Happiness Matters
Speaking of which, monitoring the mental well-being of your population is something you should be doing constantly. Not only is good for your own peace of mind, but there are significant advantages to doing so as well.
Happy citizens are, surprisingly enough, less likely to riot. In fact, they won’t at all, unless the happiness meter hits a critical level. In addition, your citizens will volunteer to pay more taxes if they are happy, in what is probably the most unbelievable aspect of the entire game.
You can keep the happiness meter in the green by ensuring there are ample supplies of each class’s basic necessities. So, for Farmers, this means fish, brandy and work clothes, with Workers needing soap in addition, etc.
On top of that, people need to have road access to at least a market and a pub, with educational facilities becoming necessary later on as well. Try and spruce up your city with some decorations as well, like fountains and gardens.
This all adds to the overall beauty level of your city, which in turn increases the happiness of your population.
Just remember, you don’t need to build your houses near your industrial building. They can be on the opposite side of the island and will still function correctly. Also, being near dirty and smelly buildings is bad for property values, and no one wants that.
