Stars and the TOWER

Your tower starts with one star. Stars are how the city rates it, and each one unlocks new rooms and bigger plans. Population earns a star, but past two stars population alone isn’t enough: the tower also has to show it can look after the people in it.

The ratings

Rating	People	And the tower needs
★	Any	Nothing: this is where you start
★★	300	Nothing more
★★★	1,000	Two Security offices
★★★★	5,000	A Medical Center, enough recycling for everyone, two hotel suites, and a VIP’s good review
★★★★★	10,000	A Metro Station
TOWER	15,000	The Wedding Hall, and the VIP’s approval at the inspection

Each rating needs everything the ones below it asked for, too. Your rating never falls once earned.

Who counts

Up to four stars, everyone counts: office workers, residents, hotel guests and the visitors in your shops. From four stars on, the city stops counting hotel guests, so for five stars and the TOWER only the people who work and live in the tower (and their visitors) count. A big hotel helps you reach four stars, but it won’t carry you past.

Two to five

Two stars unlocks the first services, Security and Housekeeping, along with single hotel rooms and the service elevator.

Three stars opens up most of the game: restaurants, shops, theaters, escalators, express elevators, parking, the Medical Center and recycling. In Modern, all the new venues appear. You need two Security offices before the tower can reach it.

Four stars is the hard one. It asks for:

a Medical Center,
enough Recycling Centers for your whole population (each handles 2,500),
at least two hotel suites, and
a favorable review from a VIP. From three stars, a VIP may stay in one of your suites. They need a suite they like (rated 70% or better) and a parking space for their car. If they’re unhappy, or have nowhere to park, they try again a few days later.

Five stars needs a working Metro Station, which unlocks at four.

The TOWER

At five stars you can build the Wedding Hall on top of your tower. Three days after it opens, a VIP comes to inspect. If the tower has 15,000 people who work or live there, five stars, a Metro and the Wedding Hall, the VIP declares it a TOWER, and you win. If not, they come back five days later.

Milestones

Along the way, the game marks milestones in the message log:

Milestone	For
Getting Started	500 people
Rising	2,500 people
Metropolis	7,500 people
Almost There	12,000 people
Four Stars	Reaching four stars
Five Stars	Reaching five stars
Showtime	Opening a cinema
On the Map	Opening a Metro Station
Touch the Sky	Building up to floor 100
Smooth Operator	5,000 people, with every occupied floor served
No Vacancy	2,000 people, with every office, condo and hotel room taken