The basics: zone Houses/Shops/Farms, keep them powered, watered, and road-connected, and your town grows. Power Plants and Water Towers cover a radius around themselves β no wires to place, pure proximity. Town Hall gives a small free radius to bootstrap your first few houses.
Tax: 0-25%, default 9%. A well-run town is sustainable at the default rate; above ~10% starts costing happiness. 0% is a real austerity choice, not a trap.
Farmers: a Farm Plot is a real workplace β an assigned villager ("farmer") harvests the ripe crop automatically, credited straight to your treasury. An unstaffed farm still works the old way: click it when ripe.
Villagers: spawn based on population, each with a home and (if a job's available) a workplace, commuting on a daily schedule. Click one to see their name, mood, and job.
View modes: the map buttons next to Normal switch to Land Value, Crime, and Traffic overlays β scout where to build next before you commit cash.
Disasters: fires (Fire Station reduces damage), storms (temporary happiness dip), droughts (slower farm growth), and vandalism (Police Station reduces it, only starts once your town is big enough to build one).
Saves: 3 slots tied to your account, autosaves every ~30s to whichever slot you last used.
Co-op: click π€ to host a room (get a share code) or join a friend's with theirs β one player's town is the shared one everyone builds on, in real time.