Game time and updates

The game runs in real time. Every 10 minutes, day and night, the world updates, whether you are online or not. The game's clock is the server's clock, on UK time, and the top bar shows it.

A game day is a calendar day, from midnight to midnight. The day a round starts is Day 0, and the top bar shows which day it is, such as Day 12 of 70 (Rounds).

The top bar counts down to the next update. Many of your moves are orders that wait for it: buying goods on the market, buying shares, buying zones, deposits into your salary and gasoline accounts, investments and, in some rounds, hires. They are paid when you place them and refunded if they can't be carried out. The Orders page lists those waiting and the last week's log.

At every update:

• Your buildings collect production points, and staff on building sites build.
• Waiting orders are carried out, oldest first.
• Goods move from your warehouse into the factories and shops that use them.
• Vehicles load, travel and deliver (Vehicles and cargo).
• Staff slowly gain skill, and now and then one calls in absent.
• New job seekers appear when they run short.
• Companies whose Company Value fell below 1 go bankrupt, and the rankings are brought up to date.

• Production points turn into goods: every 100 points make one unit in a factory or one sale in a shop (Production and efficiency).
• Every employee earns another hour's pay, paid on payday.
• Every unit over your warehouse's capacity is fined.

At half past the hour, companies whose payday has come pay their staff from the salary account. Paydays come every 7 days (Staff costs and absences).

A new game day starts:

• Market prices change, except in the round's first 4 days (The market).
• Share prices move.
• Loan instalments are taken from your savings (Loans).
• The purchase bonus is paid (Taxes and bonuses).
• Buildings age a little, and your staff's dissatisfaction rises.
• An unused zone gets a warning, then a fine, then is taken back (Land and zones).
• The day's records are counted (Rankings and records).
• Your secretary writes with the day's figures.

In the early hours, the bank clears any negative savings and takes the amount out of your Company Value at a steep rate (Company Value and bankruptcy).

• Sunday at 06:00: dividends are paid (Trading shares).
• Monday at midnight: the weekly awards go out.
• Where a round has a wealth tax, it is taken at the weekend.

No. Your company keeps working while you are away, and you come back to buy, sell, build and hire. Two things to watch:

• A company whose owner has not visited for 11 days (21 for VIP members) is closed. Any visit counts.
• Salaries, loan instalments and fines are still taken while you are away, so keep enough in your salary account and savings.

If the top bar shows Updates paused, the world is stopped for a while, for example for maintenance, or is catching up. The missed updates are run afterwards, a few at a time, so nothing is skipped.