Bunny here. Putting on my glasses, getting out my pocket protector, and getting my magic fingers and thumbs ready to type those zeroes and ones. Basically…it’s Nerdy Time!!
For whatever various reasons, our game likes to frak with our minds and heads and nothing seems to quite go right. We panic. Throw our device. Scream. Yell. There may be many tears as well. Just slowly take your thumbs/fingers off the device or you may crack the screen. Lol. It’s ok. I am here to help. All of us are. Promise.
YOUR GAME RESTARTED TO LEVEL 1!!! PANIC!!!! AAAAAAHHHH!!!!!!!
There really is no reason at all to panic. Honestly. You actually will run into this from time to time. There is no reason to worry at all. A few basic steps or a lil time and you will be back up and running just fine. Just remember, we are here to help out and walk you through it the best we can.
The biggest thing to remember is to NEVER CREATE A NEW GAME! If you do, you will lose all you have worked for. Just follow our helpful steps below to recover your game.
Here is what to do:
First, check to make sure you are actually still logged in to your game. Sounds silly, but it does happen. From time to time our device manufacturers send out updates that may cause a reset to our device we are unaware of or don’t notice. Also, you may have uninstalled/reinstalled the game or cleared the data creating the log in info for your game to be lost. Not a problem. You just have to log back in.
On the Splash Screen you should see an option in the lower left corner to login to your game or your username. If you see the option to log in it means at some point you were logged out. Just tap on it, enter in your email and password, and then you should be back to normal again.
Logged In
Logged Out
Now there will be a time or two that the option to log in from the Splash Screen won’t be available. Just a spinning donut (or like below, just a spinning donut and load screen after a reinstall).
You can try to restart your device or try an uninstall/reinstall again, but the Login option may still not come up. Still don’t worry. Just a lil bit of time and some tapping and you can log in another way.
You just start playing the New Game from Level 1 (it will be ok, us Addicts have had to do this too). You will be walked through the start of the game, build Simpsons home, unlock Lisa, build Kwik-E-Mart, unlock Apu, and directed to the “Other Springfield” by Frink. Just keep on tapping through until you have the ability and the option to tap on Bart and Milhouse and go into your neighbor screen. (This really does go by quickly.)
From there, tap on Bart and Milhouse again and you will see the pop up info for the neighbor management. 
Look to the bottom right corner for the option to “Add Origin Friends”. Tap on it.
You will now be able to get into the log in screen. Just put in your email and password and you should be back to your game again. 
Of course the EA help forum has a post on all this from a while back you are welcome to also take a look at HERE.
Beyond that, depending on issue, the next step I suggest is to contact EA. This is for two main reasons. First, they are alerted to the issue and have the ability to help recover a lost account. Second, if it is effecting YOU greatly…they offer great gifts in return…like donuts for compensation. (They may or may not offer this as it really is a case by case option… but at least it’s worth the try, right?)
Now there are a few methods in contacting EA. You can open a ticket by submitting the details of your issue, email, live chat, or…even call them. The steps were in my prior post HERE.
As always, we are here to help in anyway we can. Just keep hanging in there. Glitches happen. This is still the coolest “Freemium” game to date. 😉
Now to go hide by my corner and wait while that cute geeky nerdy guy with the crooked smile walks by. Maybe he will notice me this time.
***Bunny****
I couldn’t find the answer to this so I’m hoping someone can help.
I’ve been playing anonymously for a while but I’ve decided I do want to attach “my” Springfield to my Origin account. If I choose now to log in, will my progress be lost? Am I doomed to be a minor secondary character forever, with no friends?
When you connect your game to origin, it will save your progress up to the point your at. Best to do it because if the game reset accidentally, you’d lose all your progress.
Thank you so much. I connected and my Springfield is now mine! Risk = Reward.
WOOHOO! 😉
Ok cool!!! Thank you so much, gotta get him logged back in for the update! It makes sense, I’ve just never done it with our devises. 🙂
Hi! My husband plays on his iPhone. So when you say to try to uninstall/reinstall the game; you mean take it completely off the phone (the app) and then install it again? I’m so nervous about trying this, his game is at level 42, been playing for 9 months and I really don’t want to mess anything up!!! Thank you! 🙂
As long as he has been playing with an Origin ID and can log in and out of the game, then the information for his game is saved. You can log in on any device with an Origin ID. So after an uninstall and reinstall it is just a matter of logging in. I do it all the time. I’ve uninstalled my game from my galaxy at least a hundred times.
Thank you so much!!! I was so panicked when the game started over but then found your blog and it worked perfectly. 😀
🙂
Thank you thank you thank you! Thought I was going to have a meltdown… this post saved me.
Awesome! Glad it helped
My game just reset itself back to Level One. But, no panic. Bunny’s advice was spot on. However, instead of advising to “restart your device or try an uninstall/reinstall again,” to restart the log in process, simply closing and restarting the App might be more accurate and less intimidating that uninstall/reinstall (that phrase implies lost saved games). : )
Thanks Bunny!
Not a problem. 😉
Also, clear cache and data seems to sometimes fix it too. Either way, happy to help.
My game keeps putting me at level 1 again. I appear to be logged in (I am a level 42 player) but it still puts me at level 1. Please help. I have tried to restart my phone and the game to no avail.
sheribayle813
So you attempted to log in using the friends menu like the post says and it still doesn’t work? If all Bunny’s steps don’t work, it’s a matter to take to EA.
Is anyone else experiencing these glitches since the Stonecutters went away and July 4th went up?
1. Whenever I open the game, I get the title screen, then the Bart connectivity problem screen, then I hit Retry, and I get the title screen again and the game loads normally. Happens every time.
2. When friends visit me, I don’t have any handshakes over the buildings they’ve cleared. I receive the messages that they’ve visited, but when I go to my Springfield, there’s no indication anyone has been there. No handshakes since the update.
3. My XPs are not accruing when I visit my friends’ Springfields. I tracked this closely today. I have 23 active friends, I should have accrued 713 XPs visiting them, but I accrued nothing.
I’ve opened “conversations” with EA on their website, but so far, no reply.
(I play on my iPhone 4.)
I have been running into the Bart Screen issue myself. It is a new weird occurrence with the update.
I have heard of names missing on the handshakes, not the handshakes themselves.
Your XP’s should only be impacted when you do NOT have your FP maxed and earn the 3 times for being maxed. Even then though you should still be getting them.
What kind of “conversations” are you having? Chat? Email?
If you are emailing, make sure you double check your spam, junk, and alternate folders. EA emails for me never go to my regular Inbox. Keep trying to reach a rep via chat or another method if you do not have any luck otherwise. They are really the only ones that can access your game, get into it, and find out what it going on and why all this is happening.
I’ve also been having the Bart network screen every single time I start the game. The rest of the game seems to be working normally and I’ve assumed it would be fixed with the next update. My platform is Android.
Definitely impacting many of us Android users.
I found another way of being able to log on if u tapped to play anyway without having to play threw til u can access the friends screen. You just exit the game, go into where all the apps are listed and u can click on them and get a window that allows you to Force Stop. You press that button and then go back and start the game back up and it should have the box in the lower left corner to let you log in. I hope i explained it clearly. Its late and I’m tired. Perhaps someone else can understand what I’m saying and explain it better if necessary. But thanks for your help Bunny. I know what I said because this happened to me. I was worried at first but then i found this post. So thanks!
3 days since I lasted played.Smh.Still freezes every time I get the cannot connect to server screen & I hit retry which shows the doughnut spinning till it completely freezes.I’ve done the top stuff contacted EA & still no luck. 🙁
Just keep on top of comm with EA. Depending on the severity of the issue, it can take a little. My two huge issues (missing Homer/login crash) took 2 weeks each to be fixed. Hope it’s much sooner for you.
Yesterday I received a notice that I have 4500 decorations in my Springfield. 4500 is the maximum number of decorations you can have. Has anyone else recurved this notice? Ty…. Ailene 🙂
It’s the first warning. It will keep letting you know as you add items with a max in your town of 7500. I’ve actually hit that mark. No need to worry being a little over that. I’ve taken my game to just below 6000 and all is well in my town. It starts to get wonky above that.
I got a warning at 3000, I think. Some of my neighboreenos play on older devices, so I try to keep it below that, if possible, because I’m afraid it may lag or crash on their phone. Still, EA doesn’t stop you from adding more…sooo. 😛
Did anybody else get an update early today? I got it at about 4:00 am EDT. Nothing seems to of changed, it wasn’t a level update, no new content. But it did take a bit over 5 minutes to download on excellent wifi connection.
No update but sometimes they can just take a little to finally hit your device. As long as all is well, no worries on your end.
I already got the July 4 update, then when it reloaded, it updated all over again. But that was when it just got released.
Weird
Thankfully this has never happened to me or anyone that I know of and Bunny, why is you’re origin ID image a Weeping Angel… O.O
*stares at image and closes laptop immediately in fear that the Weeping Angel will come out of the screen and kill me*
Lol 😉
Last week I was having some minor game glitches that were just annoyances.
So far after playing for about a year, I have been lucky enough not to have any major farkles.
That happened to me three or four times during the Stonecutters event. The first time did rattle me but when it happened again and again, it became more of an annoyance. I just regained my composure after a few colourful words and phrases, cleared the cache, uninstalled and reinstalled the game. The game did run more smoothly afterwards. Less crash outs.
Hey anyone need another town add me *** tapped name darkblade3232 hope to see you there
Signed your friendly neighborhood jedihunter
Ever since the last update I always get the black screen on start up followed by the Bart screen every time I start the game. I can log in after that, it’s just really annoying because it used to just go straight into the game (as long as I hadn’t used any other app between tapping sessions). Is this an EA issue or do I need to reinstall my game?
You can try to reinstall the game to see if it helps. If issue continues, you may want to alert EA to the issue.
Just on my Ipad and IPod, every time I start Tapped Out, I first get the “Can’t connect to server” screen. I hit retry and it starts just fine. No problems now on my G3 town.
Oooooooo ur such a funny bunny lol
Who, me? Lol 😉
Just a minor glitch on the website…
The emblem calendar is still showing at the top middle column of the page (above the 4th of July event link), and since Stonecutters is over, it probably should be removed.
Much love for you all, and Happy Tapping!
It will be. Just been a Holiday weekend so most is on auto pilot while the Addicts get a lil R&R. 😉
I can’t enter the game, it gets to the loading screen the boots back to the home screen. Been happening since the patch. I uninstalled 3 times. The third time, I was finally able to play for one round. Next time I went to play, it kicks me at loading again.
Any idea?
It could be an overload on the servers. Give it a lil time and try again. If nothing helps, you may want to contact EA.
I dont have an issue with my level, but all of a sudden, my graphics rather suck, specifically the handshakes and money from buildings. all my people still look fine. and when I tap on a person or building the pop up is screwed up on the side, and I cant do anything to close them. except click on a quest that im doing, twice. but I cant set tasks or anything and I’m trying to finish both the 4th of july quest lines. is there anything you would recommend or should I contact EA, and if so, how do I go about doing that? Thanks!!
That is something I have not seen myself. I would suggest trying some basic troubleshooting like restart device or uninstall/reinstall the app to see if it helps clear it up. If not, I would contact EA. Info in post below.
http://tstoaddicts.com/2014/01/16/troubleshooting-101-basic-troubleshooting-steps/
Thanks for writing this article tonight bunny this actually just happen to me just about 20 minutes ago was tapping really fast so didn’t see I wasn’t log in so click on play anonymously. Was a little worry when I saw the tutorial video start playing so left the game and try to go back to the game but the game loaded back to the tutorial so then went on here and saw that you said it safe to play the tutorial so went back and play though it and then was able to log in and was really happy to see my name with the level 42 again! So thanks for the tips! And very convenient you wrote this tonight lol.
I guess I timed it just right. Lol. 😉
You’re most welcome.
99 times out of 100, my game restarts because I didn’t realize I wasn’t logged in. Some additional tips:
– If you see the “Homer playing the Happy Little Elves game” animation, it’s happening. The quickest way out is to exit immediately to your phone or tablet’s home screen, then open the Task Manager (procedure varies according to specific device, but for Galaxy phone, it’s hold down the Home button, for the Galaxy tablet, it’s the task switcher button right next to the Home button). Kill/End the TSTO application. There will be a warning about possible errors in ending a running application, but it’s fine, don’t worry. Restart the game, and then log in as Bunny helpfully explains above.
– Every now and then, you might start up TSTO to see your town reset to some bizarre early version of itself. Exit the game, kill the application, then start it up again. There’s a very good chance you’ll need to log in properly again, after which time your town should be all there. This has happened to me a handful of times.
My tapped out hasn’t been working at all for over two weeks and I’ve contacted EA every day with absolutely no response 🙁 I missed out on stonecutters and I’m missing Fourth of July…I’m super bummed about it considering that I’ve spend hundreds on the game in the past years…I don’t think the squeaky wheel tactic is working 🙁
How are you contacting them? Email? If so, check your spam. There emails always find their way to odd spots in mine. If you try email with no luck, then try an alternate like chat. Or try the forums themselves. There is a lot of ways to reach out to them for help.
When I downloaded the update to remove the Stonecutters I had this problem. I had to completely re-install the game and it wouldn’t give me the log-in screen until it had finished downloading all the updates. It started me on a new game and I just had to wait until the little spinning doughnut on the right hand side was done.
Sorry, I also forgot to mention that now when I start up my game, after a couple of seconds I get the Bart screen with the unplugged modem and the hit retry button. After I hit retry it loads my game just fine, which is actually preferable because if that doesn’t happen then the spinning doughnut just freezes and I have to shut down my Kindle then power back up (sometimes multiple times) to get the game to load up. Just wondering if this is a known problem or if anyone else is experiencing this before I contact EA.
It does happen. Depends on your signal and a few other variables that could cause it. If the issue continues, and basic troubleshooting doesn’t correct it…you may want to alert EA.
Ever since the forced Stonecutters removal update, I have had the same issue. Every time I start TSTO, it will bring up the Bart disconnect screen, I tap retry, it loads fine. Never used to have the problem before, but it’s a minor annoyance more than anything at this point. (I’m on the Galaxy S4, and it doesn’t matter whether I’m on home Wi-fi or 4G data.)
I am on the GS4 as well. I just think the phone itself has issues with the game.
Yep! My experience too! I haven’t contacted EA yet. The game isn’t unplayable, just a little frustrating. It also force closes while I visit friends or send people om quests. I told myself that I will wait for another update, since we usually see one every week or so, before I send them a message. I’ve been told from other users that they’ve gotten replies from EA saying that they’re aware of this problem on Android and are trying to fix it already, so I’ll give them another update or two before panicking. After all, Android is probably half of their profit market, so they’ve GOT to be working on something, or they’ll lose half their players!
Great post bunnies an happy 4th to the addicts team. I have a idea I wanted to run by you guys. On the next level update I think it would be cool if they added in the info thing on items information telling us the players if a item improves glutionay or righteousness for example for that levels items an all future updates. Items. I. think this would be good for 2 reasons 1 it would give players a added incentive to reach that level to have that added feature in the game and is as players would be faster better informed without having to spend time going through forums when having a question regarding a purchase with donuts or trying to to raise a certain star to five stars. Ok back to tapping an shooting fireworks have a good weekend everyone.
A lot of them do say what they add to when you tap on the lil italic i next to their image in the menu. Just not the amounts.
This happened to my sister and she was almost crying until I showed her how to do it. I thought it was quite easy.
Awww, well I am glad it was fixed for her.
Not the same issue, and not panic inducing, but my B town (on android) isn’t showing visitors’ taps. I know this because my A town visits don’t show up. I’m not sure if my A town (iOS) is missing any or not. I’m mostly just curious if this is happening to anyone else. It started after the removal go the Stonecutters. I keep only a minimum of neighbours, so it may be more noticeable to me.
It is happening to others. Not sure the issue as it is hit and miss. Only thing I can suggest is alert EA if it bothers you.
Doesn’t really bother me, I was mostly curious. I just won’t delete any neighbours for not visiting for a while 😉
Lol. 😉
This has happened to me a couple of times on my ios. From what I can remember, it happened when I lost 3G connection right after visiting the town.
Oh man, I wish it was that easy, but I’m playing on tablets with only wifi connection and the signal is stable. Thanks though 🙂
Well, looks like I’m going to have to let EA know after all. Getting notifications of neighbours visiting, but now zero handshakes…
Ugh…that’s the worst! I’m sorry! 🙁
Heres something to add…. If you logged into origin on a computer… And changed your profile, whether it’s the email or password… Make sure to make a note of it. I changed my email address and for about three days my game continued to play… One day I couldn’t log in, I called origin and they said my account never existed…. I was about ready to blow a gascit.. I checked my username through my second game and found out I forgot one symbol in my username.. Granted that was my error but after giving EA the username they informed me I was using the wrong email address to log in and the lightbulb marked “Id10t” error came on.. For those who don’t know about that error it’s a code programmers and computer people use… It’s called the idiot error or user error…. But it was fixed and I’m now farther then before… Bunny you are right…… This is the best game I’ve found that is an app..freemium or premium either way I love this game…. Also bunny apparently a few of my friends left the game…. Whether they were mad about the premium prices on 4th of July items or something else, what ever they’re loss but if you’d like you can add me, same with Alyssa and wookie…
Bunny…….is that a weeping angel as your picture for your tsto account? Remember, recorded angels are just as dangerous as flesh and stone angels.
Maybe 😉
(p.s don’t blink!)