Four eras
Era guide — pick your Hong Kong timeline
Covers era mechanics and historical event beats — not every random event.
Four eras span 1960s Lions Rock to Near Future 2024+. The demo unlocks Millennium (2000s) and Near Future; older eras tease full-release content with different economics and event pools.
Difficulty: MediumBefore you start
- Read era difficulty stars before committing — Near Future is Expert (5 stars).
- Millennium includes umbrella movement, COVID WFH, and BNO emigration wave events.
- Near Future adds AI job disruption, inflation, and sci-fi events.
Step-by-step checkpoints
Millennium: 2004–2030 (Standard)
- Property price multiplier ~3.5× salary — tough but learnable 上車 (property ladder).
- Age-tied events: SARS childhood, Olympics 2008, umbrella 2014, protests 2019, COVID 2020.
- Best first pick for DSE-season nostalgia runs.
Near Future: 2024–2050 (Expert)
- Property multiplier ~5× — brutal housing market from age 18.
- AI replaces office jobs by 30s — plan career paths that survive automation events.
- Includes UFO, Mars colonization, and crypto volatility events.
Locked: 1980s & 1960s (coming)
- Golden Age 1980s: easier property, stock-boom events, 97 handover anxiety.
- Lions Rock 1960s: Hardcore — start from squatter areas, factory jobs, rags-to-riches fantasy.
- Follow itch.io devlogs for unlock timing in full release.
Common mistakes & fixes
| Mistake | What to do instead |
|---|---|
| Picking Near Future for your first run | Start Millennium — Expert economics punish unfamiliar players. |
| Ignoring era-specific age events | Calendar events (e.g. 2019, 2020) shift social stats — plan around them. |
| Assuming locked eras are broken | They are intentional demo locks — not a bug. |
Clear checklist
- Finished a Millennium run understanding HK timeline events.
- Tried Near Future once you can manage money and property pressure.
- Noted which era fits your preferred difficulty.
Era choice matters more than minute-to-minute taps — economics set the whole run’s tone.
Extra notes
Era select screen is a common share screenshot — good for comparing friend runs.