Are you facing some expensive road upgrades? Dr. Vu needs 160k to upgrade? It's time to make some money, but what do you build? What makes you the most money in the least amount of time in SimCity BuildIt?
I previously did some calculations on dollars per total minute of build time. As I've continued to play this game, I've come to the conclusion that the time spent in the raw good factories is mostly irrelevant. The bigger factor is the time spent using up a slot in the commercial buildings. With this concept in mind, I took a fresh look at my calculations and removed the time needed in the raw good factories and recalculated the $/minute rate. I assumed that I had an infinite amount of raw goods: wood, metal, plastic, etc. and recalculated everything. In essence, it's a rate that quantifies dollars per minute of commercial building build time. The assumption is that you'll be able to manage your raw good factories to ensure the commercial buildings can stay busy 100% of the time.
After running the calculations, I sorted results by the top $/minute rates. The results are below. The boxes are colored by which commercial building produces them.
Here's the same data, sorted by top dollar earner for each commercial building.
I've tried out several setups and the one I like the most focuses on making
While things get ramped up I'll often do watches instead of caps because they don't require the hardware store, but eventually I'll get a good enough supply chain going that I can switch to my ideal caps/chairs combo. The downside is that the materials for chairs and caps have a relatively fast turnaround time so I don't run it at night, otherwise it would run out at some point. I'll switch to shovels, cement and glue so that during the day I can add in gnomes and grass.
When I sell items, I usually sell donuts/caps/tvs in pairs and chairs/bricks in packs of five each. If you hold onto things to sell in groups of 10 they tend to take longer.
Have another combo that works for you? I'd love to hear your ideas in the comments below.
I previously did some calculations on dollars per total minute of build time. As I've continued to play this game, I've come to the conclusion that the time spent in the raw good factories is mostly irrelevant. The bigger factor is the time spent using up a slot in the commercial buildings. With this concept in mind, I took a fresh look at my calculations and removed the time needed in the raw good factories and recalculated the $/minute rate. I assumed that I had an infinite amount of raw goods: wood, metal, plastic, etc. and recalculated everything. In essence, it's a rate that quantifies dollars per minute of commercial building build time. The assumption is that you'll be able to manage your raw good factories to ensure the commercial buildings can stay busy 100% of the time.
After running the calculations, I sorted results by the top $/minute rates. The results are below. The boxes are colored by which commercial building produces them.
| Factory | Max $ | Materials Required | Critical Path | Raw M. | Ass'y | Total | Min | $/Min | ||
| Flour Bag | 570 | 2 Seeds, 2 Textiles | 0:30 | 0:30 | 30 | 19 | ||||
| Nails | 80 | 2 Metal | 0:05 | 0:05 | 5 | 16 | ||||
| Donuts | 950 | 1 Flour Bag, 1 Sugar & Spices | Flour Bag | 0:30 | 0:45 | 1:15 | 75 | 12.7 | ||
| Ice Cream Sandwich | 2,560 | 1 Bread Roll, 1 Cream | Breadroll+Cream | 3:30 | 0:14 | 3:44 | 224 | 11.4 | ||
| Burgers | 3,620 | 1 Beef, 1 Bread Roll, 1 BBQ Grill | Bread+Beef | 4:45 | 0:35 | 5:20 | 320 | 11.3 | ||
| Lemonade Bottle | 1,690 | 2 Glass, 2 Sugar & Spice, 1 Fruit & B. | Fruit | 1:30 | 1:00 | 2:30 | 150 | 11.3 | ||
| Bricks | 190 | 2 Minerals | 0:20 | 0:20 | 20 | 9.5 | ||||
| Bread Roll | 1,840 | 2 Flour Bags, 1 Cream | 2 Flour+Cream | 2:15 | 1:00 | 3:15 | 195 | 9.44 | ||
| Chairs | 300 | 2 Wood, 1 Nail, 1 Hammer | Hammer | 0:14 | 0:20 | 0:34 | 34 | 8.82 | ||
| Cement | 440 | 2 Minerals, 1 Chemical | 0:50 | 0:50 | 50 | 8.8 | ||||
| TV | 1,280 | 2 Plastic, 2 Glass, 2 Electrical Comp. | 2:30 | 2:30 | 150 | 8.53 | ||||
| Lighting System | 890 | 1 Chemical, 1 Electrical Comp, 1 Glass | 1:45 | 1:45 | 105 | 8.48 | ||||
| Pizza | 2,560 | 1 Flour Bag, 1 Cheese, 1 Beef | Flour+Cheese+Beef | 4:45 | 0:24 | 5:09 | 309 | 8.28 | ||
| Fruit & Berries | 730 | 2 Seeds, 1 Tree Sapling | Tree Sapling | 1:30 | 1:30 | 90 | 8.11 | |||
| Vegetables | 160 | 2 Seeds | 0:20 | 0:20 | 20 | 8 | ||||
| Cap | 600 | 2 Textiles, 1 Measuring Tape | Measuring Tape | 0:20 | 1:00 | 1:20 | 80 | 7.5 | ||
| Glue | 440 | 1 Plastic, 2 Chemicals | 1:00 | 1:00 | 60 | 7.33 | ||||
| Shoes | 980 | 2 Textiles, 1 Plastic, 1 Glue | Glue | 1:00 | 1:15 | 2:15 | 135 | 7.26 | ||
| Cheese Fries | 1,050 | 1 Vegetable, 1 Cheese | Veg.+Cheese | 2:05 | 0:20 | 2:25 | 145 | 7.24 | ||
| Green Smoothie | 1,150 | 2 Vegetables, 1 Fruit & Berries | 2 Veg+Fruit | 2:10 | 0:30 | 2:40 | 160 | 7.19 | ||
| Tables | 500 | 1 Plank, 2 Nails, 1 Hammer | Plank + 2 Nails | 0:40 | 0:30 | 1:10 | 70 | 7.14 | ||
| Cherry Cheesecake | 2,240 | 1 Flour Bag, 1 Fruit & B., 1 Cheese | Flour+Fruit+Cheese | 3:45 | 1:30 | 5:15 | 315 | 7.11 | ||
| Couch | 1,810 | 3 Textiles, 1 Drill, 1 Glue | Drill | 2:00 | 2:30 | 4:30 | 270 | 6.7 | ||
| Watch | 580 | 2 Plastic, 1 Glass, 1 Chemical | 1:30 | 1:30 | 90 | 6.44 | ||||
| Hammer | 90 | 1 Metal, 1 Wood | 0:14 | 0:14 | 14 | 6.43 | ||||
| Home Textiles | 610 | 2 Textiles, 1 Measuring Tape | Measuring Tape | 0:20 | 1:15 | 1:35 | 95 | 6.42 | ||
| Garden Gnomes | 1,600 | 2 Cement, 1 Glue | 2 Cement+Glue | 2:40 | 1:30 | 4:10 | 250 | 6.4 | ||
| Cheese | 660 | 2 Animal Feed | 1:45 | 1:45 | 105 | 6.29 | ||||
| Cream | 440 | 1 Animal Feed | 1:15 | 1:15 | 75 | 5.87 | ||||
| Beef | 860 | 3 Animal Feed | 2:30 | 2:30 | 150 | 5.73 | ||||
| Cooking Utensils | 250 | 2 Metal, 2 Plastic, 2 Wood | 0:45 | 0:45 | 45 | 5.56 | ||||
| Measuring Tape | 110 | 1 Metal, 1 Plastic | 0:20 | 0:20 | 20 | 5.5 | ||||
| Grass | 310 | 1 Seed, 1 Shovel | Shovel | 0:30 | 0:30 | 1:00 | 60 | 5.17 | ||
| Fire Pit | 1,740 | 2 Bricks, 1 Shovel, 2 Cement | 2 Cement | 1:40 | 4:00 | 5:40 | 340 | 5.12 | ||
| Refridgerator | 1,060 | 2 Plastic, 2 Chemical, 2 Electrical Comp. | 3:30 | 3:30 | 210 | 5.05 | ||||
| Shovel | 150 | 1 Metal, 1 Wood, 1 Plastic | 0:30 | 0:30 | 30 | 5 | ||||
| Drill | 590 | 2 Metal, 2 Plastic, 1 Electrical Comp. | 2:00 | 2:00 | 120 | 4.92 | ||||
| Business Suits | 1,170 | 3 Textiles, 1 Measuring T., 1 Glue | Glue | 1:00 | 3:30 | 4:30 | 270 | 4.33 | ||
| Frozen Yogurt. | 1,750 | 1 Fruit & B., 1 Cream, 1 Sugar & Spices | Cream+Fruit | 2:45 | 4:00 | 6:45 | 405 | 4.32 | ||
| Garden Furniture | 820 | 2 Planks, 2 Plastic, 2 Textiles | 2 Planks | 1:00 | 2:15 | 3:15 | 195 | 4.21 | ||
| Planks | 120 | 2 Wood | 0:30 | 0:30 | 30 | 4 | ||||
| Tree Saplings | 420 | 2 Seeds, 1 Shovel | Shovel | 0:30 | 1:30 | 2:00 | 120 | 3.5 | ||
| BBQ Grill | 530 | 3 Metal, 1 Cooking Utensil | Cooking Utensil | 0:45 | 2:45 | 3:30 | 210 | 2.52 |
Here's the same data, sorted by top dollar earner for each commercial building.
| Building Supplies Store | Max $ | Materials Required | Critical Path | Raw M. | Ass'y | Total | Min | $/Min | ||
| Nails | 80 | 2 Metal | 0:05 | 0:05 | 5 | 16 | ||||
| Bricks | 190 | 2 Minerals | 0:20 | 0:20 | 20 | 9.5 | ||||
| Cement | 440 | 2 Minerals, 1 Chemical | 0:50 | 0:50 | 50 | 8.8 | ||||
| Glue | 440 | 1 Plastic, 2 Chemicals | 1:00 | 1:00 | 60 | 7.33 | ||||
| Planks | 120 | 2 Wood | 0:30 | 0:30 | 30 | 4 | ||||
| Hardware Store | Max $ | Materials Required | Critical Path | Raw M. | Ass'y | Total | Min | $/Min | ||
| Hammer | 90 | 1 Metal, 1 Wood | 0:14 | 0:14 | 14 | 6.43 | ||||
| Cooking Utensils | 250 | 2 Metal, 2 Plastic, 2 Wood | 0:45 | 0:45 | 45 | 5.56 | ||||
| Measuring Tape | 110 | 1 Metal, 1 Plastic | 0:20 | 0:20 | 20 | 5.5 | ||||
| Shovel | 150 | 1 Metal, 1 Wood, 1 Plastic | 0:30 | 0:30 | 30 | 5 | ||||
| Drill | 590 | 2 Metal, 2 Plastic, 1 Electrical Comp. | 2:00 | 2:00 | 120 | 4.92 | ||||
| Farmers Market | Max $ | Materials Required | Critical Path | Raw M. | Ass'y | Total | Min | $/Min | ||
| Flour Bag | 570 | 2 Seeds, 2 Textiles | 0:30 | 0:30 | 30 | 19 | ||||
| Fruit & Berries | 730 | 2 Seeds, 1 Tree Sapling | Tree Sapling | 1:30 | 1:30 | 90 | 8.11 | |||
| Vegetables | 160 | 2 Seeds | 0:20 | 0:20 | 20 | 8 | ||||
| Cheese | 660 | 2 Animal Feed | 1:45 | 1:45 | 105 | 6.29 | ||||
| Cream | 440 | 1 Animal Feed | 1:15 | 1:15 | 75 | 5.87 | ||||
| Beef | 860 | 3 Animal Feed | 2:30 | 2:30 | 150 | 5.73 | ||||
| Furniture Store | Max $ | Materials Required | Critical Path | Raw M. | Ass'y | Total | Min | $/Min | ||
| Chairs | 300 | 2 Wood, 1 Nail, 1 Hammer | Hammer | 0:14 | 0:20 | 0:34 | 34 | 8.82 | ||
| Tables | 500 | 1 Plank, 2 Nails, 1 Hammer | Plank + 2 Nails | 0:40 | 0:30 | 1:10 | 70 | 7.14 | ||
| Couch | 1,810 | 3 Textiles, 1 Drill, 1 Glue | Drill | 2:00 | 2:30 | 4:30 | 270 | 6.7 | ||
| Home Textiles | 610 | 2 Textiles, 1 Measuring Tape | Measuring Tape | 0:20 | 1:15 | 1:35 | 95 | 6.42 | ||
| Gardening Supplies | Max $ | Materials Required | Critical Path | Raw M. | Ass'y | Total | Min | $/Min | ||
| Garden Gnomes | 1,600 | 2 Cement, 1 Glue | 2 Cement+Glue | 2:40 | 1:30 | 4:10 | 250 | 6.4 | ||
| Grass | 310 | 1 Seed, 1 Shovel | Shovel | 0:30 | 0:30 | 1:00 | 60 | 5.17 | ||
| Fire Pit | 1,740 | 2 Bricks, 1 Shovel, 2 Cement | 2 Cement | 1:40 | 4:00 | 5:40 | 340 | 5.12 | ||
| Garden Furniture | 820 | 2 Planks, 2 Plastic, 2 Textiles | 2 Planks | 1:00 | 2:15 | 3:15 | 195 | 4.21 | ||
| Tree Saplings | 420 | 2 Seeds, 1 Shovel | Shovel | 0:30 | 1:30 | 2:00 | 120 | 3.5 | ||
| Donut Shop | Max $ | Materials Required | Critical Path | Raw M. | Ass'y | Total | Min | $/Min | ||
| Donuts | 950 | 1 Flour Bag, 1 Sugar & Spices | Flour Bag | 0:30 | 0:45 | 1:15 | 75 | 12.7 | ||
| Bread Roll | 1,840 | 2 Flour Bags, 1 Cream | 2 Flour+Cream | 2:15 | 1:00 | 3:15 | 195 | 9.44 | ||
| Green Smoothie | 1,150 | 2 Vegetables, 1 Fruit & Berries | 2 Veg+Fruit | 2:10 | 0:30 | 2:40 | 160 | 7.19 | ||
| Cherry Cheesecake | 2,240 | 1 Flour Bag, 1 Fruit & B., 1 Cheese | Flour+Fruit+Cheese | 3:45 | 1:30 | 5:15 | 315 | 7.11 | ||
| Frozen Yogurt. | 1,750 | 1 Fruit & B., 1 Cream, 1 Sugar & Spices | Cream+Fruit | 2:45 | 4:00 | 6:45 | 405 | 4.32 | ||
| Fashion Store | Max $ | Materials Required | Critical Path | Raw M. | Ass'y | Total | Min | $/Min | ||
| Cap | 600 | 2 Textiles, 1 Measuring Tape | Measuring Tape | 0:20 | 1:00 | 1:20 | 80 | 7.5 | ||
| Shoes | 980 | 2 Textiles, 1 Plastic, 1 Glue | Glue | 1:00 | 1:15 | 2:15 | 135 | 7.26 | ||
| Watch | 580 | 2 Plastic, 1 Glass, 1 Chemical | 1:30 | 1:30 | 90 | 6.44 | ||||
| Business Suits | 1,170 | 3 Textiles, 1 Measuring T., 1 Glue | Glue | 1:00 | 3:30 | 4:30 | 270 | 4.33 | ||
| Fast Food Restaurant | Max $ | Materials Required | Critical Path | Raw M. | Ass'y | Total | Min | $/Min | ||
| Ice Cream Sandwich | 2,560 | 1 Bread Roll, 1 Cream | Breadroll+Cream | 3:30 | 0:14 | 3:44 | 224 | 11.4 | ||
| Burgers | 3,620 | 1 Beef, 1 Bread Roll, 1 BBQ Grill | Bread+Beef | 4:45 | 0:35 | 5:20 | 320 | 11.3 | ||
| Lemonade Bottle | 1,690 | 2 Glass, 2 Sugar & Spice, 1 Fruit & B. | Fruit | 1:30 | 1:00 | 2:30 | 150 | 11.3 | ||
| Pizza | 2,560 | 1 Flour Bag, 1 Cheese, 1 Beef | Flour+Cheese+Beef | 4:45 | 0:24 | 5:09 | 309 | 8.28 | ||
| Cheese Fries | 1,050 | 1 Vegetable, 1 Cheese | Veg.+Cheese | 2:05 | 0:20 | 2:25 | 145 | 7.24 | ||
| Home Appliances | Max $ | Materials Required | Critical Path | Raw M. | Ass'y | Total | Min | $/Min | ||
| TV | 1,280 | 2 Plastic, 2 Glass, 2 Electrical Comp. | 2:30 | 2:30 | 150 | 8.53 | ||||
| Lighting System | 890 | 1 Chemical, 1 Electrical Comp, 1 Glass | 1:45 | 1:45 | 105 | 8.48 | ||||
| Refridgerator | 1,060 | 2 Plastic, 2 Chemical, 2 Electrical Comp. | 3:30 | 3:30 | 210 | 5.05 | ||||
| BBQ Grill | 530 | 3 Metal, 1 Cooking Utensil | Cooking Utensil | 0:45 | 2:45 | 3:30 | 210 | 2.52 | ||
I've tried out several setups and the one I like the most focuses on making
- Donuts
- Chairs
- Caps
- Bricks
- TVs
While things get ramped up I'll often do watches instead of caps because they don't require the hardware store, but eventually I'll get a good enough supply chain going that I can switch to my ideal caps/chairs combo. The downside is that the materials for chairs and caps have a relatively fast turnaround time so I don't run it at night, otherwise it would run out at some point. I'll switch to shovels, cement and glue so that during the day I can add in gnomes and grass.
When I sell items, I usually sell donuts/caps/tvs in pairs and chairs/bricks in packs of five each. If you hold onto things to sell in groups of 10 they tend to take longer.
Have another combo that works for you? I'd love to hear your ideas in the comments below.