Help
Frequently asked questions
- What is Blockline?
Blockline is a city builder that runs in your web browser. You found a settlement, zone homes, shops and industry, and keep the city supplied with power, water, sewage and internet while it grows. An eight-chapter charter sets your goals and unlocks new buildings as you go, and a handful of special sites, such as the Police HQ and the City Hospital, can be entered and run from the inside. The getting started guide is the best introduction.
- Is Blockline free?
Yes. Blockline is free to play, with nothing to buy and no download. It is supported by advertising, and there is an optional link to buy the developer a coffee in the game's settings if you would like to help.
- Do I need an account?
Yes. Your cities are stored in your account on Blockline's servers rather than in your browser, so the game asks you to sign up before you play. Signing up takes an email address and a password, plus one email to confirm the address is yours. Signing in, signing up and resetting a forgotten password all happen inside the game at build.blockline.city.
- Which browsers and devices can I play on?
Blockline runs in a current desktop web browser with a mouse and keyboard. Since 10 October 2026 it also has proper touch controls for phones and tablets: pinch to zoom, two fingers to pan, and tap once to preview a building and again to build it. Phones held sideways (landscape) fit the screen. The walk-in 3D venues need a browser with WebGL, which almost every modern browser has.
- Can I play offline?
No. Blockline has no offline mode: your city is saved to your account as you play, so you need to be signed in and connected.
- How long is a day in the game?
An in-game day lasts 20 seconds, and there is a single game speed with no fast-forward. That is deliberately calm: a city grows over hours of play rather than minutes, and you have time to read what is happening before it runs away from you. The first-week devlog explains why.
- Why is my city paused?
There are three usual reasons:
- It is a new city. A new city starts paused. Press Space or the play button (tap ▶ on a touch screen) to start the clock.
- The Mayor's Computer is open. By default the city pauses while you are at the computer, so nothing gets away from you while you read. You can resume from the taskbar for that visit, or change it in Settings › Pause the city.
- You were away. If nobody touches the game for an hour while the clock is running, it pauses itself and asks whether you are still there. Resume to carry on.
- How do saves work? Can I lose my progress?
The game saves automatically as you play, to your account; you can also save straight away from Settings › Saving on the Mayor's Computer. Because saves live on the server, clearing your browser data does not delete your city, and you can carry on from another computer by signing in.
If you play the same city on two devices and one of them has a newer save, the game stops saving rather than overwrite it, and Settings › Saving lets you choose between keeping the city in front of you and loading the newer one.
- Can I have more than one city?
Your account holds one city at a time. Starting a new city from the menu replaces your current one, which is deleted from your account, so the game asks you to press the button a second time to confirm.
- Can I play in more than one tab?
Yes. One tab runs the city and saves it, and any other tabs you open follow along and send your actions to it, so you could keep the map in one tab and the Mayor's Computer in another. If you close the tab that is in charge, another one takes over. Pausing in one tab pauses them all.
- Why isn't my city growing?
Usually it is one of a few things: no power, water or sewage on a street, not enough jobs (or not enough workers), low desirability, or too little demand for a zone. The Problems app on the Mayor's Computer lists what is holding the city back, most urgent first. The why isn't my city growing? guide goes through each cause and its fix.
- What is the charter?
The charter is Blockline's campaign: eight chapters that take a settlement from its first streets to a lasting metropolis. Each chapter sets goals, pays a grant when you complete it, and unlocks new buildings. See the charter for every chapter and what it unlocks.
- What is a walk-in venue?
A few special buildings, one of each per city, can be entered. The Police HQ, City Hospital, City Prison and Music Venue each replace the map with a 3D building when you go inside, and each has its own computer and mini-games. What you decide inside changes the city outside. The venues guide covers all four.
- Is there multiplayer?
Not at the moment: each city is played on its own. The Trade Center currently trades only with the Blockline Government exchange, and the game itself says that trading with other mayors arrives with multiplayer. There is no date for that yet; announcements will appear in this devlog and on the Discord server.
- How do I report a bug or give feedback?
The quickest way is the Blockline Discord server. You can also email hello@blockline.city. It helps to say what you were doing, what you expected and what happened, and which browser and device you were using.
- Does this site use cookies or show ads?
Yes. The website and the game show ads served by Google AdSense, which helps pay for the servers, and Google may use cookies to do so. The game also needs a sign-in session to know who you are. The privacy policy has the details.
- How do I delete my account and data?
Email hello@blockline.city from the address you signed up with and ask for your account and your city to be deleted. The privacy policy explains what is stored and your rights over it.
- Who makes Blockline?
Blockline is made by an independent developer in the United Kingdom. There is no publisher behind it. You can read more about Blockline, or get in touch through the contact page.
- How do I find out what has changed?
Every notable update is written up in the devlog, with the reasons behind it. In the game, a short "What's new" card appears the next time you load the game after a new feature arrives, and the WHAT'S NEW button on the menu shows them all again.