Juggler School

The Juggler School is the training facility that produces jugglers — the most basic entertainers in the city. Trained jugglers walk to a nearby venue (a Booth, Bandstand, or Pavilion) and perform there; if no venue is reachable, a juggler will roam directly from the school instead.

It is the first link in the entertainment chain. Without at least one Juggler School, a Booth has no performers and stays idle — placing a Booth with no school in the city triggers an on-screen warning.

The school is a 2×2 building. Unlike the other training schools it is only mildly undesirable, so it can sit reasonably close to housing without dragging neighbourhood desirability down too far.

Juggler School

2×2Size

5Workers

−3Desirability

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Cost (Normal)

50 Db

Cost by difficulty

VE 10 · Easy 20 · Normal 50 · Hard 100 · VH 200

Labor category

Entertainment

Trains

Jugglers

Supplies

Booth, Bandstand, Pavilion

Fire / Damage risk

Low / Low

Desirability profile

Peak value

−3 at the building

Falloff

+1 per step (eases toward 0)

Range

3 tiles

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Mildly undesirable — the least negative of the training schools, so it tolerates being placed near housing.

Overview

Juggling was a popular street entertainment in ancient Egypt — tomb paintings show performers, often women, tossing balls in intricate patterns. In the game the Juggler School represents the troupe that trains these performers and sends them out to entertain the population.

Entertainment in Akhenaten flows along a chain of buildings: a school trains a performer, the performer walks to a venue, and the venue sends entertainers into the surrounding streets so that houses with road access receive the service. The Juggler School sits at the head of that chain for the cheapest entertainer type, the juggler.

Mechanics

Training jugglers

While the school is staffed it periodically produces a juggler. The juggler looks for the nearest entertainment venue — checked in priority order Pavilion → Bandstand → Booth — and walks there as a destination walker to perform. If no venue is reachable, the juggler instead leaves the school as a roaming entertainer and services houses directly along the way.

Production rate

How often a juggler is produced depends on how fully the school is staffed:

A fully staffed school keeps several venues supplied; a half-staffed one struggles to keep even one Booth performing. Make sure the school has labor access and enough workers in the city.

Info window

Right-clicking the school opens its info window, showing how many workers it employs and its current output of jugglers. Use it to confirm the school is staffed and actively training performers.

Entertainment chain

Every leg of this journey is on foot and on roads. Keep the school, its venues, and the housing it serves on the same connected road network, or the chain breaks and houses lose entertainment.

Tips

• Always build the Juggler School together with its Booths — the school alone entertains nobody, and a Booth alone has no performers.
• Keep the school well staffed. Under ~50% workers it produces jugglers too slowly to keep multiple venues running.
• Place the school within walking distance of the venues it feeds; a juggler that cannot reach a venue wanders off as a roaming entertainer and may not cover the houses you intended.
• Its desirability penalty is mild (−3, fading over 3 tiles), so it is safe to tuck near housing — but still keep it off your most prestigious avenues.
• One well-staffed school can supply several Booths/Bandstands; spread the venues so coverage does not overlap.

building_juggler_school {
  animations { preview { id:46 } base { id:46 } work { ... id:46, offset:1, max_frames:14 } }

  spawn_delay_100_percent : 7    // ~4 jugglers/month
  spawn_delay_75_percent  : 15   // ~2/month
  spawn_delay_50_percent  : 30   // ~1/month
  spawn_delay_25_percent  : 60   // 1 / 2 months
  spawn_delay_default     : 90   // 1 / 3 months (1-24% workers)

  building_size : 2
  min_houses_coverage : 50
  cost [ 10, 20, 50, 100, 200 ]
  desirability { value[-3], step[1], step_size[1], range[3] }
  laborers[5]  fire_risk[4]  damage_risk[2]
  flags { is_entertainment: true }
}