Lagos Life beginner guide: your first session
The screens below are in the order a new account sees them, from sign-up to a first meal. We played them on a fresh account. Steps marked Random are decided for you; the rest are your choice.
First-session checklist
0 of 10 done
- How: Create your account at lagoslife.app (add a recovery email)
- How: Design your character’s look
- How: Pick two personality traits
- How: Choose a big dream
- How: Read your birth lottery result
- How: Choose where to live
- How: Apply for a job in Phone › Jobs
- How: Check rent and tax in Phone › Bank
- How: Eat something: at home or at a buka
- How: Bookmark lagoslife.app for next time
Your ticks are saved in this browser only.
Step 1 Your choice
Sign up at lagoslife.app
Open the official site and choose Sign up. The game runs in your browser, so there is nothing to install.
Open lagoslife.app on the official site, lagoslife.app (opens in a new tab)
- You must be 18 or older, and it’s one account per person. Official doc
- The email field is optional, but email is the only published way to get a password-reset link. Our test account skipped it; we’d add one. Official doc
- Your username is shown as your Sim’s name on the next screen. Seen in game
Stuck on login or loading? See Play, login and app help.
Step 2 Your choice
Look
Drag the model to spin it, then work through the options. We saw:
- Body: Woman or Man
- Hairstyle: Braids, Afro, Bun, Ponytail, Long, Locs, Low cut, Gele, Classic
- Outfit: Casual, Office, Owambe, Site work
- Fabric: Plain, Ankara, Adire, Aso-oke
- Colours: skin tone, hair, outfit and bottoms
No stats appeared on this screen, so pick whatever you like the look of.
Step 3 Your choice
Pick two personality traits
You choose exactly two from ten. Each one speeds up a skill or changes a need. A simple rule: take one trait that grows the skill your target job needs. The effects below are the game’s own descriptions, shortened; the “useful for” column is our suggestion.
| Trait | In-game effect | Useful for |
|---|---|---|
| Hustler | Hustle grows faster, and bosses notice. | Trading, Hairstyling, Civil Service (needs Hustle 3) |
| Foodie | Learns Cooking fast; food is extra enjoyable. | Chef, Mai Shayi |
| Owambe Spirit | Parties and dancing hit harder, but gets bored quicker. | Fun and social needs |
| Gym Rat | Fitness grows fast and workouts feel good. | Nursing, Medicine and Aviation (need Fitness 3) |
| Smooth Talker | Charisma grows fast and socials land better. | Banking, Law, Real Estate (needs Charisma 3) |
| Lazy Bone | Energy lasts longer, but work suffers a bit. | A trade-off rather than a job boost |
| Clean Pikin | Hygiene drops slower. | Fewer showers to manage |
| Night Crawler | Loves nightlife. | Clubs and late venues |
| Tech Bro or Sis | Coding grows faster. | Tech, Product Management (needs Coding 3) |
| Musical | Music skill grows faster. | Music, DJ, the Afrobeats Star dream |
Step 4 Your choice
Choose a big dream
The dream is your long-term goal. These five were offered:
- Oga at the Top: Reach the top level of any career.
- Lekki Landlord: Build a net worth of ₦1,000,000.
- Afrobeats Star: Max out the Music skill (level 10).
- Everybody’s Padi: Become best friends with 4 people.
- Yaba Unicorn: Get your startup funded at CcHub, Yaba.
We haven’t finished a dream yet, so we can’t say what completing one gives you. If you want a fast start with work, Oga at the Top lines up with whatever job you take.
Step 5 Random
The birth lottery
The game decides what your character was “born into”. The screen says this is decided once for your account and that starting a new life won’t change it.
Ours came up LAPO Baby, which listed:
- a ₦60,000 LAPO loan to start, repaid at ₦12,000 every week
- Hustle skill starting at 2
- every skill learned 25% faster
- “Start in Mushin or Yaba and work your way to Lekki”
Other guides describe a richer “Nepo Baby” result. We haven’t drawn it ourselves, so we don’t list its numbers here. Guide-reported
Step 6 Your choice
Choose where to live
Next you pick a home. Rent is paid every Saturday. These were the options for our LAPO character:
| Home | Label | Start with | Rent / week |
|---|---|---|---|
| UNILAG Student hall · Akoka | Student life | ₦14,000 | ₦1,200 |
| Face-me-I-face-you room · Mushin | Hard start | ₦76,000 | ₦2,400 |
| Self-contain · Yaba | Balanced | ₦96,000 | ₦6,000 |
| Mini-flat · Lekki Phase 1 | Big spender | Locked for LAPO | Not shown |
The LAPO card mentioned only Mushin or Yaba, yet the home picker also offered the UNILAG student route. So the lottery sets your background and perks, and the home is a choice you make afterwards.
Mushin was listed as “Start with ₦76,000”, but right after moving in our wallet showed ₦1,076,000. We don’t know why the extra ₦1,000,000 appeared. It may be temporary or specific to our account, so plan with the money you actually see. Not verified
Step 7 Your choice
Apply for a job
Tap Phone at the bottom of the screen, then Jobs. Each card shows the career, your starting role, base pay per shift, how many days a week it runs, and either Apply — start tomorrow or a lock such as “Mid-level · needs fitness 3”.
We applied for Banking (₦11,600 per shift). The panel then showed YOUR JOB: Marketer, the other cards changed to “Switch to this job”, and a “Go automatically” option appeared. The screen also showed “Next shift: Today 8:00 AM”, even though the button had said start tomorrow.
We haven’t worked a full shift yet, so we can’t confirm how or when pay arrives. Compare all 33 jobs and their requirements →
Step 8 Check
Check your bills in the Bank app
Open Phone › Bank. On our account it showed:
- Weekly bills: rent for the Mushin room, ₦2,400, due Saturday at 9 AM (“Due in 4 days” on a Tuesday).
- Income tax this week: the first ₦1,000,000 of pay each week is tax-free, then 20%, 40% above ₦10,000,000 and 45% above ₦50,000,000. It’s taken from pay automatically and resets every Monday. Bets, sales and gifts aren’t taxed.
- Savings: 0.5% a week, withdraw any time. Bonds: 2% in 7 days.
- Top up wallet: this buys in-game naira with real money. You don’t need it to start.
The LAPO repayment (₦12,000 a week) was not listed under weekly bills when we looked, so we can’t say yet when it is collected. Budget for it anyway. The first-week budget tool does this sum for you.
Step 9 Your first activity
Eat something
Your first goal on screen is “Eat something: tap the cooler or stove”. Your needs bar tracks Hunger, Energy, Fun, Social, Hygiene and Bladder.
You can eat at home, or try a first trip out like we did:
- Tap Map and choose Amala Shitta (Surulere).
- Pick how to travel. From our Mushin home: Trek (walk) Free, Keke ₦150, Danfo ₦150, Okada ₦200, Cab ₦400. We walked (Trek).
- At the buka counter, order Amala & Ewedu for ₦300.
Our Hunger read 100% afterwards, and the next goal became “Freshen up: tap the bucket or shower”. The Amala Shitta entry lists the rest of the menu.
We didn’t test eating at home, so we can’t compare its cost. A “Daily gem hunt” prompt also appears on screen; we haven’t tried it.
Step 10 Next time
What to do next
- Bookmark lagoslife.app so you always return to the official site.
- Work your shifts, and keep enough cash for Saturday rent and your loan.
- Build the skill your next job needs: Fitness at i-Fitness, Coding at CcHub, Comedy at Freedom Park.
Beginner questions
Can I redo the Lagos Life birth lottery?
The lottery screen says the result is decided once for your account and that starting a new life won’t change it. The Terms also allow only one account per person, so making extra accounts to reroll is against the rules.
Should I live at UNILAG, in Mushin or in Yaba?
On our LAPO account the options were UNILAG (start with ₦14,000, rent ₦1,200 a week), Mushin (₦76,000, rent ₦2,400) and Yaba (₦96,000, rent ₦6,000). Yaba gives the most cash up front but costs ₦3,600 more rent every week than Mushin. UNILAG has the cheapest rent but very little starting cash, and it puts you on the student route.
What is the best first job in Lagos Life?
Refining showed ₦14,000 a shift with no skill lock, but its refinery was marked “Coming soon” on the map. Of the other unlocked Lagos jobs, Airport Staff paid the most at ₦12,000, then Banking at ₦11,600. Medicine pays ₦21,000 but needs Fitness 3 first.
Do I have to add an email?
No, the email field is optional. But the official Privacy Policy says email is only used to send password-reset links, so without one there is no published way to reset a forgotten password.
Sources and check dates
- Seen in game Lagos Life sign-up and character creation (Look, Personality, Dream, Birth lottery, Home) (opens in a new tab) . Checked 6 October 2026. New account, LAPO birth outcome, moved into Mushin.
- Seen in game Lagos Life in-game Phone › Jobs panel (opens in a new tab) . Checked 6 October 2026. Viewed before and after applying for Banking (game clock Tue 6, about 5:38 AM).
- Seen in game Lagos Life in-game Phone › Bank screen (opens in a new tab) . Checked 6 October 2026. Savings, bonds, weekly income tax and weekly bills panels.
- Seen in game Lagos Life in-game Amala Shitta venue panel and food menu (opens in a new tab) . Checked 6 October 2026. Travel prices shown when leaving a Mushin home.
- Official doc Lagos Life Terms of Service (last updated 1 October 2026) (opens in a new tab) . Checked 6 October 2026.
- Official doc Lagos Life Privacy Policy (last updated 1 October 2026) (opens in a new tab) . Checked 6 October 2026.