simply providing houses and food isn’t enough; your citizens want to live in a beautiful place. 🌸

Access the “Decorations” tab in the build menu.
Place items like Street Lights 💡, benches, trees 🌳, and flowers around the houses and market area. Even a simple well near a lake can contribute.
Decorating fulfills this basic need, directly increasing happiness and contributing to the cozy, idyllic aesthetic the game encourages.

The Research Center:

The final piece of your foundational setup is the Research Center 🔬, found in the “Special” build tab. Place it in your town and, like other buildings, assign labor to it. The more workers you assign, the faster you’ll generate Research Points (RP). ⚡ These points are spent in the Research Menu (top right of the screen) to unlock new buildings, decorations, and crucial upgrades. Investing in your Research Center early is an investment in your town’s future, accelerating your access to the tools you’ll need to grow.

1.4 Upgrading to Hamlet: Your First Milestone (Pop. 50) 🏆

Your first major goal is to upgrade your initial “Dwelling” to a “Hamlet.” This milestone is achieved by meeting two conditions:

Reach a population of 50 citizens.
Maintain an average happiness level of 60% or higher. 😊

The key to this is actively monitoring and managing citizen happiness. You can check the happiness of any household by clicking on it. A menu will appear showing their fulfilled and unfulfilled needs. Any demand displayed in red 🚨 is a critical issue that should be prioritized, as resolving it will provide a significant boost to happiness. In the early game, these red demands will almost always be related to a lack of food (check your warehouse/stall supply chain) or a lack of decorations (place more trees and lights!).

Maintaining over 60% happiness is the magic number 🪄. It’s the trigger for new families to arrive at the station, allowing you to increase your population toward the 50-citizen goal. As your population grows, remember to scale your services. You’ll need to add more labor to your warehouse and stalls to keep up with the increased demand for food.

Once you meet both requirements, a green upgrade button ⬆️ will appear on the “Dwelling” icon in the top left of your screen. Clicking this will officially transform your settlement into a Hamlet, unlocking Tier 2 of the Research Menu and introducing a new citizen need: Apparel. 👕

1.5 Upgrading to Village: Introducing Luxuries (Pop. 120) 💎

The path from Hamlet to Village introduces a new layer of economic complexity: Luxury. While basic needs are about survival and comfort, luxuries are about satisfaction and a higher quality of life. The requirements for this upgrade are a population of 120 and the continued maintenance of 60% average happiness.

With Tier 2 research unlocked, you gain access to a host of new buildings. The most important early unlocks are:

Clothing Store 👕 & Shoe Maker 👟: These buildings satisfy the new Apparel need. They must be supplied by a larger, upgraded Warehouse, which is also available to research.
Butcher 🥩: This building provides a new food type (meat) and, crucially, introduces Luxury Value. Placing a Butcher provides 2 luxury points to the citizens it serves, boosting their happiness beyond what basic needs can achieve.
Mayor’s Home 🏛️: This special building, once constructed, unlocks the “Requests” system. Individual citizens or groups will occasionally issue timed (but patient!) requests 📜 for you to build certain things or decorate an area in a specific way. Completing these requests yields unique rewards, often decorative items that can’t be unlocked through the research tree, making them highly valuable.

The core strategy for this phase is to expand your economic base to include apparel and your first luxury goods. As you build these new shops, you’ll need to carefully manage your labor pool and ensure your warehouse network can handle the increased logistical load. Fulfilling Mayor’s Requests should also be a priority, as the unique rewards can significantly enhance your town’s beauty and your citizens’ happiness. Once you reach 120 people and 60% happiness, you’ll be ready to upgrade to a Village, unlocking Tier 3 research and preparing you for the next stage of your city’s evolution.

At the heart of this entire early-game progression is a single, critical strategic choice: the placement of your first logistical cluster. The train station is the fixed point from which all goods flow. Therefore, your first Warehouse must be near the station. Your first stalls must be within the Warehouse’s limited range. And your first houses must be near those stalls. This creates an inseparable nucleus of Station ➡️ Warehouse ➡️ Stalls ➡️ Houses. 🎯 This initial cluster isn’t merely a starting point; it’s the town’s logistical heart, its economic gravity center. Placing this heart in a cramped corner of the map or on terrain that prohibits easy expansion will create cascading inefficiencies that will haunt you for hours. A master mayor understands this from the first minute. They’ll identify a central, flat, and open area and place their initial cluster there, even if it requires a longer first road from the station. This foresight prevents the need for a massive, time-consuming relocation of the entire town later on, setting the stage for smooth, scalable growth.

Chapter 2: The Heart of the City – Mastering Citizen Happiness 💖

In the world of Town to City, happiness isn’t a mere cosmetic feature or a secondary objective; it’s the fundamental resource that powers your entire civilization. It’s the gatekeeper of growth, the multiplier of your economy, and the ultimate measure of your success as a mayor. While the early game teaches you the basics of satisfying needs, true mastery requires a deeper, more nuanced understanding of the intricate web of factors that contribute to a citizen’s contentment. This chapter will dissect the happiness engine, from the diverse needs of different social classes to the powerful impact of individual traits and the subtle art of beautification.

2.1 The Happiness Engine: Why 60% is Your Magic Number 🪄

The entire growth model of Town to City hinges on a single, critical threshold: 60% average happiness. As long as your town’s overall happiness remains at or above this magic number, new families will continue to arrive at your train station, providing the population necessary for expansion and unlocking new town stages. Should your average happiness dip below this point, the flow of new arrivals will cease. 🛑 If it falls further, below 50%, your citizens will begin to abandon your town 😱, leading to a devastating cycle of depopulation and economic decline.

However, the role of happiness extends far beyond simple population growth. It’s also a direct and powerful economic tool. Happier citizens are more productive citizens. 📈 This increased productivity applies a multiplier to their output, whether they’re working in a stall, a shop, or a research center. This means that investing in happiness—by building a new park, fulfilling a luxury need, or simply planting more flowers—provides a direct return on investment by making your entire economy run more efficiently. A town with 100% happiness will generate significantly more income and research points than a town with 65% happiness, even with the exact same population and number of buildings. Therefore, every decision you make should be viewed through the lens of its impact on citizen happiness. 😊

2.2 The Three Tiers of Society: Workers, Artisans, and Bourgeoisie 🧑‍🌾🎨🎩

As your humble settlement blossoms, its social fabric will become more complex. Your population isn’t a monolith; it’s divided into three distinct social classes, each with its own unique housing, needs, and expectations.

Workers 🧑‍🌾: This is the foundational class of your society. They’re the first citizens to arrive and will form the backbone of your labor force. Their needs are the most basic, focusing on essentials like food, simple apparel, and decorations. They live in the standard houses you build from the beginning.
Artisans 🎨: This skilled middle class is unlocked when you upgrade your settlement to the “Small Town” stage. They require their own special “Artisan Residence” buildings. Artisans are more demanding; they not only require their basic needs to be met but also have a distinct need for Luxury. They’re also the class that most frequently has “Traits,” which are special personal preferences. They’re essential for staffing more advanced workshops and public service buildings.
The Bourgeoisie 🎩: The wealthiest and most-demanding class, the Bourgeoisie, arrive once you’ve upgraded your settlement to the “City” stage. They require opulent, dedicated residences and have the highest demand for luxury goods and advanced public services. Keeping this elite class happy is a significant late-game challenge, but their presence is necessary to unlock the final tiers of development.

Managing the delicate balance between these three classes is a core strategic challenge. Each class contributes to the overall average happiness, and neglecting the increasingly sophisticated needs of your Artisans and Bourgeoisie will stall your progress just as surely as failing to feed your Workers.

2.3 The Hierarchy of Needs: A Detailed Breakdown 📋

Each citizen, regardless of class, has a set of needs that must be fulfilled to maintain their happiness. As your town grows, this list of needs expands, requiring you to diversify your economy and services.

Food 🍔: The most fundamental need. Initially satisfied by basic Stalls (Poultry 🐔, Cheese 🧀). This category expands with the Butcher (meat 🥩) and the Bakery (bread 🍞), which requires Corn and Wheat. In the late game, the Restaurant 🍽️ provides high-end food fulfillment.
Apparel 👕: This need is unlocked at the Hamlet stage. It’s fulfilled by a variety of shops, including the Clothing Store 👕, Shoe Maker 👟, and Optician 👓. Higher-tier apparel needs are met by specialized shops like the Perfumer 🌸 and Jeweller 💎.
Leisure 🎭: Citizens need entertainment and relaxation. This need appears at the Village stage. It can be satisfied by a wide range of buildings, from simple Puppet Theatres 🎪 and Street Organs 🎶 to more sophisticated venues like the Barber 💈, Bistro ☕, Kiosk Theatre, and eventually a full-blown carnival with a Merry-Go-Round 🎠 and Ferris Wheel 🎡.
Housewares 🏺: This category represents the goods people need for their homes. It becomes prominent with the arrival of the Artisans. Buildings that fulfill this need include the Launderer 🧺, Smithy 🔨, Carpenter, Clock Maker 🕰️, and Pottery shop. The Luthier 🎻 is an advanced housewares shop.
Public Service 🏛️: As your town becomes a city, citizens will demand civic institutions. This need, unlocked at the Town stage, is fulfilled by buildings like the Newspaper Stand 📰, School 🏫, and Chapel ⛪. As you advance, you’ll unlock the Library 📚, Post Office 📮, and ultimately the grand Cathedral and University 🎓.

Each of these buildings, particularly those unlocked in later tiers, also provides a certain “Luxury Value,” which is essential for keeping your Artisans and Bourgeoisie content.

2.4 The Power of Traits: Strategic Citizen Placement 🎯

Some families will arrive at your station with a special icon, indicating they have a “Trait.” ✨ These Traits are specific preferences that, if met, provide a massive happiness bonus of up to 20%! A Trait might be a desire to live “near a lot of trees,” 🌳 “near a market,” 🛒 or close to specific “Plaza Decoration items” like banners and flags.

A novice mayor might see these Traits as simple side-quests. A master mayor, however, understands that Traits are a powerful resource management tool. The game’s free and instant “Move” function (accessible via the ‘M’ key) is the key to unlocking this potential.

Consider this scenario: you have an unhappy family of Workers in a prime location, surrounded by services, yet their happiness is still lagging. 😟 Elsewhere, you have a very happy Artisan family, but their happiness is high because their Trait of “loves trees” 🌳 is fulfilled by the small wooded area you placed their house next to. The strategic move is to swap them. 🔄 Move the happy Artisans to the less-desirable house (their Trait will keep their happiness high), and move the unhappy Workers into the prime real estate. The Workers’ happiness will immediately skyrocket! 🥳

This reveals a deeper truth about the game’s economy: prime real estate—areas with high decoration scores and overlapping service coverage—is a resource just as valuable as money or labor. By strategically placing your Trait-based families in less-developed areas, you can satisfy their happiness “cheaply.” This frees up your most valuable, high-service land for the more demanding non-Trait families and the high-maintenance Bourgeoisie.

2.5 The Beautification Bonus: Decorating for Prosperity 🌸

In Town to City, decoration isn’t an afterthought; it’s a core mechanic. Household areas with no decorations will make townsfolk unhappy, directly impacting your crucial 60% average. Every building has a “beautification score” that pops up when you place decorations nearby, giving you direct feedback.

The game’s decoration system is remarkably deep and creative. 🤩 Beyond simply placing trees 🌳, plants 🪴, benches, and street lights 💡, you’ll discover that many decorative items are modular and context-aware. This system, which feels like magic, allows for an incredible range of creative expression. The best example is the humble flower patch: 🌷

Place it on the ground, and it’s a simple flower bed.
Hover it over a window, and it transforms into a beautiful window box.
Line it up against a building wall, and it becomes a hanging flower garland.
Place it in the water of a pond or lake, and it becomes a cluster of lily pads. 🌊

This principle applies to other items as well. As players have discovered, placing a decorative umbrella ☂️ against a window turns it into an awning! Experimenting with item placement is key to unlocking the full aesthetic potential of your town. Drowning your residents in beautiful parks, plazas, and customized homes isn’t just for fun; it’s a viable and powerful strategy for ensuring long-term stability and prosperity.

2.6 Negative Modifiers: Managing Density, Taxes, and Pollution 📉

While most of the happiness system is about adding positive modifiers, you must also be mindful of factors that can decrease it.

Population Density overcrowded: As you begin upgrading houses to have second and third floors to save space, you increase the population density. If a neighborhood becomes too crowded, citizens will get a happiness debuff. 😟 This must be counteracted by ensuring dense residential areas are broken up with ample open space, parks 🏞️, and plazas.
Taxes 💸: Once you build the City Hall, you gain the ability to levy taxes. This becomes a significant source of income in the late game. However, high taxes will negatively impact happiness. The key is to find a balance. An initial tax rate of around 20% is generally safe.
Pollution and Proximity 🤫: While the game doesn’t feature heavy industrial pollution, the principles of good urban planning still apply. Citizens will be happier if their homes aren’t directly adjacent to noisy or busy commercial buildings. Creating small buffer zones with trees 🌲 and park decorations between your residential and commercial districts is an effective way to mitigate any implicit negative effects.

By mastering this complete picture of citizen happiness—balancing the needs of three social classes, leveraging traits, embracing beautification, and mitigating negative modifiers—you’ll build a city that’s not only prosperous and efficient but also a genuinely joyful place to live. 💖

Chapter 3: The Engine of Growth – Advanced Economic Strategy 📈

As your idyllic town begins its transformation into a bustling city, your role as mayor evolves. You’re no longer just a caretaker; you’re the architect of a complex economic engine. 🧑‍🏭 Success in the mid-to-late game requires moving beyond the simple satisfaction of needs and mastering the intricate logistical systems that form the backbone of your city’s economy. This chapter will deconstruct the game’s supply chains, demystify the crucial “Connections” mechanic, and provide advanced strategies for optimizing your warehouses, workforce, and resources to achieve sustainable, large-scale growth.

3.1 The Supply Chain: From Raw Goods to Happy Citizens 📦

While Town to City streamlines its economy, it nonetheless features a clear and important logistical flow that you must manage. Understanding this flow is the first step to economic mastery.

Basic Goods Chain (Early Game): This is the foundational supply chain upon which your entire city is built.
1. Import: Raw goods arrive at the Train Station. 🚂
2. Storage & Distribution: Workers from a nearby Warehouse collect these goods and store them. 📦
3. Retail: Warehouse workers then deliver the goods to connected Stalls and Shops. 🛍️
4. Consumption: Citizens visit these retail locations to fulfill their needs. 😊
Farming Goods Chain (Mid Game): Unlocked on the Fontebrac map, this introduces primary production into your economy.
1. Production: Farmer Residences are assigned a crop to grow in their adjacent fields. 👨‍🌾
2. Collection & Storage: Workers from a Granary 🌾 collect the harvested crops and store them.
3. Transfer: Workers from a Warehouse then collect the crops from the Granary, integrating them into the main distribution network.
4. Processing & Retail: The Warehouse delivers these crops to specialized shops like the Bakery 🍞 (which requires Wheat and Corn) or the Winery 🍷 (which requires Grapes) to be turned into finished products.
Advanced Goods (Late Game): As you unlock higher-tier buildings for the Artisan and Bourgeoisie classes, they’re integrated into the existing warehouse network. These advanced shops simply draw their required materials from the same pool of goods, increasing the overall demand on your logistical system.

Your primary role in managing this economy is to ensure there are no bottlenecks. A breakdown at any point in these chains—not enough warehouse workers, a granary that’s too far from a farm, a shop with no connection to a warehouse—will cause a cascade of failures, ultimately resulting in unhappy citizens. 😥

3.2 The “Connections” Mechanic: Your Logistical Nervous System 🧠

Perhaps the single most important and often misunderstood system in Town to City is the “Connections” mechanic. 🚨 A common mistake for new players is to assume that if a house is within a shop’s circular range indicator, it’s being served. This is incorrect. The range indicator is only half the story; the other half is the building’s limited number of “connection slots”. 🔌

Each service building, from a simple food stall to a grand university, can only serve a finite number of other buildings (primarily houses) at one time. You can visualize these active connections by selecting a service building; you’ll see lines extending to the specific houses it’s currently serving. If a house is within range but isn’t being served, it’s likely because all of the service building’s connection slots are already occupied by other, often closer, houses.

This mechanic is the source of many late-game happiness problems. You may have blanketed an area with services, yet still find isolated pockets of unhappy citizens because they can’t secure a connection slot. Mastering this system requires a more hands-on approach:

Reading Connections: Regularly click on your key service buildings to see where their connections are actually going. Are they being used efficiently?
Manual Management: The game provides a powerful tool for optimization. When you select a service building, you can view its active connections. If you see it’s serving a house that’s already well-covered, you can manually click to break that connection. ✂️ This frees up a slot, which the building will then automatically try to assign to another un-serviced house within its range. This technique is invaluable for troubleshooting!

3.3 Warehouse & Granary Mastery 📦🌾

Warehouses and Granaries are the heart and arteries of your supply chain. Their placement and efficiency dictate the health of your entire economy.

The Distributed Network Strategy 🌐: Don’t make the mistake of clustering all your warehouses around the main train station. 🙅‍♀️ While your first warehouse should be there, as your city expands, you must adopt a distributed network model. Place additional warehouses strategically throughout your residential and commercial districts. Each warehouse creates its own logistical “cell,” serving the area around it.
The Crucial Role of Roads 🛣️: The single most effective way to boost the efficiency of your warehouses is to upgrade your roads. Workers travel along roads to make deliveries, and their speed is determined by the road surface. Upgrading from dirt paths to stone roads dramatically increases their travel speed. 💨 This means they can make more deliveries in the same amount of time, effectively increasing the reach and capacity of your entire warehouse network.
Fine-Tuning for Labor Efficiency: The game’s grid-less system means that even minor adjustments in building placement can have significant consequences. Experiment with the exact placement of a new warehouse. Sometimes, moving it just a few feet can change its connection paths in a way that dramatically reduces the number of workers required to operate it. This can free up five, six, or even seven workers who can then be reassigned to other vital jobs.

3.4 Managing Your Workforce: The Labor Economy 👷‍♀️

Your citizens aren’t just consumers; they’re the workforce that keeps your city running. Every stall, shop, warehouse, and research center requires labor to function.

Balanced Allocation ⚖️: As new families arrive, you must continually assign them to jobs. A common mistake is to over-staff one sector while neglecting another. If your shops are fully staffed but your warehouses aren’t, the shops will have no goods to sell. If your research center is empty, you won’t be able to unlock new buildings.
Avoid “Over Labor”: While it may be tempting to fully staff every building, this can be inefficient. A stall serving only a few houses doesn’t need the same number of workers as one in a dense market square. Only assign as many workers as are needed to meet current demand.
Upgrades and Staffing: Be mindful when upgrading buildings, especially houses. Upgrading a house not only allows more families to live there but also often increases the number of workers required for any associated businesses. Always check the labor requirements after an upgrade!

3.5 Money and Research: Your Two Core Resources 💰🔬

Your economy is governed by two primary resources: Money ($) and Research Points (RP).

The Philosophy of Spending 💸: Unlike in many other city-builders, in Town to City, money is a means, not an end. It’s earned primarily through the productivity of your happy citizens. Your goal shouldn’t be to accumulate a massive treasury. In fact, consistently sitting at your maximum money capacity is a sign of economic inefficiency—it means you’re not investing! You should always be building: upgrading roads, placing new decorations, or constructing new services. As your income grows, be sure to research and build the Vault upgrades, which increase your maximum money capacity.
The Power of Knowledge 🧑‍🔬: Research Points are the currency of progress. They’re generated passively by workers in your Research Centers. In the early game, prioritizing the staffing of your Research Center is a powerful strategy, as it accelerates your entire progression. Similar to the vault, you should also prioritize researching the New Research Equipment upgrades, which increase your maximum RP capacity.

The game’s economic puzzle isn’t one of scarcity, but of flow. The grid-less building system tempts you to create beautiful, meandering cities. 🎨 However, the “Connections” mechanic and worker travel time demand logistical efficiency. 🚚 The solution is to abandon thinking in terms of simple road networks and instead embrace a modular, cellular design. Envision your city as a series of overlapping logistical cells, each anchored by a warehouse. Your goal is to design organic, beautiful districts within the efficient radius of each cell’s warehouse. This approach allows for organic beauty at the micro-level while maintaining macro-level efficiency.

Chapter 4: The Art of Creation – Advanced Building & Layout Design 🎨

Town to City is, at its core, a creative pursuit. The game’s “truly grid-less” building tools are its defining feature, offering a level of freedom that’s both liberating and, for some, a bit daunting! This chapter is dedicated to the art of city-shaping. We’ll move beyond the raw mechanics of economics and happiness to explore the practical application of these tools. Here, you’ll learn how to balance organic beauty with logistical function, build vertically to save precious space, and use the rich detailing options to transform your functional settlement into a breathtaking work of art. 💖

4.1 The Grid-less Paradigm: Organic vs. Planned Growth 🤔

The absence of a grid presents you with a fundamental choice in your design philosophy. There’s no single “correct” way to build.

Organic Growth 🌿: This approach mimics the historical development of many real-world towns. You start with your initial cluster and simply expand outwards as needed, letting roads and alleys wind naturally around terrain and new buildings.
- Pros: This method produces cities that feel incredibly natural and aesthetically pleasing. The winding streets, irregular plazas, and cozy cul-de-sacs are precisely the kind of idyllic environments the game seeks to evoke. 🥰
- Cons: A purely organic approach can lead to severe logistical problems in the late game. 😬 Long, inefficient road paths can strain your warehouse network, and you may find yourself “building into a corner,” with no logical space left for essential large-footprint buildings like a Cathedral or University.
Planned Growth 📐: This approach treats city-building as a more deliberate exercise in urban planning. You might lay out main arterial roads in a clear pattern, pre-designating areas as “residential,” “commercial,” or “civic.”
- Pros: This method is highly efficient. Services can be placed centrally for maximum coverage, and warehouse logistics are straightforward. 🤓
- Cons: A rigidly planned city can feel sterile and unnatural, betraying the “cozy” and organic spirit of the game. For many players, laying down perfectly parallel roads in a grid-less system can be a challenge. 😐

Many players find the most rewarding experience lies in a synthesis of these two styles. The advice from those who’ve mastered the system is often to “let go” and embrace a degree of beautiful, chaotic messiness.

4.2 Aesthetic Logistics: Designing for Beauty and Function 💖

The true path to mastery lies in designing cities that are both beautiful and functional. This is achieved by integrating the “Logistical Cells” framework from the previous chapter into your creative process. Instead of seeing your city as one massive entity, think of it as a collection of distinct villages or neighborhoods, each with its own logistical heart.

Anchor with a Warehouse 📦: When planning a new district, begin by placing its central warehouse. This building’s effective range will define the boundaries of your new “cell.”
Create a Hub 🛍️: Around the warehouse, create a small commercial hub with the shops and services that this neighborhood will need. This might be a traditional market square, a high street, or a cluster of shops around a plaza.
Design Organically Within the Cell 🏡: With the logistical core established, you can now embrace organic design for the residential areas. Weave winding roads and footpaths around the commercial hub, placing houses in natural-looking arrangements. Use the terrain to your advantage, building along hillsides or lakefronts.
Connect the Cells 🛣️: Use larger, more direct arterial roads to connect the commercial hubs of your different cells to each other and back to the main train station. These main roads are for high-speed logistical traffic, while the smaller neighborhood roads are for local access and aesthetic charm.

This modular approach lets you enjoy the creative freedom of organic design at the neighborhood level while maintaining the macro-level efficiency of a planned city. You can use decorative elements to subtly reinforce these boundaries. A line of trees 🌳, a decorative fence, or a change in road paving style can act as a visual cue for the edge of one logistical cell and the beginning of another, creating a city that feels like a collection of unique, interconnected villages.

4.3 Verticality and Density: Building Up, Not Just Out 🏙️

The maps in Town to City are beautiful, but they’re also finite. As your population swells into the hundreds and then thousands, you’ll inevitably face a shortage of building space. The primary solution to this late-game challenge is to build vertically.

Through the research tree, you’ll unlock the ability to add a Second Floor 🏠 and later a Third Floor 🏢 to your residential buildings. Each upgrade allows you to house additional families within the same building footprint, dramatically increasing your city’s population density.

This strategy is essential, but it must be managed carefully. As noted previously, high population density can create a happiness debuff if not properly balanced. 😟 When you create a high-density district with multi-story housing, you must also invest heavily in public spaces within that area. Interleave your tall apartment buildings with small parks 🏞️, plazas with fountains ⛲, and ample decorations. This investment in beautification counteracts the negative effects of density, allowing you to house a large population while still maintaining high happiness.

4.4 The Art of Detailing: Bringing Your City to Life ✨

Beyond meeting the functional “decoration” need, the game provides a rich and rewarding suite of tools for pure creative expression. This is where you can truly make your city unique.

Mastering Modular Decorations: As highlighted before, the game’s decoration system is full of delightful surprises. Spend time experimenting! See what happens when you place different items on walls, near water, or on top of other objects. Discovering that an umbrella ☂️ can become an awning or a flower patch 🌷 can become a window box is a core part of the game’s charm. 🤩
Creating Believable Public Spaces: Use the tools to build spaces that tell a story.
- Market Squares 🛒: Use a combination of stalls, plaza flooring, fountains, and benches to create a bustling town center.
- Parks and Plazas 🌳: Combine trees, flowers, fences, and paths to create serene green spaces. Citizens will actively use benches and paths you place off the beaten track!
- Waterfronts 🌊: Use docks, waterside decorations, and careful landscaping to turn your lakes and rivers into beautiful features.
The Final Touch: Photo Mode 📸: Once you’ve created a district you’re proud of, use the in-game Photo Mode to capture its beauty. This tool lets you find the perfect angle, adjust the time of day, and even add effects to create stunning images of your creation. Sharing these photos with the wider Town to City community is a rewarding part of the experience!

To help you navigate the core design choices, the following table breaks down the three primary layout philosophies.

Design Philosophy	Core Principle	Pros	Cons	Best For…
Organic Growth 🌿	Build reactively, letting the town expand naturally with winding roads.	– Highly aesthetic and natural. – Fun and intuitive.	– Logistically inefficient at scale. – Can lead to dead ends.	Small towns & players focused purely on aesthetics. 🎨
Planned Growth 📐	Pre-design districts and road networks in a structured pattern.	– Extremely efficient for logistics. – Easy to scale systematically.	– Can look rigid and sterile. – Fights the “cozy” ethos.	Players focused purely on maximizing population. 📈
Cellular Design 💡	Design the city as a collection of interconnected, organically-designed neighborhoods, each centered on a warehouse hub.	– Achieves both beauty and function. – Highly scalable. – Creates varied, interesting districts.	– Requires more forethought than a purely organic approach.	Mayors aiming for a large, stable, AND beautiful city. 👑

Chapter 5: Expanding Your Horizons – Farming and Multi-Town Empires 🌽🗺️

Just as you master the rhythms of your first town, Town to City presents a new frontier that fundamentally transforms the scope of your mayoral duties. The introduction of agriculture and the ability to manage multiple settlements shifts the game from a local distribution challenge to a regional production economy. This chapter will guide you through the fertile fields of Fontebrac, explain the new crop-powered production chains, and introduce the strategic layer of managing a multi-town empire.

5.1 Welcome to Fontebrac: The Farming Economy 🧑‍🌾

In the campaign mode, after upgrading your first town (Belvue) to a “Small Town,” you’ll gain access to a new land: Fontebrac. 🗺️ This map is designed to introduce the game’s farming system, a crucial component for mid-to-late game progression.

Farmer Residences and Crops 🏡: The core of the farming system is the Farmer Residence. Unlike regular houses, when you place a Farmer Residence, you must also designate an adjacent area of land as a field 🟩 and select a specific crop 🥕 for the resident farmers to grow.
Farm Points (FP) 🚜: As your farmers successfully grow and harvest crops, you’ll earn a new, distinct resource called Farm Points (FP). These points are spent in a separate “Farms Menu” (similar to the main Research Menu) to unlock new crop types, as well as new buildings and upgrades related to the agricultural economy. The more diverse your crops, the faster you’ll accumulate FP, so it’s wise to unlock and plant new crop types as soon as they become available. ⚡
The Granary 🌾: Harvested crops are not taken directly to a warehouse. Instead, you must build a Granary near your farmlands. The Granary employs workers who will collect the crops from the fields and store them. It’s essential to place your Granary centrally among your farms and connect it to a Warehouse. 📦 Workers from the Warehouse will then transport the stored crops from the Granary into your main city-wide distribution network.

The initial setup in Fontebrac involves laying out a few Farmer Residences, assigning them to the starting crops, and building the essential Granary-Warehouse connection. You’ll also need to build regular houses for the non-farmer workers required to staff the Granary, Warehouse, and other support buildings.

5.2 Crop-Powered Production Chains 🏭

The crops you harvest aren’t just another source of food; they’re the raw materials for a new tier of advanced production chains that unlock powerful new buildings and satisfy more complex citizen needs.

The Bakery 🍞: This special structure is a prime example. To unlock it, you must first accumulate 200 Farm Points. Once built, it requires a steady supply of both Corn 🌽 and Wheat 🌾 to operate. In return, it produces baked goods that help satisfy food demands with a high degree of quality.
The Winery 🍷: As you progress further in the farming research tree, you’ll unlock crops like Grapes 🍇. These are the essential input for the Winery, a building that fulfills leisure and luxury demands for your higher-tier citizens.
Other Crop-Powered Buildings: The farming system supports a wide range of production. Other crops you’ll unlock include Hops (for the Pub 🍻), Cotton (for advanced apparel), Lavender and Medicinal Herbs (for buildings like the Perfumer 🌸 or Apothecary), and more.

This new layer of production fundamentally alters your economic strategy. In your first town, your role was primarily that of a “Shopkeeper”—managing the distribution of imported goods. With the advent of farming, you become an “Industrialist.” 🧑‍🏭 You’re now responsible for the entire supply chain, from the primary production of raw materials (crops) to their processing into finished goods (bread, wine). This introduces new and complex challenges, marking a major turning point in the game’s strategic depth.

5.3 The Regional View: Managing Multiple Towns 🏘️

The ability to build a second town in Fontebrac is your introduction to the game’s ultimate macro-strategic layer: managing a multi-town empire. As your population grows, so can your ambitions. The game allows you to create multiple towns that can either grow independently or thrive together, connected by trade and travel routes. 🤝

The most effective strategy for managing multiple towns is specialization. Rather than trying to make each town a self-sufficient replica of the others, assign them specific economic roles:

Agricultural Hub 🌽: Fontebrac is naturally suited to become your region’s breadbasket. You can dedicate most of its land to farming a wide variety of crops, generating a massive surplus of food and raw materials.
Commercial/Residential Metropolis 🏙️: Your original town, Belvue, can evolve into a dense urban center. With its food needs met by imports from your farming town, you can dedicate its land to high-density housing, advanced shops, and public services for your Artisan and Bourgeoisie populations.
Tourism or Resource Hub 🏖️: Future maps or sandbox playthroughs might allow for other specializations, such as a scenic tourist town built around lakes and mountains.

The key to making this regional economy work is establishing efficient trade routes between your specialized settlements. This adds another layer to your logistical puzzle, requiring you to think not just about warehouse placement within a city, but about the flow of goods across the entire regional map. Managing a multi-town empire is the pinnacle of the Town to City experience! 👑

Chapter 6: The Mayor’s Toolkit – Mastering the Research Tree 🔬

Progress in Town to City is charted through its Research Tree. 🌳 This is your primary tool for evolution, allowing you to unlock the new buildings, upgrades, and decorations necessary to meet the ever-increasing demands of your growing populace. While it can be tempting to unlock items as soon as you have enough Research Points (RP), a strategic approach to research is essential for smooth and efficient progression. This chapter will break down the structure of the research system and provide a strategic guide on what to prioritize at each stage of your city’s development.

6.1 How Research Works: Tiers and Unlocks 🔓

The research system is straightforward and directly tied to your city’s growth. It’s organized into tiers, with each tier corresponding to a major town upgrade stage.

Earning Research Points (RP) 🧑‍🔬: RP is generated by assigning workers to your Research Center(s). The more workers you have dedicated to research, the faster you’ll accumulate points. ⚡
Unlocking Tiers ⬆️: When you begin the game at the “Dwelling” stage, you have access to Tier 1 research. When you upgrade your town to a “Hamlet,” Tier 2 of the research tree becomes available. This pattern continues for each subsequent upgrade: Village unlocks Tier 3, Small Town unlocks Tier 4, and so on, all the way to Tier 8 (“Grandiose City”).
Spending Points: You can spend your accumulated RP at any time to unlock any available item from the tiers you have access to.

A key early-game strategy is to build and staff your Research Center as soon as possible. The sooner you start generating RP, the faster you can unlock crucial early upgrades. It’s also vital to research the New Research Equipment upgrades as they become available. These upgrades increase your maximum RP capacity, preventing you from wasting points when you’re saving up for an expensive, high-tier unlock.

6.2 Strategic Research Paths: What to Prioritize at Each Stage 🎯

While you’ll eventually unlock most of the research tree, the order in which you unlock items can have a significant impact. Here’s a strategic guide to prioritization:

Early Game (Dwelling → Village):

Your focus here is on establishing a stable foundation and meeting the first new needs.

High Priority:
- Warehouse Upgrade 📦: The larger Warehouse is essential for supplying new shops.
- Clothing Store 👕: This is non-negotiable for the new “Apparel” need.
- Butcher 🥩: Your first introduction to the “Luxury” mechanic. Key for happiness.
Medium Priority:
- Shoe Maker 👟 / Optician 👓: Diversifies Apparel and adds more luxury.
- Second Floor Housing 🏠: Useful for increasing density early on.
- City Hall 🏛️: Unlocks taxes, but be careful not to hurt happiness.

Mid Game (Small Town → Town):

This stage is defined by the arrival of the Artisans and their demand for more luxuries and services.

High Priority:
- Artisan Class 🎨: The first thing you must unlock to get Artisan Residences.
- High-Luxury Buildings: Focus on unlocks that provide high luxury values. The Clock Maker 🕰️ (4 luxury), Bistro ☕ (3 luxury), and Barber 💈 (3 luxury) are excellent choices.
- Public Service Buildings: The Newspaper Stand 📰, School 🏫, and Chapel ⛪ are required to meet the new “Public Service” demand.
Medium Priority:
- Launderer 🧺 / Smithy 🔨 / Carpenter / Pottery 🏺: These buildings are necessary to fulfill the new “Housewares” demand.
- Economic Upgrades: Look for New Money Vault 💰 and New Research Equipment 🔬 to increase your resource caps.
- Carnival Rides 🎠🎡: Excellent for fulfilling Leisure demands.

Late Game (City → Grandiose City):

Your focus now shifts to supporting a massive, diverse population and satisfying the extremely high demands of the Bourgeoisie. 🎩

High Priority:
- Bourgeoisie Class 🎩: Must be researched to unlock their unique residences.
- Top-Tier Public Services: The Cathedral ⛪ and University 🎓 are essential. They fulfill Public Service demands and each provide a massive 5 luxury points.
- Top-Tier Luxury Buildings: The Restaurant 🍽️ and Theatre 🎭 also provide 5 luxury points each and are key to satisfying your elite citizens.
Medium Priority:
- Advanced Economic Upgrades: The Higher Class Taxes upgrade 💸 provides a significant income boost, while Extra Warehouse Efficiency 📈 is crucial for your vast logistical network.
- Capacity Upgrades: Researching upgrades like Improved Lectures (for the University) allows your existing buildings to serve more people, which is more space- and cost-effective than building duplicates.

6.3 The Farming Research Tree 🚜

The farming system has its own separate research tree that’s progressed using Farm Points (FP) instead of RP. The strategy here is more linear but equally important.

The progression is based on unlocking tiers of crops. You begin with a few basic crops. Harvesting these earns you the FP needed to unlock the next set.

Tier 1: Unlock initial cash crops like Grape 🍇, Corn 🌽, and Wheat 🌾. These are essential for starting your advanced food production with the Winery and Bakery.
Tier 2: Unlock crops like Roses, Cotton, and Beeswax. This tier also includes crucial upgrades like Extra Granary Workers 👷‍♀️, which increases the transport capacity of your granaries.
Tier 3: Unlock a wider variety of vegetable crops, such as Hops 🍻, Potato 🥔, Tomato 🍅, and Lettuce 🥬, which are needed for buildings like the Pub.
Final Tier: Unlock the last set of specialty crops, including Pumpkin 🎃, Lavender, and Medicinal Herbs.

The core strategy for the farming tree is diversification. 🌈 The more unique types of crops you’re actively growing, the faster you’ll earn FP. Therefore, as soon as you unlock a new crop, you should dedicate at least one Farmer Residence to growing it to accelerate your progress!

Chapter 7: Seasonal Festivities & Content Updates 🎁

Town to City launched as a polished and robust experience, but its journey is far from over. As a game in Early Access, it’s in a state of active development, with the team at Galaxy Grove committed to involving the community in the process through playtests and feedback channels on their Discord. 💖 This chapter will cover the known plans for the game’s future, detail the content added through free seasonal updates, and clarify the nature of the currently available DLC.

7.1 Early Access Roadmap and Future Content 🌱

The developers have stated that they plan for the game to be in Early Access for approximately six to eight months from its September 2025 launch. The version launched into Early Access was estimated to be roughly 75% complete.

While a detailed, long-term roadmap is dynamic, the developers have indicated that future updates will focus more on refinement and adding new content. One of the most anticipated additions mentioned by the development team is the introduction of animals 🐄🐖 into the game world, which will likely add another layer of life and charm to your rural and urban landscapes. The community has also expressed strong interest in potential future expansions that could include features like harbors ⚓, boats ⛵, and bridges 🌉, indicating a wealth of possibilities for the game’s future!

7.2 Seasonal Updates: Autumn and Halloween 🍂🎃

Since its launch, the developers have released free seasonal updates that add new thematic content for all players, enriching the game’s aesthetic palette.

The Autumn Update (October 2025) 🍁: This was the first major content update, celebrating the arrival of autumn.
- New Decorations: The centerpiece was the addition of new autumn-themed decorations, most notably trees with beautiful orange leaves! 🌳 These are unlocked via a new entry in the research menu.
- New Sandbox Map 🗺️: The update also included a brand-new map for the sandbox mode.
- Quality of Life Improvements: This update brought highly requested features, like the ability to rotate the square brush tool, an increased max brush size, and the option to pause the spawning of new families ⏸️, giving players more control.
The Halloween Update (October 2025) 👻: Following shortly after, this update brought a spooky, festive spirit to the game.
- New Halloween Quest 📜: A new, themed quest was added, rewarding players with unique Halloween items.
- New Halloween Decorations 💀: A plethora of spooky decorations were introduced, including: Withered Trees, Withered Ivy, Small and Big Jack O’Lanterns 🎃, Pumpkins, a Spooky Scarecrow, Mist effects 🌫️, and Gravestones.
- Photo Mode Effect 📸: A new film grain effect was added to the photo mode options, perfect for capturing atmospheric, vintage-looking screenshots.

These free updates demonstrate a commitment to expanding the game’s creative toolkit and keeping the experience fresh! 🥳

7.3 DLC Content: Soundtrack and Artbook 🎶🎨

It’s important to understand the distinction between free content updates and paid downloadable content (DLC). As of the current version, all new gameplay content, such as the seasonal decorations and quests, has been added to the base game for free. 🥳

The currently available paid DLCs for Town to City are purely supplementary and do not affect gameplay:

Town to City Soundtrack 🎵: For a price of $4.99, players can purchase the official soundtrack, which features the relaxing and atmospheric music from the game.
Town to City – The Art of Town to City 🖼️: Also priced at $4.99, this is the official digital artbook, offering a behind-the-scenes look at the game’s charming voxel art style.

There are also several bundles available on Steam that package the base game with these DLCs or with other games from the publisher at a discounted price. Just know that these DLCs are extras and aren’t required to access any of the in-game buildings, mechanics, or features discussed in this guide.

Appendix: The Town to City Almanac 📚

This appendix serves as your comprehensive data repository. While the main chapters of this guide focus on strategy and the “why,” this section provides the raw data—the “what.” Here you’ll find detailed spreadsheets covering every aspect of the game’s economy, progression, and research. Use these tables as a quick reference during gameplay or as a tool for deep strategic planning. 🤓

A.1 Comprehensive Building & Production Almanac

This master table lists every known production, service, and special building in the game, providing all the critical stats you need.

(Note: Costs are not available and are marked as “N/A.”)

Building Name	Unlocked At (Stage)	Function / Need Fulfilled	Labor Slots	Luxury Value	Decoration Value	Production Input(s)	Production Output
— COMMERCE: FOOD —
Poultry Stall 🐔	Dwelling	Food	1+	+0	N/A	Goods from Warehouse	Food
Cheese Stall 🧀	Dwelling	Food	1+	+0	N/A	Goods from Warehouse	Food
Butcher 🥩	Hamlet	Food	1+	+2	N/A	Goods from Warehouse	Meat
Bakery 🍞	Small Town (Fontebrac)	Food	1+	N/A	N/A	Wheat, Corn	Baked Goods
Restaurant 🍽️	Large City	Food	1+	+5	N/A	N/A	High-End Food
— COMMERCE: APPAREL —
Clothing Store 👕	Hamlet	Apparel	1+	N/A	N/A	Goods from Warehouse	Clothes
Shoe Maker 👟	Hamlet	Apparel	1+	+2	N/A	Goods from Warehouse	Shoes
Optician 👓	Hamlet	Apparel	1+	+3	N/A	Goods from Warehouse	Eyewear
Perfumer 🌸	City	Apparel	1+	+4	N/A	Goods from Warehouse	Perfume
Jeweller 💎	City	Apparel	1+	+4	N/A	Goods from Warehouse	Jewelry
— COMMERCE: LEISURE —
Puppet Theatre 🎭	Village	Leisure	1+	N/A	N/A	N/A	Entertainment
Street Organ 🎶	Village	Leisure	1+	N/A	N/A	N/A	Entertainment
Ball Throw 🥎	Village	Leisure	1+	N/A	N/A	N/A	Entertainment
Barber 💈	Village	Leisure	1+	+3	N/A	N/A	Service
Kiosk Theatre 🎟️	Small Town	Leisure	1+	N/A	N/A	N/A	Entertainment
Bistro ☕	Small Town	Leisure	1+	+3	N/A	N/A	Service
Merry-Go-Round 🎠	Town	Leisure	1+	+2	N/A	N/A	Entertainment
Ferris Wheel 🎡	Town	Leisure	1+	+2	N/A	N/A	Entertainment
Theatre 🏛️	Large City	Leisure	1+	+5	N/A	N/A	Entertainment
— COMMERCE: HOUSEWARES —
Launderer 🧺	Small Town	Housewares	1+ (Upgrades)	+2	N/A	N/A	Service
Smithy 🔨	Small Town	Housewares	1+	+2	N/A	N/A	Goods
Carpenter 🪚	Small Town	Housewares	1+	N/A	N/A	N/A	Goods
Clock Maker 🕰️	Small Town	Housewares	1+	+4	N/A	N/A	Goods
Pottery 🏺	Town	Housewares	1+	+1	N/A	N/A	Goods
Luthier 🎻	City	Housewares	1+	+4	N/A	N/A	Goods
— PUBLIC SERVICE —
Newspaper Stand 📰	Town	Public Service	1+	+0	N/A	N/A	Service
School 🏫	Town	Public Service	1+	+2	N/A	N/A	Service
Chapel ⛪	Town	Public Service	1+	+2	N/A	N/A	Service
Library 📚	City	Public Service	1+	+2	N/A	N/A	Service
Post Office 📮	City	Public Service	1+	+2	N/A	N/A	Service
University 🎓	Large City	Public Service	1+	+5	N/A	N/A	Service
Cathedral ⛪	Large City	Public Service	1+	+5	N/A	N/A	Service
— SPECIAL & LOGISTICS —
Small Warehouse 📦	Dwelling	Logistics	1+	+0	N/A	Goods from Station	Distribution
Warehouse 📦	Hamlet	Logistics	1+ (Upgrades to 12)	+0	N/A	Goods from Station/Granary	Distribution
Research Center 🔬	Dwelling	Research	1+	+0	N/A	N/A	Research Points
Mayor’s Home 🏛️	Hamlet	Quests	0	N/A	N/A	N/A	Unlocks Requests
City Hall 💰	Village	Administration	1+	+0	N/A	N/A	Unlocks Taxes
Granary 🌾	Small Town (Fontebrac)	Logistics (Farming)	1+	+0	N/A	Crops from Farms	Crop Storage
— MONUMENTS —
Fountain of Seasons ⛲	Hamlet	Decoration	0	0	up to 50	N/A	Decoration

A.2 Citizen Needs & Progression Matrix

This matrix provides a clear roadmap of your city’s progression. Use it to anticipate upcoming needs!

Town Stage	Population Requirement	New Citizen Class Unlocked	New Needs Unlocked	Key Buildings to Satisfy Needs
Dwelling	0+	Worker 🧑‍🌾	Food 🍔, Decoration 🪴	Poultry/Cheese Stall, Warehouse, Basic Decorations
Hamlet	50	–	Apparel 👕	Clothing Store, Shoe Maker, Butcher (for Luxury)
Village	120	–	Leisure 🎭	Puppet Theatre, Street Organ, Barber
Small Town	200	Artisan 🎨	Housewares 🏺, Higher Luxury	Launderer, Smithy, Clock Maker, Bistro
Town	30 Artisans	–	Public Service 🏛️	Newspaper Stand, School, Chapel
City	80 Artisans	Bourgeoisie 🎩	Higher Luxury, Advanced Services	Library, Post Office, Perfumer, Luthier
Large City	25 Bourgeoisie	–	Top-Tier Luxury & Services	Restaurant, Theatre
Grandiose City	60 Bourgeoisie	–	(Focus on Maintenance)	Cathedral, University

A.3 Complete Research Tree Breakdown

This table organizes all known research unlocks by the Tier in which they become available.

Tier	Item Name	Resource	Effect / Unlock	Strategic Priority
Tier 1 (Dwelling)	Basic Stalls, Decorations, Research Center	RP	Unlocks foundational buildings.	High (Automatic)
Tier 2 (Hamlet)	Warehouse (Large) 📦	RP	Essential for expanded logistics.	High
	Clothing Store 👕	RP	Fulfills new Apparel need.	High
	Butcher 🥩	RP	First source of Luxury value.	High
	Shoe Maker 👟	RP	Diversifies Apparel and adds Luxury.	Medium
	Second Floor Housing 🏠	RP	Increases population density.	Medium
	Fountain of Seasons ⛲	RP	Powerful decoration monument.	Low
Tier 3 (Village)	New Research Equipment (1,000 RP Cap) 🔬	RP	Increases RP storage capacity.	High
	Puppet Theatre 🎭, Street Organ 🎶	RP	Fulfills new Leisure need.	High
	Barber 💈	RP	Fulfills Leisure and provides Luxury.	High
	City Hall 💰	RP	Unlocks taxation for new income.	Medium
	Extra Warehouse Workers 👷	RP	Increases warehouse labor slots to 12.	Medium
	Plaza Decorations 📜	RP	More options to satisfy decoration needs.	Low
Tier 4 (Small Town)	Artisan Class 🎨	RP	Unlocks Artisan Residences.	High
	Clock Maker 🕰️	RP	High luxury (4) for Housewares.	High
	Bistro ☕	RP	High luxury (3) for Leisure.	High
	Launderer 🧺, Smithy 🔨, Carpenter 🪚	RP	Fulfills new Housewares need.	Medium
	Kiosk Theatre 🎟️	RP	Additional Leisure option.	Medium
Tier 5 (Town)	New Money Vault ($8,000 Cap) 💰	RP	Increases money storage capacity.	High
	New Research Equipment (2,000 RP Cap) 🔬	RP	Further increases RP storage.	High
	School 🏫, Chapel ⛪, Newspaper Stand 📰	RP	Fulfills new Public Service need.	High
	Merry-Go-Round 🎠, Ferris Wheel 🎡	RP	Good source of Leisure and Luxury (2).	Medium
	Pottery 🏺	RP	Fulfills Housewares and provides Luxury (1).	Medium
	Third Floor Housing 🏢	RP	Further increases population density.	Medium
Tier 6 (City)	Bourgeoisie Class 🎩	RP	Unlocks Bourgeoisie Residences.	High
	Luthier 🎻	RP	High luxury (4) for Bourgeoisie Housewares.	High
	Perfumer 🌸 / Jeweller 💎	RP	High luxury (4) for Bourgeoisie Apparel.	High
	Library 📚, Post Office 📮	RP	Fulfills Public Service and provides Luxury (2).	Medium
	Extra Warehouse Efficiency 📈	RP	Increases warehouse transport capacity.	Medium
Tier 7 (Large City)	Cathedral ⛪	RP	Top-tier Public Service and Luxury (5).	High
	University 🎓	RP	Top-tier Public Service and Luxury (5).	High
	Restaurant 🍽️	RP	Top-tier Food and Luxury (5).	High
	Theatre 🏛️	RP	Top-tier Leisure and Luxury (5).	High
	Increased Vault Size ($15,000 Cap) 💰	RP	Maximum money capacity.	Medium
	Higher Class Taxes 💸	RP	Allows taxation of Artisans/Bourgeoisie.	Medium
Farming Tree	Tier 1 Crops (Grape 🍇, Corn 🌽, Wheat 🌾)	FP	Unlocks Bakery and Winery chains.	High
	Tier 2 Upgrades (Extra Granary Workers 👷‍♀️)	FP	Essential for farming logistics.	High
	All Other Crops (Hops 🍻, Potato 🥔, etc.)	FP	Diversify to earn FP faster.	Medium

A.4 Community Resources

The world of Town to City is always growing 🌍, thanks to an active community and responsive developers. To stay up-to-date, share your creations, and dive even deeper into strategy, make use of these essential community hubs.

The Official Discord Server 💬: This is the most direct way to connect with the developers and the core community. The developers actively use Discord for playtest sessions and to gather feedback, making it an invaluable resource for dedicated players. You can typically find a working invite link on the game’s official Steam page or in community hubs.
The Official Subreddit (r/TownToCityGame) ❤️: A great place for sharing city screenshots 📸, asking questions, and engaging in discussions about strategy and future updates.
Steam Community Hub & Guides 🚂: The Steam platform hosts a dedicated hub for the game, featuring player-written guides, screenshots, and discussions. This is where you can find specialized guides on topics like achievement hunting or detailed explanations of specific mechanics like citizen traits.

Disclaimer: This is an unofficial fan work, all trademarks and copyrights for Town to City belong to the developer Galaxy Grove.

Find the game here! https://store.steampowered.com/app/3115220/Town_to_City/