The manual and strategy guide

Rejoice!

Build a house of worship. Gather a people. Keep the faith. This guide covers every screen, system, room, and item in the game, and how to use them to grow a congregation that pays its way and keeps its building standing, whether it's a church, a synagogue, a mosque, a temple, a gurdwara, or a shrine.

How to use this guide

New to the game? Read Getting started and How people feel first. Almost everything in Rejoice! runs on how satisfied people feel after a service, and once you understand that, the rest of the game follows.

Building something? Building your house of worship explains the tools. Rooms, materials, styles and lots lists every room type, floor, and style. The item catalogue has a picture and a full breakdown of every item: price, size, upkeep, special rules, and how well each one suits each tradition.

A parish, a synagogue, a mosque, a temple, a gurdwara, or a shrine? Faiths and traditions covers the traditions of every faith: how they differ in their words, their week and year, the building and which way it faces, giving, and leaders, and a profile of each of the 80, in nine faiths. The rest of the guide holds for every faith: it says "congregation", "leader", and "main day" for all of them, and "church" where the game's own word for a screen or room is meant (the Church screen), and "the hall" and "the entrance hall" for the rooms the game calls the fellowship hall and the narthex in a Christian tradition and by the tradition's own word, or a neutral one, in another; it gives each faith's own way alongside the others (the plate, dues, zakat, the golak; the pastor, rabbi, imam, granthi, head priest), and it says so where something is only for Christian traditions, such as communion, baptism, and the church year.

Playing a scenario? Scenario walkthroughs has a step-by-step plan for each one, based on how the game's own scripted player wins them.

Every number in this guide comes from the game's own code and content files, and every screenshot was taken in the game.

Chapters

1. Chapter 1Getting startedThe title screen, new games and sandboxes, choosing a faith and a tradition, the screen piece by piece (every tile, panel, and map view), controls, and how time passes.
2. Chapter 2How people feelSatisfaction, the factors that move it after every service, and the thresholds that decide everything.
3. Chapter 3Growing the congregationThe funnel from first visit to membership, greeting, friendships, joining, and why congregations shrink.
4. Chapter 4Building your house of worshipEvery building tool, levels, sound, sight, light, access, which way it faces, construction time, and growth stages.
5. Chapter 5Rooms, materials, styles and lotsAll 26 room types, floors, walls, doors, windows, the twelve styles, the lots, and the regions.
6. Chapter 6The item catalogueEvery item with pictures, prices, sizes, traits, which faiths it's offered to, and its fit with each tradition.
7. Chapter 7Worship and the yearServices, daily services and open hours, the order of service, all 120 sermon and talk topics, the seasons and calendars, feasts, weddings, funerals, and rites asked for.
8. Chapter 8MoneyThe plate, the boxes, the golak and the hundi, pledges, dues, zakat, amulets and lamps, rites with fees, the boli and life memberships, meal sponsors, campaigns, the endowment, costs, debt, and the four finance screens.
9. Chapter 9Keeping the building standingThe six building systems, wear, failures, maintenance, and when to replace things.
10. Chapter 10Staff and volunteersPaid and unpaid roles: the pastor, rabbi, imam, granthi, head priest, or abbot, and each faith's own staff, from the cantor and muezzin to the pujari, ragi jatha, negi, and temple keeper; how each tradition's leaders come and go, pay, shared leaders, succession, volunteers, burnout, and the rota.
11. Chapter 11Projects, approvals and conflictWho decides big work and calls in every tradition, boards, thresholds, consent and advice, cherished pews, and how to change things without a fight.
12. Chapter 12The congregation in its communityEach faith's ministries and fundraisers and what your tradition values, outreach, auxiliaries, rentals, the code of life, and the neighbours.
13. Chapter 13Faiths and traditionsThe 80 traditions of Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Sikhism, Jainism, Shinto, and Chinese religion: how they differ in their words, week and year, building and orientation, giving, and leaders; a profile of each, by faith; the wider body, practice and stances, leaving, and founding your own.
14. Chapter 14Scenario walkthroughsHow to win each of the seventeen scenarios, from the dying congregation and the storefront mosque to the new gurdwara, the temple upstairs, and the Jain center's shikhara.
15. Chapter 15Sandbox, cheats and quick referenceSandbox play, the cheat console, common mistakes, and every number worth remembering.
16. Chapter 16Every tradition: services and what they needA page for each of the 80 traditions, by faith: its services, sacraments or rites, and how people join; what its building must and mustn't have; how every item and every sermon lands with it; and what its people feel.