TIPS for PLAYERS

Welcome to the forum! The first 3 posts in this thread have been written to help new players understand the game better and enhance enjoyment from playing.
Create an origin account for your town. Keep the 'confirm donut spend' set to 'on' to avoid spending donuts on something you don't want. Enter the store > then tap small cog top right, as shown below.

How to find your Mayhem ID:

When you are downloading or updating the game, DO NOT carry on playing, even though the instructions on the main screen say that you can. There is a chance that some files may be corrupted if you play before it has finished downloading.
Building prices and build times from level 10. NOTE: You may not receive quest lines for buildings in the order listed.
Buildings in BLUE are for squidport, RED are for Krustyland, YELLOW do not have a task to build them and GREEN require Springfield Heights materials.
Quests for buildings will not unlock until prerequisite quest lines have been completed. Event related quests may take precedence over main quest lines. Levels shown are the minimum XP level ( game level ) required.

Add friends to gain Friends Prizes by visiting their towns. Make sure you leave some buildings in your town untapped for when friends visit your town. This may not be necessary during an event.
http://i.imgur.com/a42R5U8l.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/Io1s6upl.jpg
Friend screen information:

Choose the shortest tasks that fit your playing style. 4 X 1 hours tasks for a regular character pays out $280 total, but 1 X 4 hour task only pays out $175.
There are 45 second tasks for several characters - Homer, Apu, Lisa, Ned, Mr. Burns, Milhouse, Martin, Marge, Snake - that can help to bring in $ and XP quickly over a short period of time.
http://i.imgur.com/9b53hlCl.jpg
You can also make a lot of money in a short time by tapping Sideshow Bob in Other Springfield. This is very useful at lower levels - see the following thread:
https://forums.ea.com/en/the-simpsons-tapped-out/discussion/205386/sideshow-bob-flaw-and-order-walkthrough-and-tips/p1
Always have a crop growing at Cletus's Farm. Note that the 12 hour task 'Triffids' does not pay out any $, but gives a larger payout of 200XP. All crops will expire if they are left too long once grown, so try to collect from them promptly. Always have broadcasts at Channel 6 and KBBL Radio.
Near the start of the game, tasks to 'rush with donuts' do not have to be completed. Instead you can choose to wait until the task is finished after the allotted time.
A small tip for saving some money - when you get the series of quests 'it's not easy being green', store one tree and one shrub, then place them in your town, re-store and replace etc. It counts towards the quest line rather than buying more. This also works with the quest 'No trespassing' which is to 'build some chain fencing', and also 'Princess and the Pea Brain' parts 1 and 3 in Krustyland, which asks you to place 2 balloons (part 1) and 10 flowers (part 3).
Homer and Lisa can clear debris, 6 second task. There is a small chance you could gain a donut doing this along with $. Or you could decide to be creative, here is a picture from another forum member:
The small icons shown next to quests in the task list:
You can 'rush' individual characters for free when there is less than 10% of the time remaining, or 1 hour 59 minutes for longer tasks. For example, a 1 hour task can be rushed for free when there is 5 minutes, 59 seconds left. NOTE: Krustyland tasks CANNOT be rushed for free.
You can 'skip' one challenge per day by tapping the X in the top corner.
https://i.imgur.com/IPzGyNlm.jpg
Krustyland tickets: you can collect KL tickets from a neighbour's Krustyland (tap on the top part of the map in the friend's screen) even if you have not yet placed the shuttle. Your friend will have needed to start Krustyland. When all quest lines have been completed there, you can exchange tickets for $ by tapping on the KL entrance. There is a small chance of getting donuts when playing the game 'sideshow you' in Krustyland:

The 5 donut prize is believed to be awarded after 300 balloon pops, equalling 100 plays of Sideshow You.
If you spend a long time in your game at one time, synchronise your game often by going to friends screen and back to town. Your game should then be saved. This is also a good strategy if you play more than one town or use more than one device.
There are 3 burning bushes (which have a multiplier) that can be found when you buy land expansions. If you take the mountains left to right as letters and the ocean top to bottom as numbers, the first 4 plots of land you start with are C2, D2, C3, D3.(Co-ordinates exclude the ocean expansion) and the Springfield Heights tunnel is at B1. The burning bush locations are at A7, E1, L10.
One early questline begins at level 15, Squidport. It is a good idea to buy land towards the ocean to prepare for this expansion, as making all the Squidport tiles take a long time. The last quest in this chain, part 16, requires a total of 31 tiles. The 31st tile costs $7500 and takes 6 hours to make.
The term NPC means Non-Playable Character. Generally this means a character in your town which does not have tasks and won't earn $ and XP, although there are a few exceptions. One exception is Big Claw, when tapped, may drop $ or XP.