In Annual Special servers, players can upgrade villages into cities, gaining additional strategic benefits and defensive potential. Cities are especially useful for central or high-traffic areas — but they also require significant preparation and resources.
Requirements
To upgrade a village into a city, the following conditions must be met:
The feature must be available on your gameworld (Annual Specials only).
Town Hall level 20 is required.
You must have an empty settlement slot — the same type used to settle or conquer a new village.
⚠️ Upgrading a village into a city consumes one settlement slot.
City Features
Once the upgrade is complete, your city gains several unique advantages:
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Additional building slots | +3 extra building spaces available. |
| Resource field upgrades | Resource fields can be upgraded up to level 12 in non-capital cities. |
| Watchtowers | Cities can construct Watchtowers, providing an additional defense bonus. See: Special Servers – Watchtowers |
| Waterworks (Egyptians only) | Egyptians can build Waterworks in cities (including the capital if it has been upgraded to a city). |
Upgrading to a City
Upgrading a village into a city takes time and depends on the gameworld speed:
| Gameworld Speed | Upgrade Duration |
|---|---|
| x1 or x2 | 24 hours |
| x3 | 12 hours |
Additional details:
The settlement slot is locked immediately when the upgrade begins.
The upgrade process can be seen:
In your player profile (village list view).
On the map, by hovering the mouse over the village (tooltip will display upgrade progress).
If the village is conquered by another player during the upgrade, the process is cancelled.
If you conquer it yourself (from another one of your villages), the upgrade continues unaffected.
There is no manual way to stop an upgrade once it has started.
Conquering Cities
Cities can be conquered just like regular villages, but with one key difference:
After conquest, the city consumes two settlement slots instead of one.
If you only have one free slot, the conquest will still succeed — the second slot will be used automatically once it becomes available.
Summary
| Advantage | Description |
|---|---|
| +3 building slots | Expands city infrastructure. |
| Level 12 fields | Allows stronger economy. |
| Watchtowers | Improves defense. |
| Waterworks | Egyptian-only bonus for crop production. |
| Uses 1 slot (upgrade) / 2 slots (if conquered) | Strategic cost consideration. |
Tips
Cities are ideal for defensive centers, artifact holders, or capital regions.
Because they can be fortified with Watchtowers, they are harder to destroy.
Keep in mind that converting to a city locks a settlement slot and cannot be reversed.