Welcome to my guide for Shining Song Starnova: Idol Empire. I wrote this guide to give players an idea of what to do and when as the mechanics and game play can be somewhat confusing or frustrating early on. This guide is contains detailed information on almost all aspects of the game including general information, game play mechanics as well as hints and tips.

I've tried to keep spoilers to an absolute minimum.

Idol Empire is a great game and an awesome way to get more of the Starnova girls, as well as some new faces! And without further ado, onto the guide...

WE ARE STARNOVA!


(Guide updated for game version 1.1.1.1)


24-May-2020

• Fixed incorrect info listed for the Research Lab
  
• Updated the Hotkeys section

There are four main mechanics to the gameplay of Idol Empire as well as several related sub-mechanics. This section covers the basics and there are separate sections for the main game mechanics.


Idol Empire has two main difficulty levels, for both the simulation itself and the Lives. These can be adjusted in the Options screen. Regardless of difficulty certain things (stats, song quality, etc.) will still determine success or failure. You can still fail Jobs on any difficulty, still perform badly at Lives, etc. Adjust the difficulty to suit your tastes. You want the game to be fun, not frustrating. There's no shame in lowering the difficulty, or jacking it up.

The simulation difficulty controls KN generation (income from Songs, Sales, etc.), Popularity generation (from Songs, etc.), frequency of Scandals and Fanquakes as well as Events, and the thresholds for when they occur.

The Live difficulty controls Hype generation, how many bubbles appear, as well as how fast they move towards the stage. In addition, higher difficulty levels put more emphasis on the quality of the songs.


Cash is the probably one of the most important factors in entertainment. In Idol Empire, cash is your main resource. With it you build facilities (rooms), buy decorations, hire and pay your Idols and more. You gain money from Jobs, Songs, Lives, merchandise sales, events and even some furniture. You need a steady source of income to prevent going bankrupt. No money means game over.


Decorations are furniture and wall/floor styles. Your DEC level determines the types of Jobs you are offered. Almost all decorations increase this level, beyond the very basic of basics. DEC has no other effects beyond Jobs.


During the game certain Events can occur. These Events will pop up a screen, telling you to choose wisely. There's two choices each with various positive/negative effects. You have to chose one as Events cannot be ignored. They're generally pretty useful but some can be worthless or downright painful depending on the effects. You can see any active Events (and their effects) on the game clock (the !!! button under the trophy).


Stalkers come with Popularity (Fame + Infamy) and will occur more often the higher the Popularity. You will never be able to avoid Stalkers, in fact they will just become more common as you progress. The Security Office will handle Stalkers automatically, provided you have enough security guards. You do not want Stalkers to get your girls. The hit to their Popularity and Mood is very high and can quickly cause the Idol to develop Conditions.


Scandals are based off of Pure and Popularity (Fame + Infamy). You will never be able to avoid Scandals as they are directly related to Popularity. You can reduce the frequency of Scandals by keeping Pure high and Infamy low. The Shredder (furniture, electronics section) can help, so place one in the Producer's Office. Also one of the Idols has abilities to minimize the effects of Scandals. You should build a Legal Department as soon as any Scandals pop up. The hit to Fame, Infamy and Mood from a Scandal can be disastrous.


Fanquakes are based off of Pure and Infamy. If an Idols Pure is low and/or her Infamy is higher than her Fame your fans will riot and cause a Fanquake. This will stop all rooms from functioning, thus stopping the girls from using them. It will also destroy furniture in the office. Fanquakes can never be totally avoided but you can minimize them. Keep an eye on your Idols Infamy and deal with it. Sending them on a Vacation (Jobs) can drop Infamy, as well as the PR Department. If all else fails, try getting their Fame higher than Infamy. Finally, there is also some furniture (Unlockable) that can help deal with the Fanquakes.

Training and practice is part of the daily grind for an Idol. They need to improve their abilities if they're going to blow out Lives and attract hordes of adoring fans. Generally, in the Idol Industry, all Idols have quite rigorous and lengthy training schedules. As a Producer, it's your job to make sure they stay on top of their training!

All free time, while not on Jobs or during preparation for Lives, should be spent training. Depending on how you approach the early game what stats you focus on may be different. However, with limited cash flow you're more than likely just going to be starting with Dance, Sing and Persona.

Below you'll find detailed information on each stat as well as scheduling suggestions. For more detailed information on all the stats, see the Idol Stats section.


As a Producer, your primary task is making these girls successful. That takes a lot of work and juggling, however, so you should use the tools at your disposal to make your job easier and more efficient. I cannot stress enough just how important and useful the Master Scheduler is! Learn to write a schedule and automate as much as you can, so you can focus on other tasks.

During the early to late mid game sections of play the Master Scheduler is great. Towards the late game, however, it can be kind of limited as you have so much you can have your Idols do. That's where Automatic Training comes in.

While you can set the five main stats to Automatic Training, I'd suggest you didn't do that. Idols will still try to train in full rooms (and thus stand around wasting time) and some of them have poor skills when it comes to their own well-being. For example, Aki will absolutely work herself to death. That's just her personality.

I'd suggest you use Automatic Training as a complement to the Master Scheduler. You could, for example, set Dance and Sing to Automatic and then use the Master Scheduler to fill in the rest, such as the Cafeteria or Event Room.

Note: While you can set Looks to automatic, your Idols will not use the Cafeteria. They will, instead, use the Makeup Room. This can be a waste of time and money and should be avoided. Currently, as of game version 1.1.0.1, this is by design.

Note: Automatic Training only works if the girls are idle, meaning not doing anything. If you set automatic training but then fill her schedule, she'll never have any idle time and won't train.

Note: If set to automatic, your Idols will train according to their own personality. This can be bad as some Idols don't know when to quit and will overwork themselves. Some are also lazy.



Sing is a major factor for Song Quality and as such, with limited early game options, this should be a focus from the beginning. Sing is something you should always train, unless you're focused primarily on a Jobs-oriented game loop. Mariya has Sing and Song related Center abilities so she's a good choice for Center when you need to focus on that. Aki's Center abilities make all girls train Sing faster.

Sing should be trained daily.



Dance, in the very early game, isn't a primary concern. However, with limited cash and facilities, it just makes sense to use any extra free time training it. Dance does influence Song Quality when you record a song that includes a PV. It can give your songs a good boost to quality when you make a PV. Aki's Center abilities make all girls train Dance faster.

Dance should be trained daily.



Persona is an indicator of personality and that directly affects the success rate of Jobs. It's not an immediate concern in the early game as you're more than likely to fail Jobs anyway as everyone's starting stats are generally low. It is trainable at a Tier 1 facility so it's something you can start training as soon as you build a Personal Coach. If you're focusing on Jobs, it's absolutely necessary.

I'd recommend everyone train this at least once a week (twice for those with very low starting Persona) and as your budget permits. The Personal Coach does come with an upkeep cost so over training this early can hurt your cash flow. Aki's Center abilities make all girls train Persona faster.



A major part of being an Idol is how attractive the Idol is, so Looks are definitely an important factor. However, early on, it's something you can ignore. You have access to the Makeup Room, a Tier 1 facility, from the start. So when you really need a boost in Looks (Jobs, Lives) you can just use the Makeup Room. You should start training Looks in the late part of the early game or mid game. Idols can develop the Eating Disorder condition if they eat too often, so I'd recommend at least once a week to start with.

See the Tips section for more information on tweaking your Cafeteria schedule. Also, Julie's Center abilities give huge boost to Makeup (specifically the Makeup Room) and can be a huge help early on.



HP is your Idol's Stamina, and as such, determines how much she will be able to do before resting. It also directly affects performance at Lives, and can be a huge help with difficult songs or long set lists. HP can only be trained at a Cafeteria that's set to Power Protein and as such is a late early game or mid game focus. Again, Idols can develop the Eating Disorder condition if they eat too often so I'd recommend just once a week to start with.

You can safely alternate between Looks and HP (diet greens/power protein) training in the same week. Just space out the days that you schedule the Cafeteria. Natsuki's Center abilities grant some HP regeneration to the girls so she's a useful Center if you need a boost with your HP management. See the Tips section for more information on tweaking your Cafeteria schedule.

Jobs are a good way to make money as well as increase Popularity. You don't have to do any Jobs as they are all optional (some stages may require you to complete jobs). Completing Jobs will give you Fame, Infamy, Pure and/or KN.


There are four main categories for Jobs and the type of Jobs you get offered directly relates to your DEC (decoration) level. Buy more furniture and/or redecorate rooms to increase DEC.

• Sleazy - these Jobs are pervy or questionable jobs such as Alcohol/Tobacco ads, Gravure, Photobooks and Softcore. They might get you cash but the cost to Pure isn't worth it. I'd suggest you decline these jobs unless you really need the cash.
  
• Regular - low risk/reward jobs that aren't sleazy. Grocery Store ads, Voter Registration and such. They provide some cash and popularity but they're generally not worth the time and HP it takes to complete them.
  
• Business - medium risk/reward jobs that pay fairly well. These are jobs like Magazine Interview, Travel Show Guest, etc. Generally worth the time and effort to complete.
  
• Executive - high risk/high reward jobs that pay well both in terms of money and popularity. Television Drama, Movie Role and Cruise Entertainer are prime examples.

All of your Idol's can take any Job, however they will like or dislike certain Jobs based off of their personality. When you select a Job, the Idols expressions and the ring around their portrait will change. This is the same as their overall Mood. Red/Orange means dislike. Gray is neutral. Green/blue is like (or really like). Assigning Idols to Jobs they like will increase their Mood, while sending them on Jobs they dislike will decrease their Mood.


All Jobs have requirements, from just time to Persona, Looks, Pure, and/or HP. Job success/failure is based directly off of these requirements. Success is determined by the Idol you send on the Job meeting the requirements for it. If your Idol doesn't meet the requirements, she will fail the Job and incur the penalties listed in the Risks section.

Some requirements are listed as Loss/Cost. This means that you will have to pay the Loss/Cost regardless of success or failure. HP Loss isn't a big deal as it means the Job will use up more HP than normal. Pure and Infamy Loss isn't good, however, and should be avoided as much as possible. Some of the higher rewarding jobs are still worth the Infamy loss, though. Please note that while Infamy may be listed as Loss or Cost, in either event Infamy will be added to that Idol's Popularity.

Requirements are listed in values such as Low, Medium and High. There's no actual numbers listed so there's some ambiguity here. Generally, and I do mean generally, the stat requirements are as follows:

• Low - below 17
  
• Medium - from 17-24
  
• High - 25 and higher

If an Idol fails a Job she will incur the penalties listed in the Risks section. The amount she will incur depends on the type of Job (better jobs have harsher penalties) as well as her stats. The higher her stats, the more penalties she will incur.

Risks are listed with values such as Low, Medium and High. These are somewhat ambiguous as they're directly related to the type of Job and the Idol's stats. Certain Jobs have additional conditions which, if not met, will incur more extreme penalties. These conditions are listed in the Job description. As an example, some Jobs will incur higher Infamy if an Idol with high Pure fails the Job.


All Jobs offer Benifits, or rewards, for successful completion and the better quality Jobs offer better rewards (and usually have higher risks, too). Benefits, like Risks, are listed as Low, Medium or High. And as with Risks the amount of rewards is based off the quality of the Job as well as the Idols stats. Higher stats will get you better rewards. Some Jobs will offer Benefits even if you fail the Job.

Job Benefits can include KN, Fame and Pure. Certain Jobs will have conditions that will award additional benefits. These are listed in the Job description. For example, a Job might offer more KN if an Idol with high Pure completes it successfully.

Music and thus, Songs, are a major part of the Idol industry. Songs are a good source of income and are required for Lives. You can't go wrong with Songs and Lives when trying to make your girls popular and wealthy. This can be especially helpful in the early game as your Idols are more than likely to fail often at Jobs, whereas you cannot fail Songs.

You make Songs with a Recording Booth and an Audio Engineering Room.

There are several levels to Song Quality starting from the lowest at E, to the highest at SSS. The Song Quality determines four things:

• The amount of money (KN) the Song generates
  
• The amount of Popularity the Song generates
  
• The amount of Hype the Song will generate at Lives
  
• The overall difficulty of performing the Song at Lives.

Song Quality is based off of three things:

• Song Maker
  
• The performing Idol(s) Sing stat
  
• The performing Idol(s) Dance stat if you choose to record a PV (promotional video) for the song.

Early on you won't be able to afford PV's, or at least the expensive ones. Don't ignore PV's, however, as they can give a major boost to Song Quality. Once you are able to afford them I definitely recommend using them as much as you can.

PV's can provide additional benefits to the Song. They will increase the overall Quality of the song, generate Fame and Pure, as well as Infamy. Infamy is only generated for Fan Service PV's and is relatively low. Shrine PV's are a good way to generate Pure. There are several Idols that have abilities related to improving PV's.


Tip: While you can select any number of Idols to record a Song, early on you should use all of your Idols. More performers means more Hype, KN and Fame will be generated as well as lowering the overall difficulty of the performance.

Your Idols are all really about performances and entertainment. Lives are a great way to boost everyone's Popularity as well as make some really good cash. You need to have recorded at least three (3) Songs to perform a Live and you can perform as many as twelve (12) during a Live.


Your Idols performance at, and rewards from, Lives comes down to five main factors. Optimizing these factors will help you sell out and blow out Lives.

• Venue - the Venue determines the money, Popularity and overall difficulty in performing. Larger venues will generate more rewards but the difficulty is higher and the fans will demand higher Quality songs at larger venues.
  
  
• Ticket Sales - your performing Idols overall Popularity determines how quickly the tickets will sell. Sales also determine your final rewards with Popularity and money generated. You should aim to sell out all your Lives!
  
  
• Hype - while your Idols perform they will generate Hype. The Song Quality and size of the venue, as well as their actual performance, will determine how much Hype is generated. The Hype is an overall indicator of the success of the Live. High Hype is what you're aiming for. Larger venues require higher quality Songs to generate good Hype.
  
  
• Songs - the Songs you perform determine the Hype during a Live and Hype determines the amount of cash you get as well as Popularity. Song Quality is important here. Low quality songs won't generate much Hype, but are easier to perform. Higher quality songs will increase Hype more quickly but can be considerably harder to perform. The song quality also affects how quickly your Idols HP drains during a Live.
  
  
• Stats - your Idol's stats (HP/Sing/Dance/Persona/Looks) directly affect their performance at Lives, so if your Idols aren't performing well (pop bubbles too slowly or run out of HP) then you need to train them more.

The format for Lives is simple. As your Idols are performing, bubbles will appear from the crowd
and move toward the stage. Each bubble represents a stat (Dance/Sing/Persona/Looks) and your Idols will try to pop those bubbles based off of their own stats. Higher stats means the bubbles get popped faster. The more you pop and the faster you do so increases your Hype. As your Idols pop these bubbles they will consume HP.

Furthermore, if a bubble hits the stage one of the Idols will take a tumble and she will not pop
any bubbles until she gets back up. Taking a fall will decrease Hype and HP and should be
avoided. Finally, if your Idol runs out of HP she will no longer be able to pop any bubbles.

Doing well in a Live (keeping Hype high) will make the fans buy single-use glowsticks (UO) and you get cash for each one they buy. The size of the venue determines how much cash you get for each UO.


Once you've reached Tier 2 facilities you can build a Research Lab. The lab allows you to build and use some Stage Effects which can help increase performance and Hype during Lives. There are four (4) Stage Effects that you can use, one of which is free while the rest do cost some KN to use. They are as follows:

• Small Fireworks - this is the most basic of Stage Effects and doesn't require the Lab to use. You can click your mouse anywhere in the crowd to pop some bubbles. Doesn't generate Hype but it's extremely helpful in preventing bubbles from hitting the stage. Unlimited uses provided you have enough KN to pay for it. Cost increases by 50-150 KN per use, depending on the difficulty level.
  
• Spotlight - this unlocks automatically when you build the Research Lab and is free to use. Shining the Spotlight on an Idol will increase her performance, thus popping bubbles faster.
  
• Heal Canister - allows you to heal some HP during Lives. Heals 60 HP per use, costs 300 KN each and you can have a max of 9 (per Research Lab).
  
• Mother of all Glowsticks - when used, you will set off a massive fireworks display which will pop all bubbles on the screen for a few seconds as well as generate Hype! Costs 1,000 KN and you can only have 1 (per Research Lab).

Lives generate rewards based on your performance, or Hype, and ticket sales. The higher the both of these are, the higher your rewards will be.

Lives will generate money and Popularity. This includes Infamy, however, the gains on Infamy are generally very low unless you end with low Hype or your girls fall too often.

Finally, you will also sometimes be rewarded a Golden Onsen Ticket if you hold a blow-out Live (end with very high Hype). This ticket, when activated, sends your girls to the Onsen for some rest and relaxation. It (oddly enough) doesn't take any time to complete. It will restore all Idol's HP as well as cure some conditions.

If you get a ticket, it will be displayed next to the game clock. Click and hold the button to send everyone to the Onsen.

There are several stats that affect many things. Jobs, Lives, Song Quality, etc. are all determined by stats. You can improve stats by having your Idols train in the related room. Your stats are very important in determining success or failure in most cases and will be a main focus during play.

This section deals entirely with the main stats. Conditions and Mood are covered in the next section.


Can be trained in the Cafeteria
HP can be recovered in the Break Room
Stamina. Nearly everything your Idols do uses HP. Jobs, training, Lives, etc. As your Idols go about their tasks, their HP will drop. If their HP drops too low they will be Overworked and slow down drastically. This can cause additional Conditions and injuries.

Training HP can be expensive as the Cafeteria has an upkeep cost. Also, as with Looks, you can trigger the Eating Disorder Condition on an Idol which gives a -7 hit to Looks. It's safe to train at least once a week, however you can train more if you do it right. See the Tips section for more info on that.

Some Idols abilities will help with HP as well. You can also set your Idols to use the Break Room when they need to by clicking the HP bar in their info box.


This stat reflects the Idols overall Purity. It reflects how "wholesome" an Idol is and has various effects that can be either good or bad. You want to keep Pure as high as possible, though. Some Jobs will give Pure as a reward and one Idol has a center ability to generate Pure. There's also an unlockable that generates Pure.

Pure can be a negative as well. Low Pure leads to more Infamy and more frequent Scandals. Some Jobs will give you harsher penalties if an Idol with high Pure fails the job. There's also an Event that will negatively affect Idols with low Pure.


Your Idols Popularity is based off of their Fame and Infamy. As they say in the entertainment industry, there is no bad publicity. Popularity determines many things, including Song sales, Live Ticket sales, fans, etc. With higher Popularity also comes some negatives as the amount of Stalkers and Scandals increases with it. However we're striving to have the best Idol unit of all time, so we need to get this high!

Popularity is very important. Sometimes you might need to take a hit to Infamy to get your Popularity up. It's a balancing act, for sure, but sometimes the ends justify the means.


This is the positive publicity you get. Fame increases from Jobs, Song sales, Live performances, the PR Department and some other Events. Fame is the more important aspect of Popularity, as it's positive. The battle for managing Popularity comes down to keeping Fame higher than Infamy, but they're still two sides to the same coin.

Fame is fleeting and will decrease over time. Idols can generate some fame automatically if they are made the Center.


This is the negative publicity you get. It does directly relate to your Idols Popularity, though. Infamy comes from failing Jobs and you can get it from Lives as well as Scandals, Stalkers, and certain other Events. It's nearly impossible to avoid Infamy but you should do what you can to keep it low.

Infamy will increase the rate of Scandals and too much Infamy will make your fans to riot and cause a Fanquake, which will damage your office. Some Idols are more prone to Infamy than others. Several Idols have Center abilities for dealing with Infamy.


Can be trained at the Vocal Studio
The Sing stat determines the Song Quality and the Idols performances at Lives. The Sing stat should be trained early on as Songs are a great source of income, especially in the early game. Sing, along with Dance, should be trained often.

You can trigger the Hoarse Throat Condition from forcing your girls to sing too much, so be aware of that. It's not likely to happen, though, unless you make them train nonstop without alternating tasks or stopping for rest. Training Sing once a day won't trigger the condition.

Aki and Mariya both have Center abilities related to Sing and Songs.


Can be trained at the Dance Studio
Your Idols Dance stat relates to their athleticism and will directly affect the Song Quality. Dance also affects performance at Lives and as such should be trained often, along with Sing. You should be careful not to overwork your Idols while training Dance as they can get injuries if their HP falls to low.

Dance will only affect Song Quality when you record a song with a PV. Early on you may not be able to afford PV's, but you should not neglect them or Dance. Dance can give a very good boost to the Song Quality when made with a PV.

Aki's Center abilities can help train everyone in Dance faster. There's also some furniture you can add to your Dance Studio to increase the training speed.


Can be trained at the Personal Coach
Persona is the personality of the Idol and relates to how personable they are, social skills, etc. Persona is critical for success when completing Jobs and is also a factor in performance at Lives. You should train Persona as soon as you can afford it, as the Personal Coach does have an upkeep cost.

Training Persona may seem like it's mission critical, but it's really not, unless you're focusing on Jobs. It can be expensive to train in the early game, and if you're just focusing on Songs and Lives, it's not as important as Sing and Dance. You shouldn't neglect Persona, however. I'd recommend training at least once a week.

Aki's Center abilities will help with Persona training.


Can be trained at the Cafeteria and a temporary boost is available at the Makeup Room
Looks is the overall physical attractiveness of the Idol. In the Idol Industry and the entertainment industry as a whole, Looks are extremely important. Looks are critical for success when completing most Jobs and they also affect the performance at Lives.

Training Looks can be expensive, as the Cafeteria has an upkeep cost. Also eating in the Cafeteria too often will trigger the Eating Disorder Condition which will hit the Idol with -7 to Looks, which is huge.

You should limit the use of the Cafeteria to about once a week, however with some tweaks, you can train up to three times a week. See the Tips section for more info on that.

Finally, Julie has Center abilities that deal entirely with Looks and give some huge boosts to this stat.

While these stats are no less important than the core stats, Condition and Mood really only directly relate to your Idols ability or desire to do the tasks you assign them. Some Conditions can affect things like performance at Lives, but they're not on the same level as the core stats, as Conditions can either be trivial or devastating.


Your Idols happiness and overall well-being is important. Mood will affect your Idols in many ways and can trigger negative Conditions. You can tell your Idols Mood by looking at their portrait on the left side of the screen. There are several levels to mood indicated by the color of the ring around the portrait as well as the expression the Idol has on her face. The mood ranges from Angry (red), Unhappy (orange), Neutral (gray), Happy (Green) and Very Happy (Blue). Conditions will start occurring while the mood is Unhappy or Angry.

You can improve Mood easily simply by paying your Idols well and sending them on Jobs they like.
There are also some Events that will give a boost to Mood. Keep Stalkers from attacking your girls and handle Scandals with a Lawyer when they occur. Stalkers and Scandals will negatively affect mood if they are not dealt with.

Finally, Mood will affect the use of NOVA's. You need to keep their Mood at Happy (green) or above to charge their NOVA.


Most Negative (red) Conditions can be cured in the Sickbay
Conditions are like status effects for Idols. They can be positive or negative and some Idols start with Conditions. Positive Conditions will have a blue icon, while negative Conditions will have a red icon. These icons can be viewed from the Idol Info box.

Conditions are related to injuries and Mood. Low Mood (orange/red) will cause Conditions. Overworking your Idols (draining all their HP) will cause injuries and possibly trigger additional Conditions. You generally want to avoid most Conditions, however some can be easily managed by keeping your Idols Mood high and making sure you don't overwork them.

You can see what effects the Condition has by hovering your mouse over the icon in the Idol Info box. Please note that some Conditions, such as Chemical Dependency and Yandere, cannot be cured in the Sickbay.

Here's a list of the Conditions your Idols can have and if they're curable or not (and where).

All Idols have passive abilities they can use while they're set as the Center of the unit. These abilities provide buffs to various things like training speed, Fame/Pure generation, HP regeneration and much more. They also have an Ultimate Technique, known as a NOVA, that they can use at any time (as long as it's charged).

For more detailed information on each Idols Abilities and NOVA's, you may refer to my Map to the Idols guide.


All Idols have passive abilities they will use while they are the Center of the unit. Anyone can be Center and you can change the Center at any time through the Manage Idols screen. These abilities are extremely helpful and you should always have an Idol set as center.

You can see what abilities the Idol has, and her learning progress, by hovering over the Set Center button on the Manage Idols screen as well as through the Hire Idols screen.

While an Idol is Center, she will automatically gain experience over time (1 EXP per day) and level up her Center abilities. While she is learning the ability, it is not active. Once she's leveled up the ability becomes active automatically. For example, once the Idol reaches level 2, her level 1 skill becomes active and she starts learning the level 2 skill.

Finally, leveling up your Center or performing certain feats with them will unlock special furniture under the Unlockables section. These decorations give a good (sometimes great) boost to your DEC value as well as bestowing some very useful passive abilities.

Please note that these abilities are only in effect when the Idol is set as the Center.


All Idols have an Ultimate Technique, called a NOVA. While their mood is Happy (green) or above, the Idol will charge her NOVA. This is displayed as the blue bar beneath the Idols HP bar on the left side of the screen. Once it's charged, you can click the HP/NOVA bar to activate it. You can also press Space while the Idol is selected to activate.

NOVA's are powerful abilities that grant bonuses for a limited amount of time. Some abilities regenerate all Idols HP quickly, increase movement speed and much more. You can see what each Idols NOVA does in the Hire Idols screen.

You can customize your hotkeys from the Options menu, under the Controls section. Here's the list of the default settings.

• O - decrease game speed (one step at a time)
  
• P - increase game speed (one step at a time)
  
• F5 - Quicksave
  
• F9 - Quickload
  
• F6 - toggle Fullscreen/Windowed mode
  
• Arrow Keys - move camera
  
• Q - zoom camera in
  
• E - zoom camera out
  
• ESC - Pause game

• A - toggle automatic training/resting for stats (HP/Sing/Dance/Persona)
  
• I - move Idol
  
• L - loop current task queue
  
• DEL - delete current/active task
  
• BACKSPACE - delete task at end of queue
  
• SPACE - activates NOVA
  
• SHIFT + Right Click facility - inserts task at beginning of task queue

• 1 - set schedule to Override
  
• 2 - set schedule to Queue
  
• 3 - set schedule to Insert
  
• 4 - set schedule to Ignore

• Z or Middle Click - Rotate
  
• CTRL - (hold) snap to grid, allows for more uniform placement
  
• SHIFT - (hold) place multiple copies of the selected item
  
• Right Click - cancel placement

• M - move furniture
  
• D - delete furniture

These buttons control nearly every aspect of the game and will be used quite frequently.

1. Build Room - this is where you select what rooms/facilities you want to build.
   
2. Buy Furniture - here's where you can purchase and place furniture. Furniture increases your DEC level, which determines what kind of job offers you get. High DEC is good.
   
3. Redecorate - you can apply new styles to walls and floors with this. You can use it to customize your office however you like, plus redecorating adds some DEC as well.
   
4. Hire Idol - all unlocked Idols are available for hire at any time and here's where you do it. You can also view Idol stats, Center abilities and NOVA information here.
   
5. Manage Idols - very important section. You set your Idol's pay here, choose who will be Center and you can set their schedules with the Master Scheduler. The scheduler might seem daunting at first, but it's absolutely necessary for reducing micromanaging.
   
6. Song List - you can view information on all the songs you've recorded, including the Idols performing the song and how much money you've made off the song.
   
7. Set Live - put on a Live performance here. This is where you select which venue your Idols will perform at. Once a venue is selected you will have either 50 or 20 hours to prepare for the Live and sell tickets. After the times up you can then select which songs will be performed.
   
8. Finances - there's a lot of information here about all your finances. You can see a breakdown of all your income and expenses. Black numbers are profit, red numbers are expenses. You can also buy and sell stocks here.
   
9. KN - this is your currently available cash on hand. This can go in the negative and once you get to -5,000 KN you'll automatically sell a stock to cover your expenses. Sell all your stocks and it's game over.
   
10. DEC - decoration value. Your job offers are determined by how good (or bad) your office looks and this number represents that. Higher DEC is usually always better.
    
11. Stocks - the number of stocks you have (max 4). Pink stocks are owned, gray are not. You can buy and sell Stocks from the Finances screen. If you run out of stocks and KN, it's game over.
    
12. Game Speed - these buttons control the game speed and are (from left to right) pause, half speed, normal speed, double speed (2x normal) and quad speed (4x normal).

Your Idols are listed on the left side of the screen for easy access. Clicking an Idols portrait allows you to see their info as well as give them orders.

Their expressions and the color of the ring around their portraits displays their mood (here they are all neutral), while a list of tasks they have queued is shown to the right of their portrait. Below their task list is their HP/NOVA bar.

When an Idol is selected you can click their HP/NOVA bar, or press SPACE, to activate their NOVA.

The game clock shows the current day of the week and the time (days are 8 AM to 6 PM).

1. The gear button allows you to access the game options.
2. The trophy button displays your current objective (if any) if you hover your mouse over it.
3. This button shows you any active events. These events are results of you making a choice when prompted and shows you what effects are in place (i.e.: girls need the break room more, song sales are up, etc.).
4. This is the overall mood of all your Idols. You can hover over it to see more detailed information.

This box displays various bits of information about the Idol, including her stats, popularity, any conditions she might have and some buttons for finer tuning of her task queue, schedule, finances and thoughts.

The buttons along the bottom (from left to right) are Move Idol, which allows you to pick an Idol up and drop here somewhere else in the office. Next up is Loop Current Orders, which will have your Idol repeat the tasks they already have queued up. Then we have three buttons to delete tasks from their queue. The first button deletes the current task. The next button deletes the last task in the queue. The third button deletes all tasks from the queue. Finally there's the Center Camera on Idol which will, as it says, bring the view to the selected Idol.

You can also click HP (next to the HP bar) or the individual Dance/Sing/Persona/Looks buttons to activate automatic training/resting. The Idol will then automatically train stats or rest according to her personality. You may have to do some work to get certain Idols to cooperate.

Please note that while you can set Looks to automatically train, this will cause your Idol's to use the Makeup Room, not the Cafeteria. Currently this is by design (as of game version 1.1.0.1).

Here you can modify your Idol's weekly schedule as well as set their behavior regarding their schedule (buttons along the bottom).

You can click any day of the week and then a room/facility to schedule that facility in the time slot you clicked. Most tasks take 3 hours, that's why the schedule is blocked out like that. You can get finer control over the times with the Master Scheduler. If you hold Shift while you click a facility, it will add the facility to the time slot for the whole week.

The buttons along the bottom dictate how your Idol will react to her schedule. Override will delete their current task (if any) and start the scheduled task for that time slot. Queue will add the scheduled task to the end of their task queue. Insert will force the scheduled task to the front of the queue and the current (and remaining) tasks will continue after the scheduled task concludes. Finally, Ignore tells the Idol to completely disregard her schedule. This is especially useful when preparing for Jobs or Lives.

Hint: You can use the keys 1, 2, 3 and 4 to set the schedule to Override, Queue, Insert and Ignore respectively.

Your Idol's financial information and performance is listed in this box. At the top you can set their pay with the + and - buttons. Along the bottom you can select the current week to view, or the total lifetime finances of the selected Idol.

This is a complete breakdown, by week, of what kind of money your Idol is making (or losing). Overall you want your Idols to be making a positive profit and with this information you may be able to fine tune some aspects of her daily life to get that done.

The left side of the box lists total income for each item. Jobs, Songs, Events (Event Room), Lives, Merchandise (Sales Department) and Other. Revenue is the total amount of these combined.

The right side lists expenses and total profit at the bottom. Wages, Legal (Scandals), Medical (Sickbay) and Others. Expenses lists your total expenses.

Profit is your total income (or loss) which uses this formula: Revenue - Expenses = Profit.

Using this screenshot as an example, our profit is -100 KN. This is because the Idol has no income (Revenue), but we still have to pay her wages, so we're losing money on her. Better get her to work!

Hint: Right-click the + and - buttons for Pay to increase/decrease the value by 50.

The Manage Idols screen is where you can adjust each Idols Wages, make an Idol the Center and set their schedule with the Master Scheduler.

This section is going to focus on just the first half of the screen, the next section of this guide is about the Master Scheduler.

1. This shows the names of your hired Idols.
   
2. This is your Idols wages (how much they get paid). You can use the + or - keys to increase or decrease their wages. You can also right-click to increment by 50 KN, instead of the normal 10 KN.
   
3. Satisfaction here relates to their Wages, not their Mood. However, if their satisfaction is Happy (green) or higher, it will positively influence their Mood. Likewise, if their satisfaction is Unhappy (orange) or lower, it will negatively influence their Mood.
   
4. This shows each Idols Popularity rating. Your Idols will demand more Wages the higher their Popularity.
   
5. Finally we have the Set Center button. Hovering over this button will show you what abilities the Idol has when she's set as Center. Idols gain EXP towards Center abilities automatically while they're set as the Center.

Hint: Increasing Satisfaction here (by increasing her wages) until it shows Happy (green) or higher will give a boost to that Idol's Mood.

Hint: Don't forget to always have someone set as the Center. Center abilities are very useful!

The Master Scheduler is a great tool you should use to keep your Idols daily lives scheduled. Just queuing up a bunch of tasks and setting them to repeat is all fine and well if you only have one or two Idols. However, with more Idols and more things to do, micromanaging their schedules is not an efficient use of your time.

With that in mind, you can just use the Master Scheduler to set all the daily tasks you want your Idols to perform and then forget about it.

The Master Scheduler is part of the Manage Idols screen and shows you the schedule for all of your Idols by day. The arrow buttons on the left and right of the schedule let you switch the day.

Here you can set and view what tasks are scheduled for what Idol. The black bar running through the schedule indicates the current time of day. To schedule a task simply click the time slot, then click the facility you want them to use in the list that comes up.

If you hold the Control key you can fine tune when to start tasks. Please note that most tasks take exactly three (3) hours to complete (not including Jobs/Lives) so adjust your scheduling accordingly. In my opinion it's easier to just use the default time blocks.

One suggestion is to have a large enough Break Room so all your Idols can schedule the Break Room at the same time. This way you know exactly when everybody will be together and you can easily send them off on Jobs or record songs, etc.

Tier 1 facilities are basic and what you start with. Everything you need to get started is here with more advanced facilities in the later tiers.



Requires: Desk, chair and 2 sofas.
This is where the Jobs happen. You need a functioning Producer's Office to get Job offers.


Requires: At least one Makeup Table
Idols can apply makeup here to give a temporary boost to their Looks stat. There are three different levels of makeup you can use which can be changed via the drop-down on the room's info box. The first two levels, Eternal and Goddess have no cost. The third and highest level, Antionette, has a cost of 600 KN per use. You should use makeup when you need to give an Idol a boost to their Looks stat. For example, before a Job or a Live. There is an Idol that has abilities related to makeup if she is your center. This room has a daily upkeep cost.


Requires: At least one sofa
Your Idols can rest and relax here to recover their HP. You can add some optional furniture like vending machines which will give a slight increase to HP Regen inside the break room. You can have as many Idols use the Break Room as you have sofas. Each sofa can hold two Idols.


Requires: 2 chairs
Training Room. Idols will train their Persona stat here. This facility has an upkeep cost.


Requires: Attached Audio Engineering room and 1 Mic Stand
Your Idols will record Songs here. Songs are a good source of income, especially early on, and are required to hold Lives.


Requires: Attached Recording Room, sound board and 1 chair
This room is for your Song Makers. Here you select the Song you want to record, the Idols that will record/perform the song and the PV (promotional video), if any, you want to record. The Song Maker you choose, as well as all included Idols Sing stat determines the quality of the song. Furthermore, if you choose to record a PV, the Idols Dance stat will be used as well.


No requirements
Your Idols can train their Dance stat here. You can add some optional furniture to give the room a boost. Speakers, Yoga Mats/Balls, etc. The size of the room determines how many Idols can train at once.


No requirements
Your Idols train their Sing stat here. The size of the room determines how many Idols can train at once.

Tier 2 facilities have a one time cost of 7,000 KN to unlock and you should unlock them once Popularity gets around 200-300 per Idol (generally).



Requires: At least one hospital bed
This is a medical facility to treat any injuries and/or conditions your Idols may have. There's an upfront cost (KN) for treatment. Please note that some Conditions, such as Chemical Dependency and Yandere, cannot be cured in the Sickbay.


Requires: Buffet table, cafeteria table and at least 1 chair
Your Idols can train their HP or Looks stat here. You can choose what the room does by using the drop-down in the room's Info box. Idols can develop Eating Disorders if you make them eat too often. Once or twice a week is generally fine. You can have them eat up to three times a week if you alternate what they eat (Protein/Greens). This room has a daily upkeep cost.


Requires: At least 1 desk and 1 chair
This is where your security team hangs out. Security deals with Stalkers. Once your Idols become popular they will start getting stalked. You cannot avoid stalkers, they come with the territory for popular Idols. You can have as many security guards as you can afford. Each requires a desk and chair. This facility has an upkeep cost.


Requires: 1 lab station and 1 chair
This room is for Stage Effects which are directly related to Lives. You have to build the stage effects manually and they have an individual KN cost. These stage effects are very handy to have during difficult or lengthy Lives. The Research Lab unlocks the Spotlight which increases the performance of the Idol under the spotlight. You can build Heal Canisters to heal an Idols HP during the Live and finally you can build a Mother of all Glowsticks which pops all bubbles on the screen and generates Hype.


Requires: At least 1 desk and 1 chair
This room houses your sales team. They will sell Starnova-related merchandise to your fans. Items have a manufacturing cost. Your merchandise sales are directly related to your Idols overall Popularity. With that in mind, you should generally start small and increase what you manufacture as your Idols become more popular. You can have as many salesmen as you have desks and chairs.

Hint: The percentage listed above a salesman is how much stock is remaining. You want to keep this number as low as possible. If this stays above 1%, you're not selling out your merchandise which means you're losing money.

The Tier 3 facilities are advanced and require a one time cost of 10,000 KN to unlock. These facilities are invaluable in the mid to late game, especially the Legal Department. You should unlock this tier as soon as you get hit with any Scandals (but preferably as soon as you can afford to).



Requires: A valid training room
This isn't a room, but an upgrade. You can use it to upgrade any training room for 15,000 KN. You can upgrade the Vocal Studio, Dance Studio, Personal Coach and Cafeteria. This upgrade gives you two levels instead of one when the Idol levels up the related stat. This upgrade takes time and will display a + after the name of the room when complete.


Requires: 1 desk and 1 chair
Your Lawyer resides here. You can use your lawyer to sue the paparazzi that harass your Idols with Scandals. There's a KN cost to sue, but it's much better than the penalties from Scandals.


Requires: At least 1 desk and 1 chair
This is where your PR team does it's magic. You can either have them Hype up your Idols, which will increase Fame. Or they can be set to Damage Control, which will decrease Infamy. You can have as many on the team as you can afford. The PR team performs their job as needed and focuses on the Idol that needs the most attention in a given situation. They will automatically cycle through who they focus on as needed. Please note that Damage Control is expensive and will incur a high KN cost.


Requires: 1 stairwell, at least 1 event table
You can hold events here to generate money (KN). These are generally referred to as "meet and greet" or "handshake" events and offer your fans a chance to meet their favorite Idol. The fans will pay for this honor.

Assign an Idol in this facility and she will meet the fans and generate KN based on her Popularity. Fans come based on the Popularity of all your Idols, so the higher that is, the more fans that will pay just to touch an Idols hand.

The Event Room generates just over 1.1x the Idols Popularity per fan. For example, if an Idol has 1,000 Popularity, she will get just over 1,100 KN per fan.

There are a total of six (6) venues you can perform Lives at. Each has a different cost and reward associated with it. I've included all relevant information for each venue as well as a suggested combined Popularity rating to sell it out. I've also listed the lowest average Song Quality you can use (S.Lvl) to max out Hype during the Live (on Normal difficulty).


Note: The speed at which you sell tickets is based on all your Idols combined Popularity, regardless if they perform in the Live or not.

Note: Popularity is rewarded based on your final Hype level as well as the size of the venue. The cost of UO's is roughly equal to how much Popularity the venue will generate (provided you had very high ending Hype).



The Live House is the first venue you'll be able to use. It's got a low booking cost and low Popularity requirements. The Live House, like the Outdoor Stage, can host Guerilla Lives. This shortens your preparation time down to 20 hours from 50, but it's a good way to quickly generate a bit of extra KN or Popularity.



The Outdoor Stage is the next level up for venues. It's usually easy enough to get to after one or two Lives at the Live House. You can also do a Guerilla Live here. Nothing overly special about this venue but it's a good boost in rewards compared to the Live House.



This is your first "real" venue, as it's indoors and can seat a decent amount of people. While the Gymnasium is a stepping stone to Budokan, you can make some decent rewards here for the early game.



Budokan is a major early milestone in an Idol Unit's career. It's said that you've not become a "real" Unit until you've had a Live at Budokan. With it's max capacity of 7,000 this is a great late-early to mid game Live. You will need to do the Budokan a few times to level up to the next venue but, all around, it's a good venue.



While there are larger venues in Japan, the Tokyo Dome is the Holy Grail for Idol Units. It's seen as a major milestone to host a Dome Live and brings huge increases to Popularity with it. While you will have to hold several Dome Lives to level up to the final venue, the Stadium, it's an absolute beast for generating Popularity and KN.



The absolute largest venue you can perform at is the Stadium. It's expensive to book but, with a max capacity of 75,000 seats, you will absolutely kill it with Popularity and KN. This is not an easy venue to sell out at and, as such, your Popularity will have to be very high to even come close. This is your ultimate goal, the epitome of your success as an Idol Unit.



The Idol Grand Prix venue is where all the Battle of the Idols events take place and, as such, is a special venue. You cannot normally book this venue and you never have to worry about sales or selling out as that's automatic for the most part.

The sales you get from UO's varies from Story Mode to the Quasar Battles and it's generally around 350-650 KN per UO.

In this section I'll give some hints and tips that I've discovered. Please be aware that these are just my observations and suggestions. You may find a better way to do things and that's great. If you feel like sharing your thoughts and suggestions, leave a comment!

• Don't waste money on large rooms when you usually don't need it. Stagger out your scheduling so your Idols aren't all doing the same thing at once. Some stages are very restrictive on space so building smaller rooms is usually a plus either way.
  
  
• Need a quick KN boost in the early game? Sell that stock! You start with 2 Stocks which are worth 20,000 KN each. You can't sell your last Stock, but selling your second in the beginning can give a much-needed cash boost. Just be careful you don't run out of money.
  
  
• Manage your Idols Salary. You should keep your Idols paid so their Satisfaction (on the Manage Idols screen) is at least Neutral (gray) or higher. Paying them more increases their Mood, which you need so they'll charge their NOVA's. However, once their Mood is Happy (green) or higher, you can back their pay down a bit and their Mood will still stay (as long as you keep their Satisfaction Neutral).
  
  
• Don't hire too many Idols too soon. While it'll help increase your overall Popularity, remember each Idol requires wages which might end up costing you more than you can handle.
  
  
• Manage your Sales Department. Don't hire too many salesmen. Sales are based off of Popularity. If you see a number higher than 1% next to a salesman it means you're not selling out your merchandise. This means you're losing money.
  
  
• The Event Room is a great source of income, especially in the late game. Idols are paid 1.1x their Popularity for each fan they meet and with high enough overall Popularity, this room will stay packed. It's a money printing machine if done right. Start slow with a couple Idols per week then ramp up to daily as your fans increase.

• Make use of the Master Scheduler for your Idols. It will help you keep everyone busy and seriously cut down on micromanaging.
  
  
• Automatic training can be useful in addition to the Master Scheduler, or by itself. If you only have a few Idols and just the basic facilities, it's much easier to just set them on auto then to write an entire schedule. By the late game of a stage there may not be enough room in the Master Scheduler to have your Idols do everything. So you can then just set the basic training on automatic, which will free up some slots on the schedule. Do note, however, that automatic training only works if there's idle time. If the girl is busy all day, she won't have time to train anyway.
  
  
• Make sure you always have a Center set (from the Manage Idols screen). An Idols Center abilities are great passive buffs that can help you out in all stages of the game. You can switch Centers at any time so make sure you're taking advantage of this feature.

• Always have your Idols apply makeup before a Job or Live. This will help their success of a Job (if it requires Looks) and their performance at Lives.
  
  
• Save before you schedule a Live. If you're not selling enough tickets to sell out, reload and try a smaller venue. Also works if you sell out too fast, you can reload and select a larger venue.
  
  
• Don't put more Songs than your Idols can handle on the set list for Lives. If you're running out of HP too quickly, reduce the amount or quality of songs. Raising your Idol's stats higher will help pop bubbles faster and raising their HP will help them last longer during the Live.
  
  
• Add more Songs to your set list if you're not generating enough Hype. The quality of the song, as well as the size of the venue, determine Hype. Even lower quality songs can help though as overall, the more songs you perform, the more total Hype you will get.

• You can use the Cafeteria up to 3 times per week if you schedule it right. You should space out the days your Idols eat and alternate what they eat. They shouldn't get any Eating Disorders by doing it this way (sometimes you might pop one, just cure it and it shouldn't reappear). A good schedule is Monday, Wednesday, Friday. Have Looks (diet greens) on Monday and Friday with HP (protein) on Wednesday (or vice-versa).
  
  
• Control your Idol's Infamy. While Infamy can be somewhat positive, as it does increase Popularity, overall it has many negative effects. High Infamy will cause more frequent Scandals and Fanquakes. You can reduce Infamy by sending your Idols on Vacation (it's listed as a Job) or by having a PR Department set to Damage Control (it's expensive though).
  
  
• Control your Idol's Pure. The Pure stat will directly influence Scandals and Fanquakes. Low Pure, combined with high Infamy can be devastating. Avoid sleazy jobs and when you need a boost, the Hospital Visit or Temple Visit jobs can help. Also, Sasami's Center abilities generate Pure so she can be useful for everyone.
  
  
• The unlockable decorations are all very useful. You should unlock them and use them as soon as possible. Once they're unlocked you can use them in any stage. If you hover your mouse over the furniture you can see what conditions must be met to unlock it.

There's several ways to make money, but the order to do things or the best times to do them might not be obvious. There's no "best" or "easiest" way to make money, really, it's just whatever method you prefer. This section focuses heavily on the Songs/Live loop, but does also incorporate Jobs. It's the best way I've found to start making money early and keep that cash flow constant.

Please note, with Popularity comes more expenses (as your girls will demand higher wages). Manage your Popularity so it doesn't increase too fast and cause you to lose more money than you make.

Difficulty note: The simulation difficulty controls how much money you make from Songs, Lives and more. You may need to adjust this info a bit to suit your difficulty level. Add an extra song in between Lives (2 instead of 1, etc.), throw a Job in here or there, run the smaller venue's more often so your Popularity doesn't get too high too quick, don't hire too many Idols too soon.


We're going to focus on the Songs/Live loop here, as it's the quickest and safest way to start making money. Jobs are far too easy to fail early on, racking up Infamy and all the trouble that comes with it.

• Starting the game, immediately start recording a song. We need 3 songs quickly so we can start performing Lives. You should have enough cash to set up a Recording Booth, Audio Engineering and a Break Room.
  
• Don't worry about Song Quality at this point, we'll deal with that soon enough.
  
• Once your first song is recorded, take the income from that and build your Dance and Vocal Studios.
  
• Start recording your second song while your girls' idle time is spent training Sing and Dance. You can give more focus to Sing as it's the more useful stat early on.
  
• After you've recorded your first 3 songs, immediately hold a Live at the Live House (the smallest venue).

Now we're going to transition into the start of the actual loop. Your loop for the next few steps is going to be the following: Train while Recording 1 song. After that's done, schedule another Live. Repeat.

Train > Record 1 Song > Hold a Live > Repeat.

• As money permits, and if you haven't already done so, build a Personal Coach and start training that as well. Once a week per Idol is fine for now.
  
• Build a Makeup Room and make sure your girls are using it right before the Live starts (usually about 10 hours before is fine). This is an easy boost (and fairly inexpensive) to Live performance.
  
• While your looping these tasks, aim to slowly increase the quality of the song. If your girls aren't trained properly, increasing the quality too soon will cause you to perform badly at Lives.
  
• Within your first couple of Lives you should be able to move to the Outdoor Stage. This, along with Song Quality, should be slowly improved. We're aiming to keep moving up the venue list.
  
• We're aiming for 6 songs here, with varying quality (hopefully a couple B or higher).
  
• Don't neglect PV's as they can give a nice boost to your Song Quality. At first just using the cheapest option, the Studio PV, is more than fine.
  
• Unlock Tier 2 facilities at this point, if you haven't already.
  
• As your Idols Popularity gets between 200-300, make sure you've built a Security Office. Approaching 300 Popularity is the threshold for Stalkers and Scandals to start appearing, and we absolutely cannot take the hit to Infamy and Mood from those.

We've reached a good point to start Jobs if you want to do that. Your girls should have decent enough Persona by now and with either a Cafeteria or the Makeup Room, Looks should be covered as well.

• Build a Sales Department with at least one salesman selling Pin Buttons. You need to be careful here about how many salesmen you have and what you're trying to sell or you can end up losing more money than you make!
  
• Sales from the Sales Department depend entirely on your Idols Popularity. Don't try to sell too much at once. Happi's, for example, are expensive and aren't all that popular. Though, they do make good profit, save those for later.
  
• Take the time to tweak your training schedule. Make sure Dance and Sing are your main focus, but also make sure that Persona training is getting done.
  
• Depending on how things progress, HP or Looks may become an issue for you. Generally it shouldn't be too much of a concern, but you can build one Cafeteria to train either of those.
  
• Build a Research Lab as soon as you can afford the expenses associated with it. Stage FX are extremely useful during Lives.

Now's a good time to start Jobs if you wish. You may need to hire an Idol with better stats or train more to prevent failures. Keep your Infamy in check, it's too soon to deal with Scandals and the expenses from that are likely to bankrupt you.

• You don't need any more than 6 Songs on a set to max out Hype, provided they're good quality. Usually a couple B and A rank songs are fine. Though, depending on the difficulty you're playing on, you will need S or higher ranked songs. Remember, higher quality songs make Lives more difficult, but they also increase the rate Hype is generated.
  
• Keep running Lives, record Songs as necessary and expand your Sales Department as your Popularity increases.
  
• As soon as you can afford it, unlock Tier 3 facilities. We'll need the Lawyer real soon (if not already) as well as the Event Room.

The late game, for me, is once you can build an Event Room and start making money off of it. The threshold for this is around 1,000 Popularity per Idol. The Event Room really starts to take off around 1,500 Popularity.

• Make sure you have a Legal Department at this point, it's invaluable in dealing with Scandals.
  
• Popularity is going to be your focus entirely at this stage. Keep running those Lives or spamming Jobs.
  
• You should only be focusing on high-end Jobs at this point. TV Drama Role, Motion Picture Role, Cruise Entertainer, Book Deal or Haute Fashion Model are the ones you should focus on. Get your DEC up to around 20,000+ to get the better Jobs.
  
• Build an Event Room with a couple of tables. It doesn't need to be large, because at first you'll only need to send one or two Idols a day before you run out of fans.
  
• Schedule your Event Room as needed. Enough so you are making cash, but not too much so you're constantly running out of fans. Start slow, scheduling it once or twice a week then ramp it up to daily.
  
• Don't forget about your Sales Department, either. By now you should have at least 2 salesmen selling Pins and 2 selling T-Shirts with only 1 selling Happi's. You can increase these as needed but pay attention to the percentages listed next to their build queue. If it stays high that means your merchandise isn't selling.

And that's really it. That's the entire loop right there. Keep increasing sales from your Sales Department and the Event Room. Record some higher quality songs if you need it, but at this point you should easily be selling out the Tokyo Dome and moving on to the Stadium. What you do from here is up to you, but with this you should have quite the formidable Idol Empire.

I debated adding this section for a while as it's got spoilers, but with spoiler tags it should be fine. Below you'll find a list of all the unlockable furniture you can get, as well as how to unlock it.

This section contains minor spoilers!


Cost: 3,000 KN
Effect: Reduces Fanquake intensity; breaks after one use
Unlock: Furuya center, send her to the Onsen
Hint: Just send your girls to the Onsen via the Golden Ticket with Furuya as the center

Cost: 6,000 KN
Effect: Passively generate Pure for all girls
Unlock: Make Julie center and the definition of Purity
Hint: Just raise Julie's Pure stat to 100 while she's the center

Cost: 4,000 KN
Effect: Increases the speed of security investigations (Stalkers)
Unlock: While Mako is center, beef up your Security Department
Hint: You need 6-8 security guys in your Security Department

Cost: 2,000 KN
Effect: Increases chances for executive businessmen to appear
Unlock: With Natsuki as center, have her many money Osaka-style
Hint: Send Natsuki on several Jobs

Cost: 6,000 KN
Effect: All furniture is immune to damage during Fanquakes
Unlock: While Mika is center, make your office into the epitome of decor
Hint: Just increase your decor (DEC) level fairly high (forget exact #)

Cost: 2,000 KN
Effect: Removes Julie's Rebellious condition
Unlock: With Julie as center, make her the most infamous Idol of all time
Hint: Get Julie's Infamy high, I think it's over 600+. Use her Nova to take Infamy from the other girls.

Cost: 5,000 KN
Effects: Removes Nemu's Yandere condition
Unlock: With Nemu as center, perform the King of Lives
Hint: Need a Legendary Live at the Tokyo Dome

Cost: 6,000 KN
Effect: All girls passively regenerate HP
Unlock: With Natsuki as center, use her steed with wild abandon
Hint: While Natsuki is center, just keep spamming her Nova. ~20 times. This unlock is annoying to get.

Cost: 7,000 KN
Effect: Passive boost to Song rank
Unlock: With Sasami as center, have a fortune in the bank
Hint: Get over 100,000 KN with Sasami as center.

Cost: 5,000 KN
Effect: Increases Stella's Looks stat by 6
Unlock: While Stella is center, have her solo a Godly song
Hint: You just have to record a solo S-rank song with Stella as center

Cost: 3,000 KN
Effect: Songs sell for more money after a blow-out Live
Unlock: Release a top of the charts song
Hint: Any Song has to make over 50,000 KN

Cost: 2,000 KN
Effect: All girls' movement speed increased
Unlock: With Aki as center, give her the perfect body
Hint: Just train Aki up while she's center, not sure which stat this focuses on but I think its Looks (train in Cafeteria)

Cost: 1,000 KN
Effect: Increases base game speed
Unlock: With Furuya as center, have her solo a Godly song
Hint: Much like Stella, just have Furuya record a solo S-rank song

Cost: 3,000 KN
Effect: Passively generates KN (300 KN/day)
Unlock: With Kaori as center, bring in a fortune from Jobs
Hint: Just keep sending Kaori out on Jobs

Cost: 10,000 KN
Effect: Reduces the likelihood of Scandals
Unlock: With Furuya as center, become the holiest Idol group of all time
Hint: Just keep spamming Shrine PV's with Furuya as center

Cost: 4,000 KN
Effect: Reduces the likelihood of Stalkers
Unlock: With Mako as center, arrest a jail-full of Stalkers
Hint: Get your Popularity high enough to trigger stalkers and then just wait for it to pop

Cost: 1,000 KN
Effect: All girls are immune to the Hoarse Throat condition
Unlock: With Mariya as center, have her solo an amazing song
Hint: Make Mariya your center and record a solo S-rank song with her

Cost: 15,000 KN
Effect: Jobs can't be failed anymore
Unlock: With Shiro as center, release the greatest song of all time
Hint: Make Shiro center; record either a SS or SSS-rank song (can't remember which)

Cost: 1,000 KN
Effect: Increases girl's stats, for whichever Idol's portrait you buy (+4 to Dance/Sing/Persona/Looks)
Unlock: Make the Idol into the center of the ages
Hint: For all the (original) Starnova girls, just max out their center abilities

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoy Idol Empire as much as I do!

Please feel free to leave a comment about suggestions, help, etc.

Thanks!!