StartUp Tycoon

Can you grow a scrappy startup into a $1 billion unicorn — or will you run out of cash trying?

StartUp Tycoon is a browser-based management game where you found a company, hire a team, and try to hit $100M in annual revenue before the money runs out.

Pick from 8 industries — from AI & ML to Grocery to Handyman — each with different growth rates, costs, and risks. Software scales fast but so do salaries. Agricultural can boom or bust in a bad season. Low-growth industries need smart investments or borrowing to ever reach the finish line. Some industries will not have VC investments - sorry, that's just the reality.

The real heart of the game is your team. If you are lucky, you can hire UR staff - in total 40 unique characters with personal stories that unfold the longer they stay employed. Hire the right people, keep them happy, and their stories reveal themselves month by month. Let them go, and you might get them back someday — they'll remember you. So always check who's in your staff pool from time to time!

Once you hit Unicorn, the run is over. You get knowledge points based on the result of the run, plus calculated points from your Personal Net Worth - while VC is super helpful in giving you cash, just remember that it also takes some of your PNW away. Spend the knowledge points on any branches, and you can change them between runs. Once a branch has full 20 points, a strong bonus effect will be applied to future games!

Features:

• 8 industries with distinct economics and risk profiles, some basic info in industry selection page to give you a flavor
• Hire, fire, and manage a roster of R, SR, SSR, and ultra-rare UR staff. Some people ask for salary raise too many time that it's more costly to keep them than fire them. Don't forget to check the Firing page occasionally!
• 40 unique characters, each with 7 stories to unlock. If you really get to read all of their stories, please do have a screenshot and drop us a comment! 
• R&D products, bank loans, VC funding, and M&A to increase revenue - some require initial cost, some require a minimum # of staff
• Roguelite Knowledge system — every run makes the next one a little easier
• Special events that can make or break a month, some are industry-specific
• Runs entirely in your browser — no install, no account, no registration
• No tutorial, so you got to try it out like a real entrepreneur and make strategic decisions

Each run lasts roughly 20-30 minutes, depending on your industry and decisions. This is a rough game. The systems work, but the presentation is minimal. If you like management sims and don't need hand-holding, you'll find a lot to dig into.

Btw, if you don't like the music (made by myself so no musician is judged here), just click the mute button at the top right. 

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Disclaimer: StartUp Tycoon is a work of fiction made for entertainment purposes. While some mechanics are loosely inspired by real business concepts — startup funding, revenue multiples, industry attractiveness to investors, salary level, staff management — the numbers, systems, and outcomes are all designed for gameplay and do not accurately reflect how real businesses, investments, or financial decisions work. Don't use this game to make real-life choices.

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Appreciate you finishing the read. Second game from Nerdy Geckos Studio, and we want your honest takes. Do you like this concept? Would you want to explore more or less of this type of games? Let us know!