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The Vida na Banda guide
Everything you need to get your life in Luanda off to a good start: work, kumbu, a home, love, travel and the city's games. Written by the people who make the game.
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What is Vida na Banda?
Vida na Banda is a life-simulation game set in Angola. You are born in a Luanda neighbourhood — it might be Cazenga, it might be Talatona — and the rest is up to you: find work, save kumbu, rent and decorate your home, make friends, date and even marry, with real people playing alongside you.
It runs in your phone or computer browser, nothing to download, and it is free. You can also install it as an app from the site. It is available in Portuguese, English and French.
Getting started
Eat
Tap a canteen, bar or restaurant and choose the food. With an empty belly you lose energy and health.
Sleep and get energy back
At home, tap the bed to sleep. Away from home, press 🏠 Home → «Sleep here» (a guesthouse for 2,500 Kb, or a bus-stop bench if you have no money).
Going home
Press 🏠 Home: if your home is in another city, the way there appears (even when tired) and, with no money, a free ride.
Change your look
In 📱 Profile → "Change your look": hair, clothes and colours.
Change the language
In 📱 Profile → Language.
Money and work
Get a job
Open 📱 Jobs, pick a job you have the education and reputation for and tap Accept. Then go to the place and tap Work.
Earn money
Work at your job, do odd jobs at the buildings that have them, sell on the street, or open a business in 📱 Businesses that earns even when you're not playing.
Study
Open 📱 University or go to a university (ISPTEC, UAN…). More education unlocks better jobs.
Keep money in the bank
Open 📱 Bank to deposit (thieves can't steal what's in the bank) and see the interest.
Open a business
Open 📱 Businesses and choose a business. It earns every day, even when you're not playing.
Hire staff
Open 📱 Staff (you need a house). Wages are paid automatically every day.
Send kumbu to someone
Open 📱 Transfer, type the person's name and the amount.
Get Gold
Open 📱 Gold to see the packs and exclusive extras.
Businesses: from kiosk to telecom
Sales every day at 18:00
Open 📱 Businesses and pick a business. Every day at 18:00 Luanda time it makes its sales, even if you are not playing, and the money goes into the till. A note tells you why the day went that way: a power cut, it went viral online, competition in the neighbourhood… With no manager and no visit from you that day, it sells only half.
Bills on Saturday
On Saturday the week's bills are paid: rent, helpers, stock and taxes. The bigger the business, the bigger the bills.
Grow: kiosk, shop and plaza
Every business starts as a kiosk. Grow it into a shop (2× the business price) and then a plaza (5×): it sells more and needs more helpers. At the top there are three big businesses — oil services (100 million kumbu), private port and logistics (500 million) and a telecoms operator (2,000 million) — and each one needs the one below it first.
Upgrades: manager, generator and prices
In Businesses → your business → Upgrades: 👔 a manager sells everything even on days you don't go there (costs 15% of the week's sales); 🔌 a generator (one-off 10% of the business price, at least 50,000 Kb) stops power cuts taking 40% of sales; 🏷️ cheap, fair or premium prices can be changed any time and count from the next closing.
Advertising
Also in Upgrades, one campaign at a time: flyers (+20% sales for 1 night), a radio ad (+35% for 2 nights) or social media (+60% for 3 nights).
Branches in other neighbourhoods
Up to 4 branches per business, one per neighbourhood. Go to the neighbourhood first and open it in Businesses → your business → Branches. It costs the same as opening that business, plus a 25,000 Kb licence. It starts as a kiosk, has its own sales and bills and does not count towards the limit of 3 businesses.
Robberies: how to protect yourself
If your assets are worth 50 million kumbu or more, you can be robbed at night: robbers take 20 to 40% of the till. In Against robberies: 💂 security (3% of the week's sales, the best protection), 🐕 a guard dog (30,000 Kb, one-off) or 📹 cameras (10% of the business price, one-off — and the police recover half of what was taken).
Work: shifts, parents and Cabinda
No limit on shifts
Work as many shifts a day as you like. The first two pay in full; after that each shift pays less: the 3rd 85%, the 4th 65%, the 5th 45% and 20% from then on. Changing jobs does not reset the count — to earn more, add a business or odd jobs.
Ask your parents for money
Once a day, in 📱 Profile → 💸 Ask your parents for money. How much they send depends on the family you were born into: in the musseque 1,000–3,000 Kb, middle class 5,000–15,000 Kb, a rich family 50,000–150,000 Kb, and the children of the very rich get millions. Sometimes they say no — you can ask again tomorrow.
Born into a rich family
When you create a new character, your family is drawn at random. Those born rich start with tens of millions of kumbu; 2 in every 100 new characters start with hundreds of millions and 1 in 100 with billions — enough to buy a jet on day one.
Working in Cabinda
In 📱 Vacancies there are 5 jobs in Cabinda, paying a bit more than in Luanda: border trader (8,500 Kb a shift) and port docker (9,500 Kb), no studies needed; Maiombe forest ranger (12,000 Kb) and cook at the oil base (16,000 Kb), education level 1; and oil platform technician (45,000 Kb, education level 4). You work there, so fly in from Maianga or take a chartered jet.
Chartered jet
No plane yet? At the airport (in Luanda, in Maianga) hire a jet with a pilot: 2,500,000 Kb a trip, to any neighbourhood — Mussulo and Cabinda included — with no monthly costs. Planes, the helicopter and jets no longer need minimum assets either: you just need the money (daily running costs still apply).
Your home
Rent or buy a house
Open 📱 Property to see houses for sale and to rent, or tap a housing building in the street. Rent is paid automatically every day.
Decorate your house
Go home (🏠 Home button) and tap 🔨 Decorate. Furniture you buy stays in storage until you place it.
Buy furniture
Open 📱 Shop (delivered home) or go to Móveis do Mercado (Viana) (cheaper). Luxury furniture is at Casa & Design, in Talatona.
Invite someone to your house
Tap the person (in the street or in 📱 Social) → "Invite to my house". It only works with friends, family or your partner. They get the invite in 📱 Social and, if they accept, they go straight there.
Visit a friend's house
Go to the building where the person lives and tap it: "🏠 Lives here" appears with a Visit button. You can also tap the person → "Visit their house" (same neighbourhood) or ask them for an invite.
Friends, love and family
Make friends
Tap another player → Chat, Compliment, Tell a joke… or "Ask to be friends". In 📱 Social you can also search by name.
Private messages
Open 📱 Messages, or tap the person → Message.
Dating
Tap the person → Flirt or "Ask out"; when you get on well, "Ask to date". (Only for people who confirmed they are 18+.)
Get married
Once you are dating, tap your partner → "Propose". Whoever proposes pays the 100,000 Kb bride price (alambamento).
Have a baby or adopt
Couples: tap your partner → "Have a baby". Anyone with a house can adopt in 📱 Family.
Family: engagement and babies
Propose engagement
Once you are dating, open 📱 Family and tap your partner → «Propose». If they say yes, you pay for the ring: 45,000 Kb. After that you can plan the wedding (bride price of 100,000 Kb).
Take a break, long-distance or secret
In the same place, «Take a break» pauses the relationship and «Get back together» ends the pause. You can also mark it as long-distance or keep it secret. To break up or divorce, tap the person in the game.
Pregnancy and the baby's room
The baby is born 5 days after your partner says yes. In 📱 Family you see the pregnancy bar, choose the name and looks (if you don't, the baby is a mix of you both) and get the room ready: cot 30,000 Kb (sleep drops half as fast), a month of nappies 6,000 Kb (changing is free), pram 25,000 Kb (you can go for walks) and car seat 18,000 Kb.
Looking after the baby
Until age 2 the baby has hunger, bath, nappy and sleep bars that drop over time: feed them (500 Kb), bathe them, change the nappy (300 Kb, free with nappies) and put them to sleep. Each one costs a little energy and makes you happier. If a bar hits zero, the baby gets sad. Parents take turns: one day it's you, the next your partner.
The nanny: Tia Rosa
Off to work? Hire Tia Rosa for 4,000 Kb a day (1, 3 or 7 days): while she looks after the baby, their needs never drop below 70. From age 1 it becomes nursery, at the same price.
The family tree
In 📱 Family → «Family tree» you see every generation: those who came before you, you and your partner, and your children, including those on the way and adopted ones.
Travel and fun
Travel to another neighbourhood
Go to the candongueiro stop in your neighbourhood and pick where to go. If you have a car, tap it outside your house → Travel.
Buy a car
Go to the Car Dealer in Talatona. At your house, tap the car → Travel.
Taking a plane
Go to the airport (in Luanda, in Maianga) and choose your destination. There are also airports in Benguela, Huambo, Lubango, Namibe, Malanje and Cabinda.
Sleeping away (guesthouse or hotel)
Away from home, press 🏠 Home → «Sleep here»: a guesthouse for 2,500 Kb a night; with no money, you sleep on a bus-stop bench.
Going to the beach
Go to Ilha de Luanda (beach and Jet Ski) or take the boat from Ilha's pier to Mussulo. Boats don't sail in a storm.
Ride a jet ski
Go to Ilha de Luanda and tap the «Bay Jet Ski». Each run costs 500 Kb; each coin is worth 10 Kb and a new personal best gives 1 Gold (up to 3 a day).
Listen to music
Open 📱 Radio.
Praying or going to church
Tap a church (Neighbourhood Church, Cathedral…) → «Pray». It eases stress and loneliness, once every 6 hours.
Play with friends: Ludo and challenges
Ludo with friends
In a bar, café or cantina → 🎲 Board games → «Ludo with friends», or tap a player → Play together → 🎲 Ludo. Choose 2, 3 or 4 players, invite friends, family or your partner and, if you like, the computer fills the empty seats. 4 pieces each, a 6 gets you out, a 6 rolls again and landing on a piece sends it home. The winner gets +500 Kb (up to 3 table-game wins a day).
Challenge someone to Jet Ski or kart
Tap another player → Play together and pick Jet Ski (Luanda Island) or kart (Maianga). If they accept, the challenger picks the transport (and pays for the trip) and you travel there together; the game opens straight away. Once you have both played, the game says who won.
📢 Channel: game news on your phone
In 📱 Phone → 📢 Channel you find posts from the game team: news, events, prize draws and notices, with a button that takes you to the right place. A red dot tells you when there is something new.
Street life
Rob someone
Tap a player → Rob (only in some neighbourhoods; newcomers are protected for 3 days). It is risky: you can go to jail and get a criminal record.
Get out of jail
Serve your sentence or pay bail at the jail's Office. See 📱 Justice.
Tips for your first days
- Eat before your hunger bar runs out: hunger and tiredness drag your mood and health down. A cantina is the cheapest meal.
- Your first job needs no studies: start with street selling (zunga) or an odd job and study for the better jobs.
- Rent pays itself every day — make sure you have the kumbu for it before spending on furniture.
- A business in 📱 Businesses keeps earning while you are not playing.
- Out of money for the candongueiro? Nobody gets stuck: you can always hitch a free ride.
- On the Bay Jet Ski every coin is worth 10 Kb and a new personal best gives 1 Gold (up to 3 a day).
Frequently asked questions
Is the game free?
Yes. It is free to play. Gold is optional and buys extras.
Do I need to download anything?
No. Open vidanabanda.com in your browser. If you like, install it as an app from the site itself.
Are the other players real people?
Yes. You can talk, make friends, date and marry other players.
Which languages is it in?
Portuguese, English and French. Change it in 📱 Profile → Language.
For brands and businesses
We work with a small number of partner brands. Want your brand in Vida na Banda? Email us at ads@vidanabanda.com.