too dumb to live??

I really like this game, but I have tried twice - now - to get beyond level 9 or 10 without running out of gold or energy. (I am NOT going to buy gold!!!!) is there any way to actually conserve gold and/or energy??? i'm sitting now trying to upgrade 2 buildings with no energy and no gold to buy any or to be able to fast upgrade.

should I just give up and take a nap?

Qismet wrote:I really like this game, but I have tried twice - now - to get beyond level 9 or 10 without running out of gold or energy. (I am NOT going to buy gold!!!!) is there any way to actually conserve gold and/or energy??? i'm sitting now trying to upgrade 2 buildings with no energy and no gold to buy any or to be able to fast upgrade.

should I just give up and take a nap?

1. Check the achievements to see if you can complete some of them and get the bonuses. Particularly the ones about neighbors and messages.
2. Spend your resources on any mini ganes available to boost cash and energy.

Good luck!

There are keepsakes that allow you to use less energy to visit cities. But there does tend to be some down time in the game while you wait for energy to refill, especially at lower levels. Kittykora figured out which foods were the best bargain depending on your maximum energy -- http://forums.bigfishgames.com/posts/list/272395.page. Personally, I like the mac & cheese once you can afford it because it also raises your maximum energy.

It's worth building up your stock of coins. The mini-games in Dinhammer Alley are good for this. The first ones only cost one resource to play and give out lots of coins. Vincent's art and Bennet's photos are really good for this. It is then worth spending some of those coins to buy the dragonfly keepsake which you can use to increase the coins you win.
You can use coins for upgrading buildings (which is necessary to make progress) and also to buy items in the auctions in order to complete collections and get more resources for playing the mini-games.
I have not had to spend money to buy gold and have made good progress - but I agree that in the early stages it seems very slow and you have to be persistent in order to level up. We have all been there!!
If you search through the threads in this forum you will find a couple that specifically offer advice to new players - look them up and you will find some useful tips.

If you can cash in your Collectibles' Collections that give spools of thread, you can use them to play 1b (the red square) in Teodi's Tailor Shop in Dinhammer Alley. It only costs 1 spool to play and when you get it to Master Level, you rake in the coins for little cost.

Don't know if you've done it, but the first time I played I made the mistake of spending gold to hurry up the building upgrades.I didn't make that mistake when I deleted the game entirely and started again. Actually, that's *why* I started all over...depleted coins and gold.

RussellShihTzu (ART id)