How to be Darth Vader - Star Wars: Tiny Death Star tips, tricks, and cheats

In Tiny Tower re-skin Star Wars: Tiny Death Star, NimbleBit and Disney posit a theory as to how Darth Vader paid for his moon-sized space station.

According to these two developers, the Sith Lord found the funds by renting out one vertical chamber to businesses and renting out bedrooms for tiny pixellated citizens of the universe. And that's exactly what you'll do in this game.

It's not exactly rocket science. You can't lose, run out of money, or suffer a setback. The game practically 'plays' itself, as long as you come by every few minutes to nudge it in the right direction.

Nevertheless, here's some advice on how to be the best intergalactic landlord you can possibly be.

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How to play

Star Wars: Tiny Death Star is all about slowly expanding the height of your space station by buying new levels. You'll have to make apartments for Bitizens to live in, give them jobs in businesses, and keep those businesses stocked to afford the increasingly expensive levels.

You'll also man the elevator. Bitizens constantly come to your Death Star, so you'll have to manually send the elevator to the room of that Bitizen's choosing.

Residential



Residential rooms house Bitizens, whom you can then use as workers in your businesses.

Each apartment level can hold five Bitizens, and empty slots will be filled when you take Bitizens to residential floors using the elevator. You can also fill a room automatically by selecting the room and tapping 'Rent'. This costs Bux.

Businesses



Businesses - e.g. shops and restaurants - make you money in Star Wars: Tiny Death Star. You just need to keep them stocked to keep making cash.

You can assign up to three Bitizens for jobs in each business. When a business has at least one worker, you can tap on the room and hit 'Place Order' to order stock. It doesn't cost anything; it just takes time.

The first Bitizen can get stock quickly but sells out fast and doesn't make much cash per sale. The third Bitizen takes a long time to order items but keeps selling for hours and makes three credits per sale.

Whichever you choose, you'll have to wait for the order to come in, and then hit the gold box icon to restock the shop. The items will be sold automatically until stock runs out. You can also order new items in the other worker slots while items are being sold - but you can't stock two times simultaneously.

Imperial



Once you've bought a few levels, you'll be able to choose Imperial levels. These enable you to finish sub-missions for Darth Vader. Upon completing these sub-missions, you receive bonus cash.

Primarily, these Imperial levels - like Interrogation and Blast Doors - require a Supply Officer to get started. Officers appear in your elevator randomly, but you can summon one with Bux.

Once the Supply Officer is in the room, it will slowly create an object (e.g. a rebel secret, star map, or security code). Once made, these objects are stored under 'Inventory' on the menu. And when you have all the objects Vader desires, you can turn them over for a cash prize.

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General tips

So, now you know how to play. Here's some advice to help speed up construction, your excellency.

Don't wait with the elevator



You should start moving the elevator immediately. While it might take a while for the Bitizen to speak up and announce his or her desired floor in a speech bubble, you will notice that the intended floor lights up in blue.

With this knowledge under your belt, you can quickly take Bitizens to your businesses, speeding up the game and earning you more tips in the process.

Check for missions from the Emperor



Palpatine always has missions for you to do. These might involve stocking all the items on one level, building a new retail business, or simply having a look in the store.

Always see what he wants you to do, and complete his missions for quick cash bonuses.

Stagger your stock



You can only stock one item at a time, and you don't want to have businesses that can't turn a profit because they're too busy stocking.

To overcome this, you should stagger your orders - order stock for the first item, then order stock for the second while the first is selling. Then, order stock for the third while the second is selling.

If you're diligent, most shops can keep selling forever without breaks. Oh, and don't forget to get a shop stocked with its most profitable product just before you go to bed so you'll wake up to a big profit in the morrow.

Get the best staff



Shops are only as good as their staff, and workers with high skill ratings can improve your Death Star's productivity.

Take, for instance, a retail shop. If you hire a staff member with 0 retail skill, it can take 72 minutes to stock an item. A worker with 9 retail skill in the same position can re-stock in just 65 minutes.

You should also move Bitizens into their dream jobs when you can. You will not only earn some bonus Bux for doing so, but you'll also double the number of units that the worker can order at that stock level.

You can't remove a Bitizen from a business while that shop is re-stocking, but you can move staff while they are are selling (the item will still be on sale and you won't lose any stock).

But remember: choosing to evict a Bitizen won't just remove her from her current job - it will mean she's kicked off the Death Star entirely. Instead, choose 'job' and choose 'unemployed' when moving Bitizens between careers.

Be present



Like in most free-to-play games, you'll continue to make money in Star Wars: Tiny Death Star while you're not playing. But your profits will go up much faster when you're playing and actively using the elevator.

By taking Bitizens to their intended floors, you will earn tips; make shops stock and sell out faster; and reduce construction time on new levels.

Save Bux for elevators



It's tempting to spend your Bux on re-stocking items, speeding up construction, and skipping missions. But you should save that premium currency on something you can only get with Bux: improved elevators.

The NB200 Commercial Lift, for example, costs just 25 Bux. You'll be able to earn that in your first or second day playing Star Wars: Tiny Death Star. It's faster, and doubles your tip, both of which will mean your space station is even more profitable.

Do watch out for some of the most expensive lifts, though. They are so extremely fast, it's easy to miss the right levels - this slows you down at the best of times, and can mean you waste Bitizens when delivering to Imperial levels.

Speed up Imperial missions



When Imperial rooms are 'making' items, you can deliver absolutely any Bitizen to that room via the elevator to make the Imperial operation happen more quickly.

While it can make more financial sense to send Bitizens to businesses, there's very little reward for taking a Bitizen to a full residential level, other than a measly elevator tip. So, it makes more sense to send those Bitizens to an Imperial room.

You could try to build all your residential levels on odd floor numbers (and put businesses on even) so you know if a Bitizen wants to go to an apartment in a flash.

Don't use the currency conversion



Don't be lured in by the 'exchange Bux for Credits' screen in the store. You'd often make a lot more money if you use Bux to immediately buy out all the stock in a business.

If you need a quick cash injection, shop around at all your businesses to see which will give you the most bang for your Bux... so to speak.