How to rock: A Story of a Band tips, tricks, and hints

A Story of a Band on Android is a great little management game with a huge amount of depth.

If you like the Kairosoft games, you're probably going to like this, too.

However, A Story of a Band can also be incredibly difficult. Even after a few attempts, we were still finding the going very tough.

We know you have been finding it tricky too, and so through our many hours of fervent play, we've put together this handy walkthrough.

(Mad props to reader Gary, by the way, who also contributed some tips to us.)

Read on, take - ahem - notes, plug in your charger, and rock out.

When you first begin, you'll be asked to choose a genre of music for your band. The best idea is to go for a genre that isn't too popular, but isn't too underground either - this means you'll get a decent portion of both fans and fame.

Heavy Metal is a good option, and should get you through the first couple of years without too much hassle.

Start by writing a concept album and then touring it a couple of times. Then use a good portion of the money you earn from this to level-up all your band members and train them in the particular traits that they aren't very good at.

The golden rule when starting out and, indeed, throughout an entire playthrough, is to watch your cashflow. Money is the most important element of A Story of a Band, and you need to make sure you always have enough to pay the yearly expenses come February.

Go to the Stats panel to see how much is going to be taken out of your account in February, and if you don't have enough to pay it, make sure you either record a new album (if it's before August) or tour a few times until you do. Being in the red is no fun whatsoever, and it's hard to climb back out once you are.

When you first start writing albums, you will get review scores like 1/10 and 2/10 from the critics. Don't worry about this - you'll level-up your band over time and eventually make the best album ever.

Make sure to match up the genre you're using with subject types that go well with it in real life. If you don't know a genre well enough in real-life, then simply Google it or check a Wikipedia page for the types of subject matter it might deal with.

An example is: rock and roll goes well with subject matter like beauty, love, and angels.

At least one song on each album will be highlighted as a potentially great single, so make sure you use your boosts (double tap the band member) and items when that song comes along for the best effect.

Also, make sure you buy lots of items and upgrades to use after the song is completed - this is the time when you can really add a wealth of stars to each song.

When it comes to recording the album in the studio it all comes down to the stat points your band members have. You'll most likely begin with only 75 per cent complete albums, but over time this will boost up to 100 per cent and you'll be able to begin bagging extra points on top of that.

Touring is by far the most important element of the whole game, and where most of your cash, fans, and fame will come from.

An unsuccessful tour is the worst possible thing that can happen, as it results in no cash, and a dip in your band's mood. Make sure you never fail a tour: especially a festival tour.

In fact, you should only buy the Road Crew upgrade if you know that every single Festival tour is going to be a huge success, otherwise you're wasting money every year (the Road Crew upgrade has a huge yearly fee attached to it).

The best way to always beat a tour is to first make sure all your band members have full power and full health. The moment the tour stars, make them all use their powers, and then make one of them use the Solo upgrade for extra points.

If you manage to fill up the tour completion bar with time to spare, but you're not 100 per cent sure you'll be able to finish off one of those extra tour boosts found at the bottom of the screen, don't bother selecting them - it's just not worth the risk.

Also, it's usually not worth doing an interview during a tour - interviews remove all band members' health, and they will all need to rest afterwards.

Finally, when putting together a tour, try to have a good mix of places where you are hugely popular, and places that you are not. The former may get you more fame and money, but it is also very difficult to complete, and if you simply visit only places where you are popular, the chances of your completing the tour successfully are very slim.

Battling is perhaps one of the easiest elements in this very tricky game. The turn-based action allows you to keep cool, calm, and collected throughout as you consider all your options.

One of the keys to beating the later bands is to have lots of items at the ready - Painkillers and Confidence Boosts, for example, work wonders to keeping ahead of the game.

If one of your band members is obviously losing his or her battle, start using that member to build up your note and lightning counts so that other members can make use of special abilities.

And, of course, once one of your members has won his battle, use that member to build up notes and lightning each round, too.

You can even swap between members if you have one member who is nearly dead, and another member who is easily alive and kicking. Make use of this when needed.

We'll reiterate the biggest tip we can give you - always watch your cashflow. If you don't have enough money to pay the yearly fee and February is approaching, tour, tour, tour to make it up. Also make sure that when you're buying an item that has a yearly cost, you're actually going to be able to afford it.

Training and levelling-up band members is the second-most important thing. Make sure you knock all your band members up to their highest levels possible, then train them constantly (cash permitting). Band members with decent stats will boost both your album sales and your tour performance.

Remember to always have an upgrade or skill that you're working towards, and buy it whenever possible. Each band member should also be given a power and accessory so that he's always at his fullest potential.

Change genre when the game tells you that you have become boring, and use the Image, Actions menu to add little bits of fame and fan count whenever necessary.

If you have an alcoholic in your band, or one of your band members has an annoying girlfriend who is messing up your albums, treat him quickly with cash. Kicking him out may cause a number of your fans to stop following you.

However, if you do have the cash to purchase the special band members who pop up from time to time, don't hesitate to kick someone out - your fans may not like it at first, but you can quickly build them back up again.