Features

Everything below is in the game today, on the web and on iPhone, iPad and Mac.

A real economy

Buck City simulates the classic city-builder loop properly rather than faking it.

• Demand (RCI). Residential, commercial and industrial demand rise and fall with jobs, taxes, services and land value. The meter shows why: "Why homes?", "Why shops?", "Why factories?"
• Land value. Every tile has one, driven by services, pollution, crime and neighbors, with a "Why?" breakdown on the tile itself.
• Budget. A separate tax rate for each zone type, a live cash flow, and municipal bonds you issue and repay with monthly interest.
• Governance. Five governance models change how the economy behaves. Four economy presets set the starting conditions: Balanced, Libertarian Paradise, Nordic Model and Rust Belt.
• Ordinances. Nine city ordinances, from Smoke Detectors and a Recycling Program to a Historic District and a Night Economy, unlocking as the city grows.
• City Charters. At 1,000, 2,500, 6,000 and 15,000 residents you make a permanent choice that shapes the city: College Town or Factory Town, Green Belt or Developer's Paradise, Low-Tax Boomtown or Public Works, Financial Capital or Industrial Powerhouse.
• Consequences. Approval matters. Let it fall too far and you are recalled; run out of money and the city goes bankrupt.

Citizens with names and routines

About one resident in ten gets a name, a portrait, a trait, a home, a job and a life story (up to 400 per city). Each follows a daily routine: asleep, commuting, working, running an errand, home again. Night-shift workers keep different hours.

• Follow anyone through their day, or take the wheel and drive their car around town.
• They have opinions about their own block: crime, pollution, traffic, blight, fire risk, a missing school, hospital or park. Each complaint points at the tile behind it.
• They have stories. Moving in, getting hired, losing a home to fire, retiring, and an obituary at the end.
• Town Hall requests. Residents ask for things, and you can promise to deliver.

The Gazette

Every city has its own newspaper, "The (your city) Gazette". The front page is written from the city's real state: the advisor's alerts, citizen requests, your charter, the numbers, anniversaries, obituaries and a quote from a resident. You can share an edition as a link.

Building and services

• Zones at low, medium and high density; roads with a paint mode and a grid mode; named districts with their own architecture
• Power plants feeding a city-wide grid, with brownouts when demand outruns supply
• Police, fire stations, schools, hospitals and parks, each with a coverage area
• Seven landmarks, one per city, from the Mayor's Residence to The Buck Monument
• Data layers for land value, pollution, crime, traffic, power and service coverage
• Terrain tools: add water or land, raise, lower, level and plant forest. Shaping the land before you found the city costs nothing.

Transit

Bus stops arrive at 900 residents, transit stations at 1,500, subway lines and stations at 4,000, and airports at 6,000. In a region, cities connect by highway, which can be upgraded to rail.

Disasters

Buildings catch fire and fire stations put them out; burned buildings stay as ruins until you rebuild. Earthquakes and fire outbreaks can strike on Medium and Hard. On Easy they are rare and mild.

Eight architectural culture packs

Choose how your city looks: Mediterranean, Nordic, East Asian, North American, West African, South American, South Asian or Middle Eastern. You can change style mid-game; what already stands keeps its look, so a city can grow in layers. All eight are free everywhere. The mixed "Every culture" style is free on the web and part of the Full Unlock on Apple devices.

Regions

Build up to nine cities on a three-by-three region. Neighboring cities share demand, so a factory town next door changes what your city needs. Connect them by highway, then rail. Each city keeps its own difficulty and style. There are seven maps to start from: River Valley, Coastal, Islands, Great Lakes, Twin Delta, Plains and Highlands.

Today's City

One new map every day, the same for every player, made from the date with no server involved. The goal: reach 1,000 residents within five game years while staying in office. Keep a streak, and share your result as a postcard or a link. There is no leaderboard; you compare by sending someone the link. On iPhone, iPad and Mac, Today's City stays free after the trial ends.

Everything else

• Six eras from Settlement to Megalopolis, 24 achievements and state grants along the way
• A soundtrack generated live as you play, which changes as the city grows
• Day and night
• Easy, Medium and Hard; Easy unlocks every tool from the start
• Map sizes from 32 to 128 tiles a side
• Share any city as a link that rebuilds it on another device, or as a postcard image
• Autosave every minute plus named saves, kept on your device
• Keyboard and mouse on the web and Mac; touch with pan and pinch on iPhone and iPad