Level Cap Economics Snapshot

As is often the case when writing Walkthrough- Guides for games like Tapped Out there is a tendency to over-generalize, particularly when it comes to questions like the complications fo play at the higher levels, and so after giving the matter some thought and being aware that this is just the sort of information that will be very helpful to players who have yet to reach the upper levels (but who are naturally interested in what play will be like once they do), I decided to give this a shot.

As every new player to the Freemium-Grinder type of game learns very early on, there is no such thing as a free lunch. Roughly translated what that means is that no matter how much effort you put into simplification the reality is that Game Play has plenty of breaks early on, and they mostly surround having to force yourself to have patience due to the often very slow process of Building up the basic resources that are essential to forward progress.

What that comes down to, nine-times-out-of-ten is Money or XP -- or both.

You will hear higher level players mention that at least from an Income perspective, it gets easier at the higher levels -- basically the closer that you are to the cap the more Money and XP you earn -- the problem with that though is that the closer you are to the cap the more expensive things become.

Take Building projects and particularly quest-required Buildings: the costs for the basic structures like houses do not change, but when you reach the cap, but the quest-centered buildings you have to build to progress the game get a lot more expensive -- for example the Unemployment Office for the Weekend Dad Quest Line costs $207,000 to buy the construction project and place it!

I don't have to tell you that $207K is a lot of in-game Cash. Considering how tough it can be just to raise the $25K required for an Orange House -- but it is all relative and the closer you get to the cap and the appropriate levels for that quest line the easier it will be to earn that Money. In an ideal world no Building in the game should exceed your ability to earn vver a 24 hour cycle.

To illustrate that point I have decided to take a figurative snapshot of the Economics at the Level Cap (in this case and at this time that is level 37) by providing a breakdown of my Springfield, which is as follows (with earning capabilities). To simplify this example we assume only a single log-in for a 24 hour period, with all of The Characters set to a 24 Hour Task schedule.

The reality is that a single loog-in and 24 Hour Task Schedule generates a set amount that could be more thanks to the different maturation rate for Buildings, so logging in to process (cllect and reset) the buildings more frequently would result in a better tield but would make this example far more complicated so we will resist that temptation.

That being the case, the Level 37 Level Cap Assessment results are as follows:\\\\\

Town Buildings

Town Characters set to 24h Tasks (or less as appropriate):

Note that I am not including any of the Premium Structures that can only be obtained via spending real world Money in the form of Donuts. Bear in mind that there are a lot that can be obtained as Prizes -- in fact that is how I obtained them in the WTG game. All that it requires is patience and discipline in saving up Donuts and then buying your lottery ticket (in the form of the Mystery Box or Homer Buddha).'

Also note that the amounts shown represent the base amount WITHOUT the Bonus from the Meter and bonus multiplier objects and Decorations added in. At the end of this table I will reveal the actual total WITH the bonus multiplier to show you the difference (and why decorating with bonus multiplier Items really is a good idea).

Characters and Income from their 24h Task (when they have one)

The following totals represent the typical earnings for a single log-in using the 24h tasks and a single collection for each Building. The contents includes Premium Characters and structures, both those that are obtained as Prizes via The Mini-Games (see the mini-games section of the Guide for more information on this) as well as electively purchased Premium Characters and Structures.

The former type of Premiums generally collect as a result of the free Mystery Box obtained weekly by every player who uses proper Game Play discipline and logs into the game daily. The latter however tends to be restricted to Premiums with strategic value to the player -- that being the only case that justifies spending real-world Money (in the form of the Donut Premium Currency).

From the totals above you can see that the Income earning capability easily keeps pace with the increased costs for Buildings and objects at the Level Cap. However despite that and the extended single-day earning capacity, it is generally a good idea to create a reserve bank of a minimum of two days of the combined income which you treat as if it does not exist.

By taking this approach, no matter what the game throws at you during special and holiday events, you always have sufficient capital funds to cover those costs. Considering that new Buildings at this level can cost as much as half-a-million dollars, the hedge of saving two full days of Income is really only sufficient to cover a single typical holiday or special structure event transaction, something to bear in mind.

We don't recommend purchasing Donuts for Game Play, but we recognize that there are going to be special and limited-time Items and Buildings that have strategic value for future game play, and that being the case, although this Guide is structured for play that does not include that tactic, it will still work fine if you opt to include Donut purchases as part of your overall game play Strategy. It will, in other words, require no special adjustments.

Bonus Multiplier Observations: The inclusion of the bonus multiplier in the game -- which comes in the form of the XX Meter and the placement of Items, objects, and Decorations that include an incremental bonus multiplier has a cumulative effect. That is to say that all of those elements add up to the actual Bonus Level in your game.

This can actually end up being very sizable -- for example when the Conform-O-Meter is added to the collected decoration Items, objects, and structures in the game we used for this WTG Project, we end up with a Bonus of 105% plus the 5% that is provided by the full Conform-O-Meter, for a total bonus of 110% or thereabouts.

(1) This structure has no time-based or other Income save for harvesting planted crops. The 24h Crop if Moonshine, so that is what is reflected in the payout for this structure.

(2) Jub Jub is the pet of one of the Bouveir Sisters and has a single 12h Task that earns Money and XP.

(3) Channel 6 has no time-based Task or Action, instead it offers user-selected programs - for the purposes of this activity we selected the 24h Task Channel Ocho which pays very well indeed!

(4) The Springfield Downs has no time-based rewards, actions, or tasks. The wagering system that it uses is pure luck and as no system exists to provide a certainty of winning, it is listed as $0 / 0XP.

(NPC) Non-Player Character - this character has no Tasks or other Actions, and does not earn Income or XP.

(P) Premium Character - this character requires the player to spend real-world Money (Donuts) in order to add it to the game. Because some Characters bring other resources into a game -- like Buildings or other characters in the case of Cletus' wife/sister/cousin/aunt Brandine -- they are considered worth the cost even when you are using Donuts you have earned and saved from regular Game Play. Note that any Premium Character that is marked with the "(P/NPC)" Tag is probably NOT worth buying because characters so-marked do NOT earn any sort of reward in terms of XP or in-game money.