Guide
Construction
New buildings start as sites. A progress bar floats over each one, and the work only goes on while a road reaches it.
Watching it rise
A building you place starts as a site. A slim progress bar floats over it and fills as the work goes on; when the building is finished, the bar gives a little pop and fades away (with Reduce Motion it simply fades). The bar keeps the same size on screen however far you zoom, and VoiceOver tells you how many buildings are under construction.
When the work stops
Builders need a way in: a site only makes progress while a road connects it to the Town Center. A stalled site's bar dims to orange, and VoiceOver counts it as waiting for a road. Lay the road and the work picks up where it left off.
How long it takes
Bigger buildings take longer, and on Challenging everything takes a little longer than on Relaxed. Upgrades use the same bar: a building being raised a level shows it too, and keeps working meanwhile.
Changing your mind
Demolishing a site that isn't finished gives back most of what you paid, and for a few seconds after you place it, Undo refunds it all.
Keep reading
GuidePlacing buildingsChoose a building, let it find the best spot, turn its door to the street and confirm. Nothing is spent until you tap Place.
GuideRoads and the Town CenterEvery building must touch a road that leads back to the Town Center. How to draw roads, what they cost, and what happens without them.
GuideBuilding upgradesRaise a production or service building to level 2 and 3: it makes more, reaches further and wears its level on a placard in the style of its age.
GuideDifficultyRelaxed, Standard or Challenging: chosen when you found a city, it sets how much things cost and how hard the world pushes back.
Generated from the Erapolis game data, with pictures from the game itself. Numbers are per minute of game time, at Standard difficulty.