Manila Life: the guide

Manila Life is a free browser game about one week in the life of an ordinary Filipino. You commute through jeepney queues and EDSA traffic, work a shift, eat on a budget, look after your family and try to end Sunday with money left. This guide covers what is in the game. For the basic rules, read How to play. Play Manila Life any time.

The nine characters

• Call center agent: a night shift in BGC with night-differential pay. The pay is good, but your energy drains fast.
• Jeepney driver: the Baclaran to Quiapo route. You pay for diesel and the boundary, and traffic enforcers can fine you.
• Sari-sari store owner: you run the neighborhood store from home. Neighbors ask for utang (credit), stock runs low, and you make restock runs to Divisoria.
• College student: a university in Taft. You get an allowance, and the thesis must reach 70% by Sunday.
• OFW in waiting: you work part-time while collecting four documents for a job abroad: barangay clearance, NBI clearance, a medical exam and the agency fee.
• Nurse: long hospital shifts and low pay, while you study toward an overseas career.
• Delivery rider: a rush-orders minigame, rain surges, tips and traffic tickets.
• Public school teacher: low pay, chalk bought from your own pocket, and class progress to track.
• Security guard: a 12-hour night post at a Makati condo, where you must stay awake to keep your pay.

Twelve places on the map

Home is the neighborhood: the sari-sari store, carinderia, palengke, barangay hall, basketball court, internet cafe and the remittance center. From there you can travel to Makati, BGC, Intramuros and Luneta, Binondo, Quiapo, Divisoria and Tutuban, Cubao, Taft and Ermita, Recto and Sampaloc, Baclaran, and Mall of Asia and the Bay. Each place has its own activities, such as haggling in Divisoria, a date in Intramuros, a visit to Quiapo Church or a sunset by Manila Bay.

Getting around

You can take the jeepney, tricycle, UV Express, MRT/LRT, EDSA bus, a ride-hail app, the Pasig River ferry or walk. The train skips flooded streets but can break down in the tunnel. The jeepney is cheap and comes with the "Bayad po!" and "Para po!" minigames.

Seasons and events

The week changes with the calendar: Simbang Gabi in December, Noche Buena with the 13th-month pay, the Black Nazarene Traslacion in January, Lunar New Year in Binondo, summer heat, Independence Day, rainy season, Undas and the typhoon-prone "ber" months. A Signal No. 3 typhoon day cancels work and leaves you to spend the day as you choose.

Money, family and neighbors

Besides pesos, you manage energy, hunger, mood, reputation and family. You can send padala, pack a balikbayan box, join a paluwagan savings circle, borrow on utang and fill a fund toward a house lot of your own.

Tips

• Leave early when it rains: flooded streets and late arrival both cut your pay.
• Haggle in Divisoria, and try walking away when the offer is close.
• Pay your utang before Sunday, or your reputation drops.
• Say no to the "are you open-minded?" message if you want to keep your pesos.