Balcony furniture in Malta Living: your washing machine, plants and chairs outside

Balcony furniture is here. If your home in Malta Living has a balcony or a terrace, you can now put things out there: the washing machine and the dryers, a potted plant, chairs and bar stools, small tables and the lanterns. A player asked for one thing in particular, their washing machine on the balcony, and that's where it can go now.

Which homes have a balcony or a terrace

Five homes have an outside space you can furnish:

• The Gżira studio and the Sliema flat: a balcony along the side of the room.
• The Valletta townhouse: a roof terrace.
• The Pender Place penthouse: a sky terrace across the front.
• The Portomaso penthouse: a sea-view terrace over the marina.

If you're choosing where to live, renting a flat in Sliema explains the ladder of homes and what each costs. Gardens, at the villa and the palazzo, come later, with outdoor furniture of their own.

The Outdoor shelf in Buy

Tap Buy at home. In a home with a balcony or a terrace there's a new shelf, Outdoor, first in the row. It gathers the pieces that can stand outside from their usual shelves:

• the washing machine, the tumble dryer and the washer-dryer;
• the potted plant;
• the plastic chair, the chair and the cushioned chair, and the bar stool;
• the side table, the round table and the coffee table;
• the brass street lantern and the iron lantern.

Pick one from Outdoor and it starts out on the balcony, on the first free spot. Drag it, tap the balcony floor, or use the arrows to move it, and tap ✓ to buy it there. While you place an outdoor piece, the view takes in the room and the balcony together, so either is a tap away. The same pieces can still go indoors, as before.

Everything else in Buy mode works out there too: turn a piece, move it later, store it or sell it for two-thirds of what you paid. Colours carry over: a pastel washing machine on a Sliema balcony looks the part.

What stays clear

Two simple rules keep the balcony usable.

The way out stays clear. The cells right outside the door to the balcony are where you step out, so nothing can stand there. Try it and the placing card says "Keep the way out clear.", and the ✓ stays grey.

Indoor pieces stay inside. A sofa, a bed, the fridge or a bookcase never go out on the balcony. Only the pieces on the Outdoor shelf do. Pieces that hang on a wall or from the ceiling stay inside too: there are no walls out there.

If you crowd the balcony so one piece can't be reached any more, you get the same orange warning as indoors, naming the piece you'd cut off. You can still place it, but you won't be able to use the piece behind until you move things around.

Using what's outside

Your stuff, on your home's panel, lists the pieces outside under the balcony's own name: Balcony, Roof terrace, Sky terrace or Sea-view terrace. Tap one and you walk out through the door, round anything in the way, and stand beside it. A washing machine on the balcony works exactly as it does in the kitchen: Put a wash on, then Hang it out or tumble dry it. The basket, the wash and the dry are all in laundry, bins and bills.

The Maltese balcony is a big part of how homes on the islands look and live, from the closed wooden gallarija to the open iron ones on newer blocks, and drying washing on one is about as Maltese as it gets.

Moving home

Pieces on your balcony move with you like everything else. If the new home has a balcony or terrace with room in the same spot, they stay outside. Otherwise they go into the room, and if there's no space there, into storage, ready to put back from Buy.

New to the game? Start with the Malta life simulator guide, or play Malta Living free in your browser.

Questions people ask

Can I put my washing machine on the balcony in Malta Living?

Yes. In a home with a balcony or a terrace, pick the washing machine from Buy's Outdoor shelf and place it outside. You use it the same way as indoors.

Which furniture can go outside?

The washing machine and the dryers, the potted plant, chairs and bar stools, the side, round and coffee tables, and the two lanterns. Sofas, beds and anything on a wall stay inside.

Why can't I put something right outside the balcony door?

Those cells are the way out onto the balcony, so they stay clear. Move the piece one step along and it fits.

Can I furnish my garden?

Not yet. Gardens, at the villa and the palazzo, get their own outdoor furniture in a later update.