How to play Naija City

The beginner’s guide to the free Nigerian life sim

Naija City is a free 3D life simulation game set in Nigeria. You play one person in a city full of real players: you find work, hustle for naira, buy land, build a house, start a business, fall in love, raise children and even run for governor or president. It plays in your phone or computer browser, with nothing to download.

1. Start your life

• Sign in: tap Play to start straight away as a guest, or sign in with Google or email. A guest can link Google or email later from Settings and keep the same player.
• Make your character: pick a name and an @username, then your body, skin tone, hair, outfit and extras. The dice button gives you a random look.
• Your Fresh Start: every new player gets a small one-room home, a Tecno phone and ₦50,000 at birth, with ₦50,000 more for each day you play until you have received ₦300,000.
• Your city: you are born in Kaduna, Abuja, Lagos or Kano. If a friend sends you a state invite link, you are born in their state.

2. Look after your needs

Your player has five needs: Hunger, Energy, Fun, Social and Hygiene. Eat, sleep, bathe, hang out and have fun to keep them up. If Hunger runs out you faint and wake up in hospital with a bill, so buy food before you go to work.

3. Get a job

Open the Jobs app on your phone and apply. Every job has set hours and a workplace on the map: walk or drive there, start your shift and get paid when it ends. A 12-hour shift takes about 3 real minutes.

• Jobs anyone can start: Keke Driver, Market Trader, Mill Hand.
• Jobs that need Knowledge: Airport Ground Assistant, Hotel Receptionist, Police Officer, Fitness Coach, Primary School Teacher, Bank Teller, Resident Club DJ, Civil Servant, Refinery Technician and Software Developer (the best paid).
• Raise your Knowledge by studying: lectures at the Polytechnic, the museum and meetups at the Tech Hub.
• Pay goes up as you work: a daily streak adds up to 40%, and you rise from Trainee to Junior, Senior, Supervisor and Manager.

4. Hustle on the side

• Daily check-in: claim a reward every day. The longer your streak, the bigger it gets.
• Phone gigs: freelance copywriting, logo design and bug fixing.
• Street gigs: rent a keke or okada and carry passengers, do dispatch runs and odd jobs.
• Farming: lease a farm plot and grow maize, tomatoes, yam or Kachia ginger. Harvest on time or the crops rot.
• Invite friends: when a friend you invite works their first shifts, you both get a bonus.
• Invest: buy shares in Nigerian ventures and coins in the Invest app, and watch the prices move.

5. Buy land and build your house

Every city has estates, from cheap land at the edge of town to Maitama in Abuja and Banana Island in Lagos. Buy a half plot, a full plot or two plots, pick a design (from a room-and-parlour self-con to a 5-bedroom mansion) and hire a contractor. Your house goes up in four stages: foundation, blockwork, roofing and finishing.

When it is done, furnish it, rent it out to tenants for weekly rent, or sell it. Other players can visit and rate your home on the Cribs leaderboard, from “Face-me-I-face-you” all the way to “Banana Island”.

6. Start a business

Rent a stall, shop or plaza at a busy place on the map and open a business, from a snack cart to a keke fleet. Buy stock at wholesale, set your own prices and earn from every sale, including sales to other players. Hire staff and turn on restocking so it keeps selling while you do other things.

7. Get around and travel

Walk, take a Bolt, rent a keke or okada, or buy a car, from a Peugeot 504 to a Rolls-Royce. To change city, fly from the airport or take the train. The richest players buy a private jet. See all four cities.

8. Love, family and parties

• Love: date other players, propose with a ring and get married.
• Children: adopt up to three. Feed them, put them to sleep, keep them clean and play with them as they grow up.
• Owambe: book your city’s square, invite your people and spray money.
• Hangouts: match nights, suya nights and date nights with friends.
• Social: chat in DMs and group chats, post on the in-game Twitter and share snaps.

9. Run for office

Elections hold every day in the INEC app. File to run for President, Governor of Kaduna, Lagos or Kano, FCT Minister, Inspector-General of Police or EFCC Chair, campaign with rallies and town halls, and win the vote. Winners really run things: the President sets income tax and loan rates, governors fix potholes and can ban okadas, and the EFCC Chair sets fines.

10. Stay out of trouble

Thieves pickpocket and burgle, police make arrests, and the EFCC investigates anyone getting rich too fast. Keep your money in the bank, hire a mai-gadi to guard your house, and remember that any player can report you.

11. Play games with friends

The Games app has 13 street games to play with other players: Ludo, Whot!, Ayo, Chess, Draughts, Scrabble, Pool, Dara, Snakes & Ladders, Ten-Ten, Belt, Street Dice and Cover Soccer.

12. Climb the rankings

The richest players make the Forbes list (with under-20 and under-30 lists too), the best homes top the Cribs leaderboard, and season quests pay big prizes. Every life builds a legacy, and your street reputation grows from Nobody to Living legend.