How to play Vaybox
The whole game in plain words. Every new feature is added here the day it launches — last updated 4 Nov.
Getting started
Make a free account, get your avatar and your starting Kredits, and learn to walk and talk.
- 1.Join free with a username and password — no email. Keep the secret recovery code you're shown; it's the only way back in if you forget your password.
- 2.Tick “Remember me” so you stay signed in on your own device. One device at a time: signing in somewhere new signs the old one out.
- 3.Tap the ground to walk. Type in the chat bar to talk to people near you.
- 4.Open Starter tasks and tap any task — you're taken straight to do it. Some pay Kredits when you claim them.
- 4 NovA tidier city feed and status card
Deals in the city feed now fit on one line: who, what, how much and when. The status card in the corner is calmer too, with clear tab names and no capital letters shouting.
- 4 NovCleaner notifications
City messages now show as one slim strip: a small coloured mark for the kind of news, a short line underneath, and a quiet button if there's something to do.
- 4 NovThe player guide: how to play, step by step
A plain-words manual for the whole city — getting around, money, homes, shops, going out, crime and advertising. Every new feature is added to it the day it launches.
- 4 NovShow password, remember me, tap-to-do tasks
The sign-in page can show your password and remember you on this device. Starter tasks are tappable now — tap one and you're taken straight to do it.
- 2 NovThe Chronicle: the city's own news
What's on, real deals as they happen, and a timeline of everything the city has built.
Getting around
The Slums and the Strip are one big map — walk, drive, take a taxi or ride the metro.
- 1.Use the Go menu (the Go tab on phones) to pick a place. Far away? You'll be offered walking, directions, a taxi or the metro.
- 2.Directions: choose Show me and a dotted route appears on the ground with an arrow and the distance at the top. Walk it yourself, or tap Walk me.
- 3.Taxi or metro: pick a place on the small city map or from the list (nearest first, with a search box), then press Ride once.
- 4.Car out of fuel? Tap the fuel button: it shows the way to the nearest petrol station for a jerry can, then the way back to your car.
- 5.Open the City Map, tap any district, street or shop and press Walk there.
- 6.Walk out of the Slums along Slums Road and you're on the Strip — your menus switch over by themselves.
- 7.Walking tires you out. Eat, sit down or take a ride to get your energy back.
- 4 NovA cleaner Where to? screen
Taxi and metro rides start from a small city map and a short list: nearest places first, a search box, and one Ride button at the bottom.
- 4 NovDirections on foot
Pick Show me and a dotted route lights up on the ground, with an arrow and the distance. Car out of fuel? You get the way to the nearest petrol station for a jerry can, then the way back.
- 4 NovBig Tony's lift is gone
The old lift at the back of the Slums has been taken out, along with its sign. The Citadel is the island resort off the Marina beach: walk over the bridge with a VIP pass.
- 4 NovVaybox Port and cargo ships
Container ships now sail in to the new port on the south shore, unload imports under the cranes, load exports and head back out. A tanker runs the east coast. Watch it live on the City Map.
- 4 NovA smoother city
No fade between areas, tidier menus and notifications, a top-up screen that fits your phone, new motorbikes, cars that stay off the sea, and sensible sizes.
- 4 NovTap the City Map, walk there
Every district, street and shop on the City Map is tappable now. Pick one — Doc Mae's in the Slums, Downtown, Slums Road — hit Walk there and your avatar heads off on foot, by taxi, metro or your own car.
- 4 NovTuning levels change how your car drives
Engine stages add top speed and pick-up, wheels add grip, underglow comes with lowered suspension. Tuned cars brake later and power out of corners. See your level at Velocity Tuners.
- 4 NovPrice list: tuning, plates, penthouses
Radio §6k unlocks 5 stations · Engine stages 4/8/15% of the car, each sounds meaner · Underglow §15k · Wheels §8k–40k · Tint §4k · Plates §25k–500k · Penthouse packs §50k/125k/250k · Crown §50k
+5 earlier — see the Chronicle.
Money: Kredits, jobs and top-ups
Everything in Vaybox is paid in Kredits (§). Earn them from jobs or top up with ETH.
- 1.Your balance is in the top bar. Every price in the game is in Kredits.
- 2.Earn Kredits from City Hall jobs, street work in the Slums, the arcade and starter tasks.
- 3.Export run: at Vaybox Port's export gate, buy crates of a city-made good, load them while an export ship is at the pier, and collect the sale once it reaches a port abroad. Check which good pays best on that sailing first.
- 4.Short of Kredits? Tap Top up, pick a pack and pay in ETH. If you were buying something, it goes through once the Kredits land.
- 5.You can also buy Kredits in person at the Kredit desk inside City Hall.
- 6.The VIP pass is sold at the VIP desk in City Hall. It's paid once and lasts for life: the Members' Rail at Maison Noir, VIP concierge runs on the Jobs board (double courier pay), free entry to Soleil and Salon Privé.
- 7.Want a new name? The name registry in City Hall changes it for a fee — famous names (premium) cost more. You sign in with the new name afterwards.
- 8.Kredits stay in the city — they can't be cashed back out.
- 4 NovBigger Kredit packs, new VIP price
The $250 pack now gives §625,000 and the $500 pack §1,250,000, so bigger packs never give less per dollar. The VIP pass is now §500,000.
- 4 NovChange your name at the registry
Switch to any free name for a small fee at City Hall's name registry. Celebrity, crypto, country and city names are premium and cost more.
- 4 NovVIP pass: Members' Rail and concierge runs
VIP pass holders get the Members' Rail at Maison Noir, numbered pieces that never go on general sale, plus VIP concierge runs on the Jobs board at double courier pay.
- 4 NovNew desks at City Hall
City Hall now has a Kredit desk to top up in person, a VIP desk that sells the VIP pass and lists what it opens, and a name registry where you can change your name.
- 4 NovExport ships: sell the city's goods abroad
Export freighters now sail from a new pier at Vaybox Port. Buy crates of city goods, load them while a ship is in, and collect the sale abroad. Every sailing pays different prices.
- 3 NovNew ways to earn in the Slums
Pick cans out of the trash piles and cash them at Scrap Joe's cage, or busk on the market corner for tips. The police kiosk now shows the live crime rate.
- 2 NovHave your say at City Hall
Post an idea for the city and vote on others. If City Hall approves yours, you earn §5,000 and its first backers get paid too.
- 2 NovCity Hall is hiring
Courier runs and street sweeping pay on the spot. The more jobs you do, the higher your rank and your pay.
Homes and property
Rent a place to live, then buy a plot on the Strip and build it up — it's yours for good.
- 1.Everyone lives somewhere and pays rent — to another resident or to City Hall.
- 2.Buy a Strip plot once and own it forever. Pick a home layout, add floors, furnish each room and upgrade the grounds.
- 3.Everything you buy for your home can be used: tap a bed, the stove, the pool or the court.
- 4.A home's value rises with location, rent and upgrades. Sell it on the property market.
- 4 NovThe property market is open
Buy and sell homes, plots, buildings and towers in one place. Every listing shows its worth — location, upgrades and rent — and if it's over or under. List yours at its value in one tap.
- 4 NovLet your home, grow its value
Let your whole house, villa or mansion by the week. A home's value now adds up land, upgrades and rent, and sellers see what they've gained.
- 4 NovName boards on every home
Every owned house and villa now has a small board at the gate with the owner's world name.
- 4 NovThe house builder + four new styles
Pick your home's roof, windows, frames, porch, balcony and chimney and watch it change before you pay. New: Modern farmhouse, Desert adobe, Art deco and Cliffside terraces.
- 4 NovFences mean something now
Home lots are walled in: residents and visitors come and go through the gate, not over the fence.
- 4 NovEveryone lives somewhere now
Every resident has a home: your own, a resident's flat or a City Hall flat (first week free). Rent is weekly, set by the landlord, higher near Central Park. Can't pay? It's the Slums shelter.
- 4 NovBuy a city tower
The city's towers, high-rises and spires are for sale at their reception desks. Own one, name it, set the rent and collect from the residents who live there.
- 4 NovBreak-ins: protect your home
Burglars can now steal furniture, jewellery, Kredits or a car. Fences, alarms, CCTV and guards catch them — and caught burglars pay you a fine.
+5 earlier — see the Chronicle.
Shopping
Every district has its own shops — cheap in the Slums, luxury on the Strip.
- 1.Walk into a shop and talk to the counter, or open its page from District shops.
- 2.Clothes go on the moment you buy them.
- 3.Food and medicine go in your bag — use them when you're hungry or worn out.
- 4.Shop stock arrives by ship at Vaybox Port. Whatever just landed is up to 15% cheaper in every district, less as it goes stale — the shelf says what's fresh and how much off.
- 5.Trade items and Kredits with other residents on the market; the seller pays a small fee.
- 4 NovNew places: a hotel, a club window and a hospital
Hotel Halcyon opens in Neon Bay with day rooms and a spa. Soleil has a To-Go window. Free Zone General is the city's hospital. Find them under Go → Places, with directions.
- 4 NovFresh stock: 15% off the moment it lands
Goods off the boat are now 15% cheaper the moment a ship unloads, easing to 5% as they go stale. About one kind of shop is on offer at a time, so it's worth running to the shop.
- 4 NovCargo from the port stocks the shops
Ships unload phones, groceries, medicine and car parts at Vaybox Port, the goods hit every district shop cheaper while they're fresh, then the ships load the city's exports and sail out.
- 4 NovEvery gadget does something now
Earbuds tire you slower, a speaker boosts busking tips, any phone shows when the cops are coming, and a games console earns more arcade tickets.
- 4 NovGadgets that do things
A police scanner shows when the cops are coming on your wanted meter. A burner phone makes Mole's undercover buyers less of a risk. Car parts are fitted on the spot.
- 4 NovShops in every district
Corner shop, electronics, pharmacy and car parts — on Canal Row in the Slums and in every mall on the Strip. Slums prices are cheapest; the malls near the park are luxury.
- 4 NovEvery district shop has its own page
Corner shops, electronics, pharmacies and car-parts shops in the Slums and every mall, each with its own page: prices, what each thing does, what it costs in other districts, and a buy button.
- 4 NovThe Strip's stores got a refit
Clothes rails, dressed mannequins, mirrors, fitting rooms, tills, glass display cases and security cameras in every store on the Strip.
+2 earlier — see the Chronicle.
Going out
Clubs, the casino, the arcade, street courts and the Beach Sessions concerts.
- 1.Neon Bay has the casino, Soleil and the arcade. The Blocks has The Pit.
- 2.Tap a basketball court — at home or on the street — and play a game, alone or against someone there.
- 3.Arcade tickets cash in for Kredits, up to a daily limit.
- 4.Check the Chronicle for timed city events and concerts.
- 4 NovThe Citadel island, rebuilt
A real island off the Marina: wide beaches, a lighthouse, the hilltop Reef Club with an infinity pool, private villas, overwater villas in a cove, golf, a helipad and a yacht marina.
- 4 NovShoot hoops on the street courts
The Slums court and the Blocks court are playable now: walk on, tap Play and shoot a round of Hoop Fever, alone or against whoever's there.
- 4 NovReal radio: songs, artists and hosted shows
Fit a car radio and tune in: every station has its own genre, songs by city artists and hosted shows by the hour — Midnight Chrome on Neon, Poolside on Bay Lounge, Rooftop Static on Pit Pirate.
- 4 NovDrop 001 · Reef Club at Maison Noir
The first numbered fashion run: Reef Club Bomber, Atoll Kicks, Lantern Chain, Sovereign Cap. One each, every piece numbered. Sold out means Market only.
- 4 NovCitadel villas: rent, let and build
Rent a Citadel villa from City Hall or a resident, or let yours within the island's rent caps. Style and furnish it in the villa builder. New board: Citadel landlords.
- 4 NovThe Citadel is moving to the island
The Citadel becomes a gated island resort off the Marina: beach club, pool parties, yachts, golf, spa, fine dining and boutiques. VIP pass holders and residents. Coming soon.
- 4 NovUse everything you buy
Your bar, BBQ, fire pit, loungers, helipad and the car on your drive all work now — and so do baths, TVs, jukeboxes, pianos and pool tables inside.
- 4 NovThe Marina Heliport is open
City Hall's helicopter showroom on the Marina beach. Buy a Kestrel, Falcon or Sovereign, keep it in your hangar and fly to Coral Key or your own helipad.
+4 earlier — see the Chronicle.
Crime and the police
Rob a store if you dare — the police keep a wanted list.
- 1.Pick what to steal: the till, the stock or the safe. Bigger jobs pay more and get you caught more.
- 2.Crews get caught less. Sell hot goods to the fence.
- 3.Buy a weapon from Mole on the Slums black market. Your best piece raises your odds and your take on every job, and helps you wriggle free in a chase. A gun only adds a star if a job goes wrong. The buyer might be undercover, and any arrest takes every piece.
- 4.On the Citadel island there are island jobs: the Reef Club heist, smuggling crates through the reef to Mole, and the empty show villa. Each is a few steps at different spots — tap the spot and do the next one.
- 5.Your wanted level shows how hot you are. New clothes cool it down.
- 6.At 3 stars patrol cops chase you on the street. Outrun them, or duck indoors, and a star comes off.
- 7.At 4 stars the police station's evidence room opens: shred your file, or do the longest stretch there is.
- 8.At 4 stars the city's gangs want you too: the Canal Kings, the Blocks Boys and the Neon Syndicate. Work for one and its rival turns on you; friends keep cops off their turf, made members get a safehouse.
- 9.Get caught and you're driven to prison until your time is up.
- 4 NovWeapons hit harder, cops stay calm
Every piece from Mole now raises your take as well as your odds, and helps you wriggle out of a cop's grip. A gun only adds a star if the job goes wrong, and an undercover bust is one star.
- 4 NovIsland jobs on the Citadel
Three jobs on the island: the Reef Club heist (case it, lift a keycard, crack the safe), smuggling crates through the reef to Mole, and the empty show villa. Big money, and Sentinel is watching.
- 4 NovBlack market weapons
Mole now sells weapons off the boat: brass knuckles up to a sawn-off. Your best piece raises the odds of crimes, gang jobs and store robberies. Undercover buyers and arrests take them.
- 4 NovCop chases, the evidence room and gang wars
At 3 stars patrol cops chase you — outrun them to lose a star. At 4, raid the police evidence room to wipe your record, and three rival gangs want you.
- 4 NovYour wanted level, always on screen
Stars climb with every crime and drop with a new outfit. Tap the meter for your rank on the wanted list, your bounty, when the cops come and your Status.
- 4 NovMole now fences all stolen goods
Clothes off the rails, hot jewellery and furniture from a break-in — Mole on the Slums black market buys up to three pieces a day. Watch for undercover buyers.
- 4 NovCrew jobs: rob a store together
Plan a store job for your crew — crewmates walk in and join, then pull it together: better odds, a bigger take split evenly, less heat and more chance of slipping the cops.
- 4 NovHold up a store — pick the till, the stock or the safe
Walk behind the counter at Blok Supply, Savile & Sons, Maison Noir or Aurum & Ice: mask on, alarm ringing. Caught? Cuffed and driven to prison in a police car.
For businesses and advertisers
Put your company in the city: fixed-price daily ads, your logo on every placement, or your own building.
- 1.Open Advertise, pick a placement and a day, add your banner text and link, and book.
- 2.Add your logo in your brand profile — it shows on every ad you book.
- 3.See impressions, time on screen and clicks in your sponsor report.
- 4 NovTower ads in plain view, Strip tabs follow you
Tower-wall billboards now only hang where no other skyscraper blocks them. And step out of the Slums onto Slums Road and your menus switch to the Strip straight away — no more jumping back.
- 4 NovYour logo on every ad in the city
Banner planes, street billboards, tower walls, the Beach Sessions LED wall and the city event bar now all carry the advertiser's logo. Ad prices on the Advertise page show in dollars too.
Everything below is read from the game itself, so it's always current.
Districts
The Slums plus every district of the open city, in the order you'll meet them.
Where everyone starts. Night market, soup kitchen, scrapyard, street jobs, Canal Row's four shops and the street court. Visitors can look round without an account.
The original plots. Buy once, own forever — the closer to the park, the pricier.
The business district: plots for companies, brands and agencies. Park-facing plots cost the most.
Every car dealer in one strip — supercars to first runarounds. Tap a showroom to buy.
City Hall, the Courthouse, Capitol Police, Hall of Records and the Treasury.
The middle of the city. Lake, fountain, bandstand — free for everyone.
Public gardens beside Central Park: fountains, palms and shady trees — free for everyone.
Apartment blocks you can own, a street court and The Pit — the poor side's basement club, out in the far south-east.
Where the city's broke end up, in the far south-east corner. Slums Road leaves town right here.
Palm gardens and the furniture store, just north of the villa estates.
The waterfront: yachts, penthouse towers, the beach and the lighthouse.
Family houses for sale on quiet loops past the east highway — a long drive from Downtown.
The rich side's nightlife, far from City Hall: the casino, Soleil, the arcade — valets take your car at the door.
Warehouses, container yards and the city's crypto yard between the park side and the poor east: run mining rigs in the hash sheds, trade VAY at the exchange.
Gated estates on the coast, sold as land: build a mansion, then add a pool, tennis court, helipad and a drive for your cars.
Villa land on quiet palm streets: build your home, then add a pool, a hot tub, a court and a garden.
Villa land on the southern hills, with room for a pool, a hot tub, a court and a drive.
Shops
Four shops in every shopping district — cheapest in the Slums, priciest near Central Park. Tap one for its shelf.
- Kwik Corner · Corner shop5 items · from §36.00
- Canal Phones · Electronics & phones5 items · from §900
- Doc Mae's · Pharmacy4 items · from §48.00
- Spanner's Parts · Car parts3 items · from §168
- Hotel Halcyon · Hotel5 items · from §120
- Soleil To-Go · Nightclub5 items · from §100
- Free Zone General · Hospital5 items · from §60.00
- DayMart · Corner shop6 items · from §60.00
- Volt Electronics · Electronics & phones6 items · from §1,500
- CityCare Pharmacy · Pharmacy4 items · from §150
- AutoZone Row · Car parts4 items · from §280
- DayMart · Corner shop6 items · from §60.00
- Volt Electronics · Electronics & phones6 items · from §1,500
- CityCare Pharmacy · Pharmacy4 items · from §150
- AutoZone Row · Car parts4 items · from §280
- Épicerie Fine · Corner shop6 items · from §132
- Lumen Store · Electronics & phones6 items · from §5,500
- Apothecary 9 · Pharmacy5 items · from §330
- Atelier Motor · Car parts5 items · from §616
- Épicerie Fine · Corner shop6 items · from §132
- Lumen Store · Electronics & phones6 items · from §5,500
- Apothecary 9 · Pharmacy5 items · from §330
- Atelier Motor · Car parts5 items · from §616
- Épicerie Fine · Corner shop6 items · from §132
- Lumen Store · Electronics & phones6 items · from §5,500
- Apothecary 9 · Pharmacy5 items · from §330
- Atelier Motor · Car parts5 items · from §616
Courts
Walk onto a court and tap Play — alone, or against whoever's there.
On Canal Row in the Slums. Shoot a round of Hoop Fever; anyone on the court can take you on.
Between the apartment blocks in the far south-east, next to The Pit.
Add a court to your own home's grounds. You and your guests play there; tennis is a real rally.
Starter tasks
Your first minutes in the city. Tap a task in the world and you're taken straight to it.
Click any floor tile in the world.
Type a message in the chat bar.
Take a train to another district.
Rust Block studios start around §30,000.
Keep your deed safe from foreclosure.
Swap with Rat King or Auntie Ko at the trading table.
Gangs
They deal with you once you're Hunted (4 stars). Work for one and its rival turns on you.
Rat King runs it. Run every hustle on Canal Row. Hate anyone with money. Rivals: Neon Syndicate.
Dutch runs it. Own the courts and The Pit. Want the Slums' corners. Rivals: Canal Kings.
Madame Vex runs it. Clubs, cards and quiet money. Pushing the Blocks out of the east. Rivals: Blocks Boys.
The Citadel island
The gated island off the Marina, over the causeway. Only VIP pass holders, villa residents and their guests get past Sentinel.
Private villas sold one by one at the concierge desk. Residents add guests to their list and Sentinel lets them through.
A day bed on the sand, towels and a bucket of ice
DJ, floats and a bar on the water — the whole island is invited
An hour out past the reef on the club's yacht
The superyacht, a crew and a chef — just your party
Eighteen holes on the island course, caddie included
Massage, steam and the plunge pool — you leave brand new
Seven courses from the island's chef
Your own table in the kitchen, a course for every guest
The club keeps the night's takings in a safe behind the DJ deck. Case it, get a cabana keycard, crack it. Steps: 1) case the club, 2) lift a cabana keycard, 3) crack the club safe.
A deckhand at the marina moves unmarked crates past the coast guard. Mole pays for whatever lands. Steps: 1) load the crates, 2) run the reef, 3) hand the cargo to Mole. Stake §5,000, 3 loads a day; the channel pays ×1.8, the reef ×3.
The developer's show villa sits empty with a jewellery case in the dressing room. Sentinel walks past every few minutes. Steps: 1) watch Sentinel's round, 2) slip in and lift the case.
Port and cargo ships
Vaybox Port is the container terminal on the south shore. Everything the shops sell comes in here.
Two ships take turns at the berths. Each brings one kind of goods — groceries, phones and electronics, medicine, car parts — and unloads it under the cranes.
When a ship finishes unloading, its goods reach every district shop of that kind 15% cheaper, easing to 5% as they go stale. About one kind of shop is on offer at a time. The shop's shelf shows what just landed and how much off it is now.
Then the ship fills up with what the city makes — Slums scrap metal, Free Zone mining rigs, Vaybox streetwear, Neon Bay rum, rebuilt engines, Canal Row knock-off trainers — and sails out east.
Two export freighters work the export pier west of the quay. Each sailing goes to one port abroad, and every good sells there at its own price — the board at the export gate shows them before you load.
At the export gate on the south shore: 1) buy crates (scrap metal §150, knock-off trainers §300, vaybox streetwear §600, neon bay rum §900, rebuilt engines §1,500, mining rigs §2,500), 2) load them while a freighter is at the pier and pay 4% freight, 3) she sails and sells abroad, 4) collect the sale at the gate. Rough seas pay more, but 30% of the time 40% of the crates go over the side. Hide a stolen piece in the crates and the buyer pays 25% of its shop price — customs searches 30% of loads.
A tanker runs up and down the east coast and a small feeder ship crosses the south. Watch them all live on the City Map.
Weapons
Mole sells them on the Slums black market. Only your best piece counts, and any arrest takes them all.
+6% odds and ×1.1 take on crimes, gang jobs, island jobs and store robberies; slips a cop's grip 5% more often. Undercover buyer risk 5%.
+9% odds and ×1.2 take on crimes, gang jobs, island jobs and store robberies; slips a cop's grip 5% more often. Undercover buyer risk 8%.
+12% odds and ×1.25 take on crimes, gang jobs, island jobs and store robberies; slips a cop's grip 15% more often. Undercover buyer risk 11%.
+16% odds and ×1.4 take on crimes, gang jobs, island jobs and store robberies; slips a cop's grip 10% more often. If a job goes wrong with it, that's armed robbery: +1 star. Undercover buyer risk 15%.
+22% odds and ×1.6 take on crimes, gang jobs, island jobs and store robberies; slips a cop's grip 10% more often. If a job goes wrong with it, that's armed robbery: +1 star. Undercover buyer risk 20%.