How to Play Lagos Life: Your First Week, Step by Step

Lagos Life is a free browser life-sim set in a player-run version of Lagos, Nigeria — you hold a job, pay weekly rent, ride danfo buses and vote in city elections alongside millions of other players. This guide walks a brand-new character through the first week: account, birth lottery, housing, needs, first job and first rent day.

What is Lagos Life and where do I play it?

Lagos Life runs at lagoslife.app in any modern browser, with an Android app on Google Play and iOS support — progress syncs across devices. It is free to play; optional purchases only buy in-game Naira, which has no real-world value. The official player count passed 8.5 million in the game’s second week, so the city, chat and economy are all live and shared with other players.

Two rules from the official terms matter on day one: one account per person, and players must be 18 or older.

What happens at character creation?

You design your character’s look, then pick traits and a dream (ambition). These choices shape mood and skill growth through the run — the official app listing counts 10 traits, 5 ambitions and 22 wishes. Creation ends with the one decision you do not get to make: the birth lottery.

What is the birth lottery — Nepo Baby or LAPO Baby?

Every account is permanently assigned one of two starts. You cannot reroll, including on future new runs, so plan around what you get:

A Nepo start is comfortable but teaches bad habits. A LAPO start is tighter: the faster skill learning is a genuine long-run advantage, and the loan payments are survivable if you work most game days. See the money guide for a full LAPO repayment plan.

Which starter home should I choose?

Housing offers differ by account, but the three options observed on a LAPO account were:

For a first week, the UNILAG room is the safest: ₦1,200 rent leaves nearly every Naira for food, commutes and the LAPO payment. Yaba’s higher starting cash is tempting, but ₦6,000 weekly rent eats it fast. Full analysis in homes and rent prices.

How do the six needs work?

Six meters keep your character alive and functional: hunger, energy, hygiene, bladder, fun and social. Every action that refills one — eating, sleeping, showering, hanging out — costs game time, and queues or commutes cost time too. The practical first-week loop:

1. Work your shift while energy is high.
2. Eat cheap, sleep full cycles, shower daily.
3. Top up fun and social cheaply (free venues exist — see the locations guide).
4. Never start a long action when a need is about to crash.

How do I get my first job?

Open your in-game phone, go to Jobs, and pick a track you can actually reach: check the job’s city, its work days and its skill gate. Dozens of careers need zero skill levels — Trading at Balogun Market, Tech at CcHub, Nursing at General Hospital and more, each paying a base wage per completed shift. The first-week pick matters less than showing up: work the full shift, because leaving early cuts your pay hard.

The complete wage tables and the best starter tracks are in all jobs and salaries and the jobs tier list.

How do I survive the first rent day?

Rent is charged weekly — community reports point to Saturday. Before rent day each week, hold in your balance:

• One week of rent, always.
• The ₦12,000 LAPO payment, if you drew the loan start.
• Commute and food money for the coming days.

What should I never do as a new player?

Do not create a second account (one per person is a terms rule), do not treat in-game Naira as an investment (it cannot be withdrawn), and do not gamble your rent money at the Eko Casino before you understand the game. For everything that changed recently — new locations, court rulings, elections — check the official update tracker.