How to Play — Systems and Daily Loop
The Adventures of HILLS is a narrative time-management RPG: you spend fixed action points each day exploring Gadola, triggering story beats, and fighting turn-based battles. The tutorial spreads these rules across the first five days — this guide consolidates them so you can plan from Hills's arrival without soft-lock scares.
Daily Action Point Loop
Each in-game day splits into time blocks — morning, afternoon, evening, and night. Hills receives a finite pool of action points (AP) to spend on travel, jobs, shopping, companion scenes, and optional exploration. Story-critical events consume blocks automatically when triggered; optional pins on the city map cost AP only when you confirm travel.
Unspent optional AP does not roll over at day end. Efficient routing means checking the schedule every morning before paying carriage fees. Reserve one block per week for shopping and lodging maintenance so mid-game boss days do not catch you without heals.
Numeric day plans live on Action Points and Day 1–5 Walkthrough. Ver.1.0.5 changed Mayor's Residence jobs so the first two shifts do not advance the time period — stack them when Day 6 is crowded.
Gadola Exploration and District Unlocks
Gadola opens in layers rather than as one flat map. The Gadola Overview explains geography; mechanically, districts unlock after story flags or companion introductions. You can backtrack unless a late-game crisis lockdown applies.
Exploration rewards include clue items, optional puzzles, and skirmishes. Hidden alleys may need companion abilities or night-only NPCs — if a location looks unreachable, verify time of day and journal threads before assuming a bug. Fast travel between lodging and discovered nodes saves AP once routes register.
Talk to every shopkeeper once after a district unlocks; stock and rumor hints often rotate only after first contact. See Unlock Order when the undiscovered counter stays stuck despite visible doors.
Turn-Based Combat Introduction
Fights punctuate the calendar — they are fully turn-based, not real-time. Each character spends combat AP on move, attack, guard, items, or skills. Enemy intent icons preview the next action; reading them is as important as raw stats.
Party size is usually Hills plus up to three companions; story fights may force specific rosters (for example Tentacle Alpha requires Hills, Micoco, and Cove). Losing a mandatory fight lets you retry on most difficulties, but story rewards and affinity may differ on repeats.
Start with Combat Basics for UI labels, then Turn-Based Tactics before mid-game. Training yard access around Day 9 offers free practice without wasting calendar AP. Since v1.0.9, Hills reaches level 15 and monsters grant small EXP — under-leveling is recoverable without dedicated grind days.
Town Guide Blue Events and v1.0.15 Hints
The Town Guide is Hills's schedule map from the city UI. Blue-highlighted nodes mark story-important beats; optional chains use subtler icons. Confusing the two causes most "soft lock" panic — usually you skipped a mandatory blue pin, not a real lock.
Icon art refreshed in v1.0.5 and v1.0.14 so critical beats stand out before boss days and gala deadlines. Open the guide every morning; it lists active nodes but does not spend AP for you.
Ver.1.0.15 added clearer warnings before key events and boss battles — often extra dialogue or UI flashes when selecting a Town Guide node. Treat them as confirmations, not flavor. Full icon changelog on Town Guide; patch timeline on Patch Notes.
Last updated: July 2026 — Ver.1.0.15.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do action points carry over to the next day?
No. Optional AP expires at day end. Story-scheduled blocks are separate from your optional pool.
What do blue Town Guide events mean?
Story-critical beats — clear them before optional icons when AP is tight. See the Town Guide page for icon history.
Is combat required to finish the game?
Main story includes mandatory turn-based fights. Optional skirmishes can often be avoided or retried; see Combat Basics.