Hay Day is a popular farming simulation game for mobile devices developed by Supercell. In the game, players cultivate crops and animals on their ever-expanding farm. As your farm grows over time, you will likely want to expand your land to make room for more crops, animals, buildings, and decorations. This is where Hay Day’s expansion permits come in handy.
Expansion permits allow you to permanently unlock new farmland expansions, providing you with more space to grow your farm. Expansion permits are highly valuable items in Hay Day that can only be obtained in a few different ways. Knowing how to get and best use expansion permits will help you upgrade your farm faster.
In this comprehensive guide, you’ll learn everything about using expansion permits in Hay Day:
Table of Contents
What Are Expansion Permits?
Expansion permits are special items that allow you to permanently open up new sections of land on your Hay Day farm.
Without an expansion permit, you can only access limited areas on your farm at first. Areas beyond your starting space are blocked off by a locked gate.
When you use an expansion permit, it will unlock one of these blocked areas so you can start using the new land. Expanded areas provide you with more space to place fields, trees, animals, buildings, decorations, and anything else you want to build on your growing farm.
Expansion permits are extremely useful for farmers wanting to enlarge their farms as they progress in the game. More land allows you to produce more crops, raise more animals, and increase profits. These permits are precious since they are difficult to obtain compared to other items in Hay Day.
Why Use Expansion Permits?
Here are the main reasons you should use your hard-earned expansion permits:
- Open up more farmland – Each permit unlocks a new segment of land for you to utilize. More space means more room for everything on your farm.
- Increase your production capacity – With every expansion, you can grow more crops, raise more animals, and place more production buildings like bakeries. This directly translates into higher profits on your farm.
- Upgrade to new machines – Some machine upgrades like the Loom and Jeweler require purchased expansions before you can build them.
- Complete land expansion tasks – Certain farm tasks, achievements, and derby tasks will require you to use permits to expand your land to complete them.
- Make your farm look amazing – More land means you can get really creative with farm layouts and building placements to make your farm look incredible.
- Unlock new features – Occasionally Supercell adds new features that require farm expansions, like the pets update. Permits give you access to these fun new additions.
- Show off your accomplishments – Upgrading your farm is a status symbol in Hay Day, so completed expansions demonstrate your commitment to the game.
Overall, expansion permits are too valuable not to use in Hay Day. The boosted production capacity and additional features will help you progress much faster.
How Many Expansion Areas Are There?
Your farm in Hay Day starts out as a small plot of land. Without any expansions, your usable space is limited to this starting area.
However, there are a total of 41 purchasable expansion areas that you can unlock over time using expansion permits!
Here is a quick overview of all the farm expansion areas currently available in Hay Day:
- Starting Farm – This is the initial farm space provided for free at the start of the game. It has a good amount of land and is enough for new players to start with.
- North Expansions (1-20) – The entire northern section above your starter farm can be unlocked via permits. This contains 20 individual expansion plots to unlock.
- East Expansions (1-10) – There are 10 expansion areas heading east from your starting farm space.
- South Expansions (1-5) – The southern part of your farm has 5 expansion areas you can purchase.
- West Expansions (1-5) – On the western side there are 5 more farm segments you can unlock.
- Barn Expansion – Separate from the above plots is the additional barn expansion for an extra barn and silo room.
That’s a massive amount of land for your farm! It will likely take most players years to unlock all expansions. Focus first on the areas that will benefit your farm most.
Now let’s look at the different ways you can get expansion permits…
How to Get Expansion Permits
Expansion permits are difficult to come by in Hay Day. They are a premium currency, so you can’t buy them with coins. You can occasionally earn permits for free from gameplay, but most methods require spending real money.
Here are all the ways to get expansion permits:
Leveling Up and Farm Visitor Rewards
When you reach certain level milestones in Hay Day, you will be rewarded with an expansion permit. Here are the levels where you get free permits:
- Level 15
- Level 25
- Level 35
- Level 55
So make sure to level up your account by selling items and completing achievements. The permits you get from hitting these levels are crucial.
You can also earn permits randomly when farm visitors leave you to reward bundles after buying items. However, the chance of getting a permit this way is very low.
Treasure Chests and Mystery Boxes
Another way to get the occasional free expansion permit is through treasure chests that spawn on your farm. You must first find Tom the builder wandering your farm. Interact with him to start a treasure hunt with a shovel.
This will cause treasure chests containing coins and other prizes like permits to pop up around your farm. Open as many chests as possible before Tom leaves to collect the rewards inside.
Mystery boxes can also contain expansion permits on rare occasions. You can receive mystery boxes when harvesting crops or as random visitor gifts. The odds of getting a permit aren’t great, but it’s possible if you open enough of them.
The Derby
Participating in the weekly derby events can award you permits. Once per derby, you can earn an expansion permit from the rally rewards if your neighborhood places well.
The exact placement required depends on the derby league your neighborhood is placed in. The higher leagues have to place near the top to earn the permit prize.
So join an active neighborhood and contribute as many tasks as you can during derbies. With enough participation over time, you’ll unlock new land areas.
Purchasing with Diamonds
You can directly purchase expansion permits from the upgrade menu by spending diamonds. The cost is 140 diamonds per permit.
Earning enough diamonds to buy multiple permits as a free player would take a very long time. But it’s an option if you have spare diamonds you don’t need for other upgrades.
Of course, you can always buy diamonds with real money to get permits faster. But this starts to cost more the more land you want to unlock.
Tom the Builder
The other primary method of getting expansion permits is by purchasing them from Tom the builder.
After you reach level 24, Tom will begin wandering your farm. When you find him, you can pay Tom to construct new buildings and decorations for you.
One of Tom’s buildings offers expansion permits for specific amounts of coins based on which expansion area you want to open. Here are the costs for each area:
- Northern Expansions – 500,000 coins
- Eastern Expansions – 750,000 coins
- Southern Expansions – 1,000,000 coins
- Western Expansions – 2,000,000 coins
- Barn Expansion – 5,000,000 coins
As you can see, the costs sharply go up the further you progress. But paying Tom with coins is likely the most realistic way for free players to get permits over time. Make sure to save up your coin earnings in between unlocking new areas.
The key is being patient – it will take many months to gather enough coins as a free player to purchase all expansion areas. Prioritize the ones that will benefit your production the most early on.
Now let’s dive into tips for making the most of your permits…
When to Use Your Expansion Permits
With expansion permits being so valuable and difficult to obtain, you want to make sure you use them wisely. Follow these tips on when you should open new areas:
- When you need more space – This is the obvious time to expand. If your fields, barns, coops, and existing land are all full, it’s time for more area.
- Before derby tasks – Check the upcoming derby tasks each week. If any require opening new land, prep a permit ahead of time.
- To unlock machine upgrades – Use permits to unlock the necessary land whenever you can afford machine upgrades like the Loom and Jeweler.
- When upgrading your farm – Anytime you want to upgrade production buildings or decorate, a new expansion area provides more room.
- To complete tasks/achievements – Some tasks and achievements require purchasing a certain number of expansions, so work towards those.
- To prepare for new features – If Supercell previews a feature needing more land, try to have a permit ready to access it right away.
- When you hit permit reward levels – Make sure to use permits you get from leveling up milestones immediately to maximize your farm space.
- When Tom has expansion deals – Check Tom’s deals regularly, and snag expansion permits from him whenever you can afford the coins.
The key is being efficient – have a plan for how you want to upgrade your farm over time and use permits to support that growth. Don’t waste them expanding areas you aren’t ready to utilize yet.
Tips for Using Expansion Permits
Follow these tips to make the most of your hard-earned expansion permits:
- Focus on northern expansions first – The northern plots have the most space and flexibility for farm layouts. Unlock these areas early on for the biggest production boost.
- Plan expansion features beforehand – Decide what you want to use the new space for like crop fields or decorations. This way you can build what you need right after unlocking it.
- Rearrange your farm afterward – Expansions alter your farm layout, so take time to rearrange buildings, machines, and decorations to optimize your new space.
- Stockpile needed materials – Have enough building materials, coins, etc ready so you can fully utilize the land once open. Nothing worse than an empty new plot!
- Plant crops immediately – Quickly plant high-value crops in new fields to start profiting from the additional planting space.
- Upgrade barn/silo if needed – If extra production will max out your barn storage, expand it first via Tom or diamonds to hold the additional goods.
- Strategically use rare items – If you have rare decorations, statues, or machines, place them in unlocked areas that visitors can see.
- Buy missing decos – Use the extra room to buy any missing themed decorations you couldn’t place before.
With some planning and strategy, you can make every expansion permit really improve your farm and progress. The permits may be scarce, but they are extremely valuable.
Putting Expansion Permits to Work
Now you know all the major details about how expansion permits work in Hay Day. Here is a quick summary to help you master using these important items:
- Expansion permits permanently unlock new farmland areas – use them wisely!
- Open up more space to grow your farm’s production capacity and profits.
- There are over 40 expansion areas you can purchase, focus on the most beneficial ones first.
- Obtain permits from level-ups, Tom trades, treasure chests, derby rewards, mystery boxes, or buying diamonds.
- Have a plan for each new area you unlock to maximize the benefits.
- Optimize farm layout, build new structures, and plant crops with each expansion.
- Be patient and only use permits when you need more space or to complete farm tasks/upgrades.
With this knowledge, you can keep steadily growing your Hay Day farm over time. Expansion permits are the key to upgrading your land, so put them to work!
Frequently Asked Questions
How many diamonds does an expansion permit cost?
Expansion permits can be purchased directly with diamonds for 140 diamonds each.
Can I sell or trade my expansion permits?
No, expansion permits are bind-on-pickup items that cannot be sold or traded with other players.
Do permits expire if I don’t use them right away?
No, unused expansion permits do not expire over time. They will stay in your inventory indefinitely until you choose to open a new area.
Can Tom offer multiple permits at once?
Unfortunately no, Tom will only have one farm expansion available for purchase at a time. You need to buy each area sequentially.
What’s the benefit of the barn expansion permit?
The barn expansion permit unlocks space for additional silos and barn storage. This raises your raw material storage capacity for crops, feed, etc.
Should I save up materials before using a permit?
Yes, it helps to stockpile building materials, crops for planting, and coins beforehand so you can fully utilize a new expansion immediately.
Do I need permits for any machines or buildings?
Yes, the Loom and Jeweler require pre-purchased expansion space before you can build them.
What happens if I run out of permits?
You will have to wait and earn more permits before you can expand your farm further. Pay attention to incoming permit sources to avoid running out.
Final Thoughts
Expansion permits are extremely useful items in Hay Day. Unlocking more farmland directly translates into higher profits and progress.
Hopefully, this guide has given you a deep understanding of how permits work and the best ways to obtain and utilize them.
Focus on the expansion areas that will benefit your farm the most early on. Be patient and willing to grind coins to purchase permits from Tom over time.
With strategic use of permits as you advance, you’ll have the best-looking and most productive farm around! Best of luck with your future Hay Day expansions.