On Annual Special gameworlds, you can upgrade a village into a city. Cities provide important strategic advantages but also come with specific requirements and costs.
Requirements
To convert a village into a city, you must have:
A gameworld that supports cities (Annual Specials only)
Town Hall level 20
An empty settlement slot
This slot is normally used to settle or conquer a new village
Converting a village into a city uses this slot instead
You can choose between founding a new village or upgrading an existing one into a city.
City Features
Upgrading a village to a city grants several advantages:
3 additional building slots
Resource fields can be upgraded to level 12 (in non-capital cities)
Walls can be upgraded with Watchtowers, providing extra defensive bonuses
Egyptians can build Waterworks, but only in cities (including if the capital itself is a city)
Upgrading to a City
The upgrade takes time, depending on server speed:
x1 or x2 servers: 24 hours
x3 servers: 12 hours
As soon as the upgrade begins:
The required settlement slot becomes locked immediately
The upgrade progress is visible:
In your player profile (village list)
On the map, when hovering over the village
Special Case: Conquest During Upgrade
If another player conquers your village, the upgrade is cancelled
If you conquer your own village using another village you own, the upgrade continues
There is no other way to stop the upgrade once it has started
Conquering a City
Cities can be conquered like normal villages. After conquest:
A city uses 2 settlement slots
If you currently have only 1 free slot, the conquest still succeeds
Your next settlement slot will be automatically used when you gain it