As a full-blown city building simulation crammed onto Facebook, there's quite a lot of complexity to My Empire. Balancing the needs of your citizens while simultaneously expanding your empire is no easy task. You'll have to build homes, markets, and mines, all while making sure your town is beautiful and its inhabitants are happy.

To help you out with the process of building and maintaining your empire, developer Playfish has graciously offered up 10 tips (plus one extra bonus tip!) to get you started.

1. The more people you have on your island, the more tax you will collect! Keep growing your empire!
2. Build more houses so more people can live on your island. As you gain more fame, you will be able to build many different types of houses!
3. If your citizens are unhappy, try building more happiness buildings or decoration items. That will cheer them up!
4. You get a bonus each day for visiting your neighbors. Invite more neighbors to receive bigger bonuses!
5. If you build an Academy, you can research new technology that lets you upgrade many of your buildings. Try it out!
6. Are you running out of space on your island? Reach higher fame levels to unlock more land to build your empire!
7. To build Wonders, you will need some resources that you can only receive from your friends as gifts. Send free gifts to your friends and maybe they will return the favor!
8. You can see how much population your Empire will need in order to earn more tax when hiring your tax collector.
9. Want to build more and more buildings? Reach higher fame levels to unlock access to more impressive buildings!

1. Did you know the Lumber Mill, Mine, and Quarry produce different resources? The Lumber Mill produces a random wood resource, the Mine produces a random Stone resource, and the Quarry produces a random Stone resource. Be sure to build all three!
2. The first time you visit a new neighbor, you get a special bonus!  Invite more neighbors to get more bonuses.