Calendar and clock
A day in the tower
Section titled “A day in the tower”A game day runs from midnight to midnight, and your tower has a routine. Office workers arrive in the morning and leave in the evening. Lunch runs from 11 to 2, and it is the busiest time for your elevators and restaurants. Hotel guests check out at 8 in the morning and arrive again in the evening. Shops open mid-morning, the cinema in the afternoon, and in Modern the nightclub after dark. See People and traffic.
The clock breathes
Section titled “The clock breathes”As in 1994, game time doesn’t pass evenly. The clock slows down through the busy lunch hours, so you can watch your elevators earn their keep, and races through the small hours when nothing much happens. A whole day still takes the same real time. If you’d rather have an even pace, turn on Steady clock in Settings.
Game speed
Section titled “Game speed”The speed buttons (or the 0 to 3 keys) pause the game or run it faster. Pausing is handy for a long look around.
| Button | Game minutes a second | A whole day takes |
|---|---|---|
| Play | 3 | about 8 minutes |
| Medium | 15 | about 1½ minutes |
| Fast | 50 | about 30 seconds |
Play is the speed for watching your people: you can follow one from the lobby to their desk. Fast is for waiting out a payday.
Classic You can’t start new construction while paused, as in 1994.
Modern You can pause and build at leisure.
The two calendars
Section titled “The two calendars”| The 1994 calendar | The real-world calendar Modern | |
|---|---|---|
| A week | 3 days: 2 weekdays and a weekend day | 7 days: 5 weekdays and a 2-day weekend |
| A quarter | 3 days | 90 days |
| A year | 12 days | 360 days |
| Bills | Every 3 days, at a tenth of the monthly price | Every 30 days, at the full monthly price |
Classic always runs the 1994 calendar, short and fast, which is where Classic’s famously quick office money comes from: offices pay their full quarter’s rent every three days.
A Modern tower picks its calendar when you found it. The real-world calendar is the friendlier one; the 1994 one is there if you like the old rhythm. Modern evens the two out, so the same tower earns the same each day whichever calendar it runs; only the size of the lumps differs.
Weekends matter. Offices are empty on the weekend, and shops, restaurants and venues each do better or worse depending on what they are (see Food and shops).
Weather
Section titled “Weather”Some days are clear, some cloudy, and about one day in seven it rains. Rain keeps people indoors: shops and restaurants take in less, and a Metro softens the blow. In Modern, rain thins the crowds less than it does in Classic.
Holidays
Section titled “Holidays”Near the end of each year, a tower of three stars or more may see Santa fly over.