The Importance of Builders

Before you can really appreciate the system that they created for the economy - and the natural blocks that are put in place to slow down ordinary progress - it would be a good idea to understand the very obvious and in-your-face impediment that was created with the implementation of the Builder System.

Builders in the game are a stereotype that sadly is too accurate by far in many parts of the USA - they are literally intended to be undocumented aliens of the Hispanic persuasion who function as the low-paid work force in Quahog.

Basically the game starts with a quest to build the Builder House - which is a one-story clapboard shack in which ONE Builder resides. You need that Builder because anything and everything that you do in the game as far as building structures and clearing land requires them.

The rub here is that you can only build or clear if you have a Builder available - you start with one, and when you assign them to a project they are locked into that project for the entire timer event of it.

That means if you are doing a clearing projects that takes 1 day 12 hours, then they are locked in for 1 real day and 12 real hours and you cannot build or clear anything else -- unless you have another Builder available!

While you get the first Builder for free as part of the quest (naturally as otherwise you could not progress in the game at all) there are three more Builders you can obtain - IF you have the Clams to do so.

The good news here is that it is pretty obvious that the trickle of free Clams that were implemented in the game were likely put there so that you could eventually unlock all three of the additional Builders over time. Something you should seriously consider doing with the free Clams you do get in the game because you NEED those Builders!

Special Events

Before you decide to spend those Clams on Builders bear in mind that every few months they hold a special limited time weekend event in which the cost both to purchase a Builder AND for using them is cut in half.

So if a Builder would normally cost you 100 Clams to add to your game, for that weekend you can get them for 50 Clams. If it normally takes two days to clear a piece of land, for that weekend it only takes one day;. You get the idea?

Some Builder Guidance

If you are playing this game with just one Builder, you are going to find that your progress is slow slow slow. Painfully slow. Even with two Builders it is slow. Ideally then, your primary goal should be to get to three Builders as soon as you can. If you opt to do the $5 Clam quest that will help a lot in your task of unlocking more Builders.

If you save up the Clams you obtain for visiting neighbor towns, completing key quests, and the rewards for the collections, you should be able to easily unlock all four of the Builders if you are patient and wait for the special half-off events to buy them - but that means playing this game daily like a religion so you accumulate the Clams you need.

The pay-off though in capabilities is well worth it!