Critical Thinking – Progression Guide (updated after the December patch)
Settings: 96-minute day
Intro
In my rotational play I test money-making skills with Zois dedicated to one main skill. Below are my Critical Thinking observations after the December update, with a focus on level-up speed, work completion time, and Level 10 benefits as they might be useful if you’re considering investing into this skill.
Update note (please read)
This post originally contained an Autumn (pre-December) test run. I have overwritten the main guide with my post–December update numbers to avoid confusion. A short pre-December reference table is included at the bottom for context.
At a glance: After December, writing became the main leveling route; reading is no longer the fast method (in my run).
After December update (current behavior)
Key changes (vs. pre-December)
-
Reading Critical Thinking books is no longer a fast leveling method (in my run). Example: 4 books = 1 hour and it filled less than ¼ of the skill circle. -
Writing is now the main leveling route. Mid game level-ups happen around ~3 hours of writing, while the book itself finishes later at lower levels. -
Level 7 → Level 9: writing a book and the skill level-up are nearly synced.
-
Level 9 → Level 10: book writing is faster than the level-up (book finishes first).
Post-update progression table (overview)
| Phase |  Typical time to level up (via writing) |
 Typical time to finish 1 book |
 Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Level 0 → Level 1 | ~6 min | — | Very fast initial level |
| Level 1 → Level 3 | ~3 h per level | ~5 h | XP faster than book completion |
| Level 3 → Level 6 | ~3 h per level | under 4 h | First major drop in book time |
| Level 6 → Level 9 | under 3 h (closer to ~2.5 h) | under 3 h (closer to ~2.5 h) | Level-up & book completion nearly synced at Level 7–9 |
| Level 9 → Level 10 | under 2 h (possibly mood-influenced) | 1 h 16 min | Book writing is faster than level-up here |
| Level 10 | — | 1 h 16 min | Late-game writing speed |
Note (Level 9 → Level 10): my level-up speed was under 2 hours while my Zoi was in Unshakable mood. I’m not sure whether mood affects XP gain here, so treat this datapoint as “possibly mood-influenced”.
Post-update sell observations (examples)
-
Level 3–4: Excellent 112 Mew
-
Level 6: Bad 20 Mew
-
Level 7: Good 125 Mew
-
Level 8: Medium 75 Mew, Bad 30 Mew
-
Level 9: Excellent 225 Mew
-
Level 10: Perfect 750 Mew (first time), Excellent 225 Mew
Level 10 benefit: “Submit Scenario to Contest”
At Level 10, the PC option “Submit Scenario to Contest” is available (luck-based):
-
Win: 1000 Mew
-
Or: nothing
Pre-December reference (Autumn baseline, short + breakpoints)
| Method | Pre-December behavior (Autumn run) |
|---|---|
| Reading | 16 books × 15 min = 4h per level (Level 1 → Level 10) |
| Writing (books per level) | Usually 8–9 books per level |
| Writing (time per book breakpoints) | Level 1–2: 2h30m • Level 3–5: 1h55m • Level 6–8: 1h15m • Level 9–10: 38m |
Update / Addendum: Genius trait effect on Critical Thinking
After I noticed a clear difference in leveling and writing/completion time for Programming, I wanted to check whether the Genius trait also changes the pacing for Critical Thinking.
Conditions: 96-minute day • mood Fine (no active buffs) • leveling via writing route.
Genius vs Normal (post-December baseline) – quick comparison
(Normal baseline = my post-December Critical Thinking observations without Genius; writing route.)
| Phase | Normal: time to write 1 book | Genius: time to write 1 book | Normal: time to level up | Genius: time to level up |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Level 1–2 | ~5h | ~2h30m | ~3h | ~2h15–2h25 |
| Level 3–5 | under 4h | ~1h55m | ~3h | ~2h40 |
| Level 6–8 | under 3h (closer to ~2h30) | ~1h15m | under 3h (closer to ~2h30) | ~1h55–2h15 |
| Level 9–10 | 1h16m | ~37m | under 2h | ~1h05m |
Takeaway: with Genius, both book completion time and level-up time are noticeably faster. The biggest practical difference is that writing becomes much more efficient earlier, and the endgame (Level 9+) gets extremely quick.