Notes Life: the NotesApp life game

Notes Life is a free life game you play in your browser with your NotesApp account, at life.naapp.tech or Play Notes Life. The first playable version is set in Wuse, Abuja. Lagos and Port Harcourt come later.

Slow or freezing? Tap HD at the top of the game to switch to LOW RES (or Settings → Low res): fewer pixels, no shadows and at most 30 frames a second, so the game stays smooth on computers with big screens and modest graphics. It's remembered on that device; tap again for the full look.

Starting out: you begin on day 1 with N$ 100,000 (Notesville Naira) in a room with sage walls: a bed, a bedside lamp and a deal phone, a wardrobe, a WC and bath, a desk with an old big desktop, a standing fan, a bicycle and the maroon NotesApp rug. Rent is N$ 60,000 every 30 game days, paid to your landlord, Alhaji Bello. It is taken automatically when it falls due; if you can't pay, it waits as rent owed until you can.

Time: the game clock is the same for every player. A game day lasts 48 real minutes (a game hour is 2 minutes), so a game month of 30 days is one real day.

Your six needs: Hunger, Energy, Fun, Social, Hygiene and Bladder go down as time passes (only while the game is open), faster on Hard and slower on Easy; change difficulty any time in Settings. Eat, sleep, read at your desk, message a friend, bathe and use the WC to fill them. When any need is below 40% it turns amber and work pays 20% less.

Jobs: apply from the phone or the Jobs menu. A shift takes 4 game hours (8 real minutes) and pays when it ends, even if you close the game. General jobs include Junior writer (N$ 6,000 a shift from your desk, faster on a laptop or all-in-one PC), Delivery rider (twice the deliveries on an e-bike), Maths tutor and Tech freelancer (needs a laptop or all-in-one). Chef Adams offers Kiosk attendant, Line cook (cooking skill 3), Delivery rider and, after 10 Chef Adams shifts, Outlet supervisor; Become a Partner shows what a Chef Adams kiosk or shop would cost.

Deal calls: the bedside phone rings with deals: accept (you pay the cost, you are paid more when the deal is done), negotiate (a better price, but they might walk away) or decline. A smartphone deal line rings more often with bigger deals.

Food: order from @chef_adams by delivery (to your room, N$ 300 fee), takeaway or dine-in (a little Fun and Social too), or buy the small cooker and cook at home: cheaper, takes time, and raises your cooking skill. Craving it for real? @chef_adams is on NotesApp.

Upgrades: the shop sells better rugs, a refurbished laptop or an all-in-one PC, an inverter AC (deeper sleep), the cooker, an LED lamp, a smartphone deal line, a Green Wheels e-bike and an electric car. Things are eco-friendly where they can be (refurbished, low power, induction, zero fuel).

Getting around: ride your bicycle (free, costs energy), take the metro bus, a keke or a taxi. After a few bike rides the game suggests an e-bike.

Candellux Imperial, Garki: for players doing well, the partner hotel has a luxury suite, a 24-hour restaurant, the pool, the VIP bar, a gym, a barbing saloon and laundry. Each panel also shows how to book the real Candellux on WhatsApp.

A stay at the Candellux: book the luxury suite (N$ 180,000) and the room is yours till checkout at 11 AM game time (check in from 6 AM and it runs to 11 AM the next day), even while you swim or leave the hotel: come back and tap Your room any time before checkout. Every time you're in the room (rest an hour, or sleep up to 8 hours), Energy, Hygiene, Bladder and Fun go to 100%. While you're staying, the 24-hour restaurant sends food up as room service and fills you up (Hunger to 100%).

The pool, the bars and the gym: turn round to the back of Candellux (or tap the pool) for the Pool tab. A day pass is N$ 25,000; you swim with other players and residents in the shallow end until you've had 3 swimming lessons with Coach Femi (N$ 15,000 each), then the deep end too. Lessons and swims build your swimming skill (up to 10). The pool bar is N$ 10,000; the VIP bar is N$ 11,500 (15% more) and is where you meet the richest residents on the Billionaires List: who's in changes every 4 game hours, and you can say hello to chat. The gym is the tall block on the right.

Choosing a city: new players pick a city. Abuja is open; Lagos and Port Harcourt are coming soon: tap Tell me when it opens and we'll let you know.

The Billionaires List: your net worth (your N$ plus what you own) ranks you against every player. It shows your NotesApp username, picture and city. Brag on WhatsApp from the list. At the top is Emerald Ezurukam 🤖, the mind behind Notes Life: he dreamed up Notesville and its rules as a teenager, and the game brings it to life.

The Wuse streets: besides the first street (the Wuse bus stand, the metro and Green Wheels), tap Go for two more. Wuse Market, Zone 4 is the busy one: stalls, kekes, a pharmacy, LUXNAS (the fashion brand), Chinedu's phone shop, Mama Nkechi's pepper soup, a barber, the Bureau De Change, a POS stand, a lesson centre, puff-puff and zobo, Mallam Sani's suya grill (from 6 PM) and the borehole. Aminu Kano Crescent, Wuse II is the premium strip: Crescent Plaza's offices, Notesville Trust Bank, Emerald Towers, Crescent Café, The Crescent Grill and Skyline Lounge (8 PM to midnight). Tap a shop and you walk to it; the camera follows you. Traffic runs, hawkers walk the pavement and at night the signs and street lamps light up. The rest of Notesville moves too: traffic on the first street and past Chef Adams, itel Energy, Digital Witch and the Candellux, and people walking everywhere.

Errands: the people who live and work in Wuse ask for help: deliver LUXNAS orders, mind Chinedu's stall, run Iya Bose's POS stand at lunch, carry loads at the market, fetch water for Mama Nkechi, help Mallam Sani at the suya grill, teach the compound kids with Aisha, count notes at the Bureau De Change, courier documents between the Crescent offices, hold Alhaji Musa's place in the bank queue, hand out flyers for The Crescent Grill, park cars at Skyline Lounge, or deliver a proposal for Emerald (needs 2★). Each errand pays when it's done (N$ 600 to N$ 6,000), once a game day, some only at certain hours; Saturday sanitation (7 to 10 AM) pays in reputation instead. Find them all in Phone → Errands.

LUXNAS (partner): a boutique lifestyle, business and fashion brand from Nnewi, led by CEO Chinasa Odina (@chinasa), with its shop on Wuse Market (Zone 4): custom tailoring, embroidery, Senator suits, Agbadas, Kaftans, Ankara sets, Asoebi and bridal wear, custom denim, and worldwide shipping. In the game: deliver LUXNAS orders (an errand), learn at LUXNAS Academy (Tailoring and custom fit, Embroidery, Bespoke African fashion design: pay once, then a 2-game-hour class at a time, 9 AM to 6 PM, at the shop), then work there (delivery rider; tailor, embroiderer and designer with the matching certificate; studio supervisor after 10 LUXNAS shifts) or open your own LUXNAS Tailoring Studio (after 10 LUXNAS shifts and 3★; from Business → Become a Partner). LUXNAS Academy certificates are separate from Digital Witch's. The real LUXNAS is @luxnas on NotesApp.

Restrooms away from home: tap 🚻 Restroom at any place that has one. At the Candellux, if you're staying in a suite, its WC and bathroom fill Bladder and Hygiene to 100%. The outdoor shower by the pool fills Hygiene if you swam (a day pass or a lesson) in the last 24 game hours, otherwise it adds 50. The VIP bar restroom fills Bladder if you used the VIP bar in the last 24 game hours, otherwise it adds 50; the pool bar restroom adds 50. itel Energy, Chef Adams, Emerald Towers and the Digital Witch hub let you use their restroom: Bladder +50. At Wuse Market, the emergency mobile units fill the need: WC N$ 500, shower N$ 800.

Emerald's convoy: at 8 AM, 1 PM and 6 PM game time, Emerald's convoy passes the Wuse bus stand and stops for half an hour. He gives N$ 100,000 to each stranger waiting there, but never to the same person again within 30 game days. Tap the bus stand on the street, or Wait at the bus stand from the convoy panel, to be there when it comes.

Buying Notesville Naira: in the Bank, buy N$ with your NotesApp Credit wallet or a card, ₦100 to ₦100,000 at a time. ₦1 buys N$ 100. Notesville Naira is game money: it can't be cashed out, sent to another player or turned back into credit, and buying it is final.

Inviting friends: the Invite panel lets you pick people from your phone's contacts (where your browser allows it) and send your link by WhatsApp or SMS, or share or copy it. When a friend joins from your link and finishes their first shift, you each get ₦250 NotesApp Bonus Credit in your wallet. Your friend needs a verified email, someone can only be invited once (when they first start playing), and you can earn for up to 20 friends a month. Bonus Credit lasts 90 days and pays for boosts, ads and badges. If your friend's email isn't verified yet at their first shift, you both get it after their next shift once it is. Your invites at the bottom of the Invite panel lists everyone who joined from your link and where they are: *Needs a first shift*, *Needs a verified email*, *₦250 each* (paid) or *Over the monthly limit*; the bonus also shows in your wallet as "Invite bonus". The 🎁 Invite button under the clock opens the panel from anywhere. Big moments in the game (a new job, your first shift, a deal, a suite night, a purchase) offer a Share on WhatsApp button.

Your progress: money, what you own, your job and deals are kept on our servers, so they can't be lost. Your needs, where you are and your outfit are saved on your device every few seconds and to your account every 30 seconds, so you can carry on from another phone or computer. Settings → Restore points keeps one save for each of the last 24 hours and 7 days, in case something goes wrong. Your Notes Life data is included in your data download and deleted with your account.

NEPA (power cuts): a few times every game day the light goes for every player at the same moment, for 2 to 6 game hours. Without power your lamp and fan stop, you can't read at night, an old desktop can't do desk work, and you sleep hot. Your choices: an itel Power GO Pro (320Wh, silent: it runs your lamp, fan and laptop, recharges when light returns, and by day with the 100W solar panel), a generator from the market (“I Better Pass My Neighbour” 950W or the big 3.5kVA, which runs the AC too; both need petrol, N$ 1,100 a litre), or the dark. The small home solar kit is coming. When light returns: *nwiiiii… UP NEPA!*

itel Energy: the solar shop on the Wuse market road (Go → itel Energy) sells the Power GO Pro (N$ 150,000), the solar panel (N$ 55,000) and, soon, the home kit. It's a Notes Life partner: the real Power GO Pro is sold on NotesApp by @clickam, the itel distributor.

Digital Witch (tech skills): the Digital Witch training hub is on the ground floor of the Skyscraper Plaza in the Central Business District (Go → Digital Witch hub, or Phone → Digital Witch). Pay for a course, then take its classes at the hub between 9 AM and 6 PM: one class is 2 game hours (Energy −10, Fun +5). Courses: Virtual Assistant and Customer Support (N$ 60,000, 4 classes), Social Media Management (N$ 80,000, 5), Project Management (N$ 100,000, 5), Data Analysis and UI/UX Design (N$ 120,000, 6). Finish every class to get Digital Witch certified. Tech jobs need a certificate: remote virtual assistant (N$ 9,000 a shift), remote customer support (N$ 8,500), social media manager (N$ 11,000), remote project coordinator (N$ 14,000), data analyst (N$ 16,000, needs a laptop), UI/UX designer (N$ 18,000, needs a laptop) and Tech freelancer (any certificate). If you already had a tech job, you keep it.

Ekwutosi Cynthia Okeh: the founder of Digital Witch is #2 on the Billionaires List. She's at the hub from 9 AM to 5 PM and at the Candellux VIP bar from 7 PM to 11 PM. On Saturday nights at the VIP bar she runs a graduate giveaway: if you hold a Digital Witch certificate and have worked 10 tech shifts, go up to her once a week for a chance at N$ 500,000 or N$ 1,000,000. To learn for real, visit digitalwitchng.com.

Chatting with friends: players who follow each other on NotesApp can chat inside the game. Open Phone → Friends and tap 💬 Chat, or tap a friend who is at the same place as you. It's the same conversation as your NotesApp Messages, with the usual rules (blocks, reports). Each message you send gives +8 Social (+12 when you're at the same place) and each reply +4, up to +40 an hour. Unread messages from friends show as a number on the Phone button. On desktop the chat sits on the right while you keep playing.

Residents and other players: residents are computer players, always marked 🤖. They live around Wuse, Chef Adams, itel Energy and Candellux; tap one to chat (Greet, Food, Work, NEPA, Money) for Social, and some are on the Billionaires List (switch to *Real players only* to hide them). Chats with residents stay on your device only. Real players who are at the same place as you right now (Chef Adams, Candellux, itel Energy, the street, a ride) appear with 👤 and their name; tap one to open a real NotesApp chat. Turn off *Show me to other players* in Settings to stay hidden.

Sound: taps, money in and out, the ringing deal phone, water, cooking and more, plus what's around you: birds by day, crickets at night, traffic on the street and lounge music at Candellux. In your hotel suite, at the VIP bar and in class at the Digital Witch hub you hear a soft tune instead, and none of NEPA's noise. All of it is made by your browser, so it downloads nothing. The 🔊 button at the top mutes it; Settings has sliders for the volume, the effects and the surroundings (kept on that device). Sound starts after your first tap, as browsers require.

More jobs at the partners: at itel Energy (Go → itel Energy → Jobs): sales attendant (N$ 5,000 a shift plus up to N$ 1,500 bonus on Power GO sales), CarlCare technician (N$ 8,000, needs a laptop), solar installer (N$ 9,000, needs a bicycle or e-bike) and store supervisor (N$ 12,000, after 10 itel shifts). itel staff get 20% off itel products. At Candellux (Garki → Jobs): front desk (N$ 6,000), restaurant waiter (N$ 5,000 plus tips), housekeeping (N$ 4,500 and a free staff meal), pool lifeguard (N$ 6,500 plus up to N$ 1,500 rescue bonus, needs gym fitness), swimming instructor (N$ 8,000 plus a lesson bonus, needs swimming skill 5), gym instructor (N$ 8,500, after 10 gym sessions), restaurant cook (N$ 7,500, cooking skill 4) and duty manager (N$ 15,000, after 15 Candellux shifts and 4★). Candellux staff pay half price at the pool, gym, pool bar and VIP bar.

Become a Partner (own an outlet): at Chef Adams and itel Energy, the Partner tab sells outlets: a Chef Adams Takeaway Kiosk (from N$ 2.5m, after 10 Chef Adams shifts and 3★) and Mini Dine-In Shop (from N$ 8.0m, after running a kiosk for 7 game days at 80% quality and 4★); an itel Home Store (from N$ 1.5m, after 5 itel shifts and owning a Power GO) and itel Mall Store (from N$ 7.0m, after running a Home Store for 7 game days and 4★). Choose Wuse market or Garki Area 1 (12% dearer, 12% busier). Outlets are run by residents 🤖 while you're away, and appear in Notesville with your name on them. Chef Adams keeps 8% of sales as the brand fee; itel earns from the stock you buy at partner prices; your staff's wages come out too. Collect your takings at the outlet or in Phone → Businesses: they wait up to 30 game days (about a real day), then the outlet stops selling until you collect. Quality slips while takings sit uncollected. Without backup power an outlet sells half during blackouts: fit an itel Power Tank 1000 and two 650W panels (N$ 620,000) to sell through them. An outlet's value counts on the Billionaires List. Real players work shifts at the brands' own outlets; outlets players own are staffed by residents for now. Want the real thing? The Partner tab links to the Chef Adams franchise and itel Home pages.

Fridge, microwave and keeping food: tick Keep for later when you order takeaway or delivery, and the food is stored as plates (cooked plates are stored too). Without a fridge stored food spoils after 8 game hours; in a fridge it keeps while the fridge has power. In a blackout the fridge needs a generator or the itel Power Tank 1000 (N$ 400,000, runs the fridge about 5 game hours, and your lights when the Power GO is empty), charged by NEPA or by day with 650W bifacial panels (N$ 110,000 each, it takes two). A microwave warms stored food: Hunger +50 instead of +40 cold.

Billboards: the roads carry billboards for the partners and for the #1MillionNairaNotesAppChallenge. Tap one to open it.

Leaving: Phone → NotesApp, or Back to NotesApp in Settings, saves your game and takes you to your journal feed on app.naapp.tech.

Paying with CardTap: every Notesville Naira payment at a counter (food, the Candellux, fares, petrol, the itel shop, courses, outlets) is a tap of your Paylony CardTap card: the merchant's phone shows who you're paying and how much, you tap your card, it beeps and approves. It's game money only; buying N$ with NotesApp Credit is a normal checkout. Turn the tap off in Settings → Tap to pay with CardTap and payments go straight through. Your card is in the Central Bank of Notesville (tap your N$ balance).

Partners: Chef Adams, itel Energy, Candellux Imperial, Digital Witch and Paylony (CardTap) are real businesses that partner with Notes Life (see Partner with Notes Life, where businesses can ask to join). Their in-game prices are game prices; real orders and bookings are made with them directly.

Talk to other players: tips, bug reports, ideas and news of each update are on our Discord (also linked from the game's Settings and the Notes Life page).