A virtual New Year’s Eve party in Lagos, in your browser

New Year’s Eve falls right in the middle of the Lagos December season. The city’s Detty December runs through December and into the first weeks of January, fireworks still feature in the city’s New Year celebrations even in hard years, and churches in Lagos, such as the Cathedral Church of Christ, hold watchnight services to see the year out. If you are not in Lagos this year, you can still see the new year in on Lagos time, with friends, at a virtual New Year’s Eve party.

It happens inside AJ Cities, a free open-world browser game set on the edge of Ajegunle, Lagos. So there is no confusion: this is a virtual party inside the game. There is no real venue, no real date and no real ticket, and nothing in the game gets you into a real New Year’s Eve event. The game does not put on a special New Year show either. What it does have is a world that keeps real Lagos time, a club with a live set over midnight, and other real players.

When is midnight in Lagos?

Nigeria is on West Africa Time, one hour ahead of GMT, with no daylight saving. On 31 December:

That is good news if you are in North America: you can see in the Lagos new year at teatime, and still be free for your own midnight later.

Why the Lagos time world is the one for New Year

AJ Cities’ party mode has three worlds. Always day and always night stay at the same hour for ever. The Lagos time world follows the real Lagos clock and the Lagos sun, and every player in it sees the same time. So when the year turns in Lagos, it turns in that world too, for everybody standing in it.

And at midnight, the club is on. The artist Joe-Izzy plays Prizm every night from 9 pm to 1 am Lagos time, so if you are in the club at midnight, you are watching the set when the year changes.

How to plan a virtual New Year’s Eve with friends

1. Send the link early. Everyone opens ajcities.com and chooses Party at the estate. It runs on phones and computers, with nothing to download. Each guest signs in with an email and must be 18 or over. Do it a day before, so nobody is creating an account at 11.55.
2. All pick Lagos time. Pick the same world and you usually join the same estate. Each estate holds up to 60 players; when one fills, a new one opens, so arrive together.
3. Arrive by 11 pm Lagos time. That is 10 pm in London and 5 pm in New York. You start outside the main gate.
4. Dress up. The Palmline Unisex Salon and Gatefold Clothing by the gate change your hair, skin tone and clothes for free. Agree a colour for the group.
5. Get in. Ask the police. Most nights about four in five guests who ask are let in free. Optional tickets, from ₦250, last 24 hours, so a ticket bought on the evening of the 31st still covers you into New Year’s Day.
6. Go to Prizm. Any ticket opens the ground floor through the regular door, and the bouncers sometimes let guests in without one. Prizm VIP tickets open the pool deck, the rooftop garden and backstage.
7. Count it down yourselves. Keep a clock on your phone set to Lagos and call the countdown in the chat. At midnight, the year is new for everyone in the world at once.

Where to be at midnight

• The ground floor at Prizm, in front of the stage, if you want the set.
• The rooftop garden, for VIP groups: the prison lights across the road and the port cranes beyond, under a Lagos sky.
• The beach party, past the bush, if your group prefers the open air. Tickets from ₦400 open it, or ask the police.
• Anywhere near a radio. The estate radio plays the same song at the same moment for every player.

After midnight

The set runs until 1 am Lagos time. After that, the Lagos time world carries on into New Year’s Day, and the sun comes up over the estate when it comes up over Lagos. If you want the party to keep going whatever the hour, switch to the always night world, where it is 10 pm all the time. If someone has to step away to ring family, they can pause and stay in the world as “away” for up to ten minutes.

Ideas for the night

• Agree a colour. Dress the whole group in it at the clothes shop by the gate, so you find each other in the crowd.
• Bring your own countdown. One person keeps a Lagos clock and calls the last ten seconds in the chat.
• Split the night. Meet on the street first, then go to Prizm for the last hour before midnight.
• Do it twice. In North America, see in the Lagos new year at teatime, then your own at home.

What it is, and what it is not

It is a Lagos-flavoured New Year’s Eve with your people, in a game, for adults. It is not a trip, a real club or a real event, and there are no fireworks in the game. If you want to see the real season explained, read what is Detty December?, and for the rest of the month, our virtual December itinerary.

What time is midnight in Lagos in London and New York?

Midnight on 31 December in Lagos is 11 pm in London, 6 pm in New York and Toronto, and 5 pm in Houston.

Is the virtual New Year’s Eve party in AJ Cities a real event?

No. It is a virtual party inside the game, with no real venue, date or ticket, and no special New Year show. The Lagos time world simply keeps the real Lagos clock.

Is the club open at midnight?

Yes. Joe-Izzy plays Prizm every night from 9 pm to 1 am Lagos time, so the set is on when the year turns.