What a certificate is

A certificate is the game's unit of progress. Each has a form number and a title, and most are issued for something you did in a room. Before you earn one, its title is the only clue to what it is for, if you are shown even that.

When one is issued, a slip drops in beside the room for a few seconds and the Now serving sign goes up by one. Tap the slip to read the whole form: the title, a line on how it was earned, your copy number and how many Applicants hold it. Most slips are plain. Some arrive on yellow, and a few arrive sealed and stay a little longer. Those are worth a second look.

What certificates do:

• They open the doors on a floor and, at 50, the elevator to the next floor.
• They raise your rank.
• Every ten earns a hint voucher.
• They put you on the Registry.

Each one is of a kind: Objects, Sequences, Patience, Mischief or Counters. The journal counts how many of each you hold on a floor.

Your File also shows, under the sign, the number of certificates in the whole building. It grows as floors open, so it stays a little ahead of you.