About BuyoutInc
BuyoutInc is a satirical idle tycoon game. Your plan is to become the richest person in the world, and since inventing things sounds like hard work, you buy the startups that already did. You begin with one Online Payments Startup in a city drawn in an isometric, 3D style, and buy your way up through electric cars, AI labs and rockets to a colony on Mars. Politicians run your startups for you, company money buys yachts and private jets, and the run is complete when you finish all 333 goals. Every company, person and coin in the game is fictional and the game is a parody.
BuyoutInc is free in the browser on Smaz Games, on computers, phones and tablets. There is nothing to download, the game has no ads inside it and nothing can be bought with real money.
How to play
- Click or tap the Online Payments Startup. A green bar fills, and when it is full you are paid.
- Buy more of the same startup. Each unit raises its income and costs a bit more than the previous one.
- Unlock the next startups as your money grows.
- Spend money on upgrades in Research and Development to multiply profits and speed up startups.
- Go to Politics and hire a politician for a startup. It then runs on its own, including while you are offline.
- Complete goals by owning set numbers of each startup. Goals double speeds and multiply profits.
- When workers become available, start a new Mega Company on the HR screen for a permanent boost.
The ten startups
- Online Payments Startup
- Electric Car Startup
- Solar Roof Startup
- Battery Gigafactory Startup
- Tunnel-Boring Startup
- Social Media Startup
- AI Lab Startup
- Brain-Chip Startup
- Rocket Startup
- Mars Colony Startup
The first startup completes a cycle in less than a second, while the Mars Colony takes over ten hours per cycle and pays accordingly. Each startup's description pokes fun at the tech industry; the rocket company, for example, counts a rapid unscheduled disassembly as progress.
The city
Your startups stand in a city with traffic of cars, taxis, vans, trucks, buses and bikes. The city follows a day and night cycle based on your clock, with lit windows, street lamps and headlights after dark. Settings can keep the city always in daylight or always at night, and lighting never affects earnings. Settings can also change the currency symbol shown, which is display only.
Controls
- Click or tap a startup to run a production cycle.
- The buy buttons purchase 1, 10, 25 or 100 units. The OCD button buys as many as you can afford but stops on a round number such as 150 or 200.
- Click a startup's cycle bar to switch between income per cycle and per second.
- Drag with the mouse to pan the city; on touch screens, scroll it with your finger. Arrows and a pan bar appear when the city is larger than the screen.
- Hover over startups, upgrades and goals for details, or tap them on a touch screen.
- There are no keyboard shortcuts. The tabs are Startups, Upgrade, Mega Company, HR, Politics, My Tablet and Menu.
Upgrades, politicians and the Mega Company
Research and Development holds 323 upgrades: profit boosts for single startups, speed boosts, upgrades for all startups, worker upgrades and special items. A Purchase All You Can Afford button buys everything in reach.
Politicians cost from $1,000 for the first up to $100 billion for the Interplanetary Governor. Once hired, a politician runs that startup automatically, and only startups with a politician earn while you are away. The Politics page also has strategy choices and political debates, a blackjack-style game to collect up to 210 votes with a bet of up to 1% of your money.
The Mega Company screen shows your company level, which rises every 20 goals, and your approval rating. Approval above 9%, 40% and 80% adds 3%, 7% and 10% to profits, and it drops over time. Mega Company Improvements are paid with cash, and Coin Upgrades with coins, which you earn one at a time by buying startups.
Starting a new Mega Company
Once your total earnings reach about $44 billion, workers start to become available on the HR screen. Starting a new Mega Company resets your startups, cash, upgrades, improvements and goals, but keeps your coins, your workers plus the new ones, your strategies, statistics and tablet. Each worker adds a percentage to all income, so every restart speeds up the next run. The first restart needs at least one upcoming worker; after that, the upcoming workers must equal at least half of your current workers, unless you own the quick-restart upgrade.
When all 333 goals are complete, the game congratulates you on buying out everything and offers a prestige Mega Company. Each completion adds 100 workers and extra worker effectiveness, and opens advanced strategy choices that boost particular startups.
My Tablet
- Assets: 32 vehicles and properties, including a yacht, a private jet and a private island. Vehicles lose value over time while properties gain it, and assets can be rented out.
- Crypto: five fictional coins, including BuyoutCoin and Hypetherium. Prices change every hour, a small fee applies to trades and each holding is limited to a share of your cash.
- Daily lottery: one ticket a day after 12:00 (GMT+2), with prizes of up to half your cash and the odds listed.
- Taxes: a daily bill of 1% of the last day's earnings, with a grace period before a penalty.
Offline earnings
When you come back, the game shows what your politician-run startups made while you were away, for up to a year. Startups without a politician do not earn offline.
Leaderboard
Finishing all 333 goals lets you add a nickname of 2 to 20 characters to an online leaderboard, which ranks completions by the calendar time since you started. There are separate tabs for first completions and prestige runs. No account or sign-in is needed.
Tips
- Follow the coach cards at the start. They introduce clicking, buying, the OCD button and politicians in order.
- Hire politicians early. Clicking every startup by hand is slow, and only automated startups earn offline.
- Buy towards milestones. The goals at 25, 50 and 100 units give large boosts.
- Keep approval high for the profit bonus.
- Treat the lottery and crypto as side activities. Startups remain your main income.
- Start a new Mega Company once enough workers are waiting. Progress is faster with each run.
- The Game Guide in the Menu explains every system in more detail and closes with a set of pro tips.
Saving progress
BuyoutInc saves itself in your browser moments after every change and keeps automatic backups every five minutes. Settings can export your save as text and import it again, and offers soft and complete resets. On Smaz Games this game uses browser saves only, not account saves, so progress stays in the browser you play in unless you export it.
Devices and orientation
BuyoutInc works with a mouse on a computer and by touch on phones and tablets. Phones must be turned sideways: in portrait, the game asks you to rotate the phone. A notice on phones suggests a laptop or desktop for the most comfortable view.
Frequently asked questions
Is BuyoutInc free?
Yes. It is free in the browser on Smaz Games, with no download and no purchases.
Does the game keep earning when I am offline?
Yes, for startups that have a politician, for up to a year.
How long is BuyoutInc?
A full run ends when all 333 goals are complete. You can then continue with a prestige Mega Company.
Can I play on a phone?
Yes, in landscape.
Are the companies real?
No. BuyoutInc is a parody, and its companies, people, money and cryptocurrencies are fictional. Nothing in it is financial advice.
What carries over to a new Mega Company?
Coins, workers, strategies, statistics and your tablet carry over. Startups, cash, upgrades and goals start again.
Can I move my save to another device?
Use Export and Import in Settings. Saves do not sync on their own.
Who made BuyoutInc
BuyoutInc was made by Saratoga Games, an independent studio in Cape Town, South Africa, run by solo developer Sean Wyngaard.
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