About GridInc
GridInc is an idle strategy game about running an electricity company in South Africa. You begin as LightsOn (Pty) Ltd with one street pole and a plan to end loadshedding. Each building produces Rand on a timer, and the money goes into more buildings, upgrades and politicians who keep the power flowing without you. The company reaches its goal when all 333 goals are complete, and the game itself describes the journey as a marathon rather than a sprint. The humour is local, with upgrades such as an emergency braai switch and a coal plant that quits smoking.
GridInc is free on Smaz Games and plays in the browser on a computer, phone or tablet without a download. There are no in-app purchases; coins are earned in the game.
How to play
- Click or tap your Street Pole to start a production cycle. When its bar fills, you are paid in Rand.
- Buy more Street Poles. Every unit you own raises that building's income, and each one costs more than the last.
- Unlock and buy the next building types as your income grows.
- Buy upgrades on the Upgrade tab to multiply profits and speed up cycles.
- Hire a politician for a building so it runs on its own. From then on you no longer need to click it.
- Work through the goals, reached by owning set numbers of each building, to double speeds and multiply profits.
- When workers become available, start a new company to restart with a permanent profit boost.
The ten buildings
Buildings unlock in this order, each costing far more than the last and taking longer per cycle, but paying much more:
- Street Pole
- Solar Panels
- Mini Substation
- Grid Station
- Coal Plant
- Control Centre
- Smart Meters
- Nuclear Plants
- Power Lines
- Energy Exchange
A Street Pole completes a cycle in well under a second, while the Energy Exchange takes more than ten hours. Each building belongs to a category (grid, generation, distribution or financial), which matters when you choose a specialisation later.
Controls
- Computer: click a building's icon to run a cycle. The buy buttons purchase 1, 10, 25 or 100 units, and a fifth button buys up to the next milestone. Clicking the progress bar switches the income display between per cycle and per second. Hover over items for details.
- Phone and tablet: tap Generate to run a building, and use the Buy 1, 5, 10 and 25 buttons or the milestone buttons.
- The game has no keyboard shortcuts. Navigation uses the tabs: Build, Upgrade, Company, Workers, Politics, Me and Menu.
Upgrades, politicians and the company
Upgrades. There are 323 one-time upgrades bought with Rand. Most triple the profit of one building; others boost every building, speed up cycles or make workers more effective. A Purchase All You Can Afford button saves time.
Political Cabinet. Every building has its own politician, from the Street Pole Commissioner to the Energy Exchange Governor. A hired politician runs that building automatically. Only buildings with a politician earn while you are away, so hiring them matters for offline progress. The Politics page also holds strategies and debates, a card-style betting game where you try to collect votes without reaching 210.
Company. Your company level rises with every 20 goals. The approval rating adds up to 10% to profits at high levels, slowly falls over time, and can be raised by investing. Company improvements cost Rand, and coin upgrades are paid for with coins earned from buying buildings.
Workers and starting a new company
Once your total earnings pass about R44 billion, workers start to become available. Each worker adds a percentage to all profits. The Start New Company button on the Workers page resets buildings, money, upgrades, goals and most purchases, but you keep your coins, your workers plus the new ones, your strategies and your company name. You can restart for the first time once at least one worker is waiting; after that, the new workers must add up to at least half the number you already have, unless you buy an upgrade that allows quick restarts.
Strategy levels come from goals and unlock permanent choices, such as specialising in grid, generation or distribution, or hiring all politicians automatically after a restart. After completing all 333 goals you can begin a prestige company, which gives extra workers and worker effectiveness for every completion and opens advanced strategy choices.
Goals
The 333 goals are set by how many of each building you own, from 25 up to 3,000, along with goals for owning a number of every building. Solar Panels have the longest list. Rewards double a building's speed or multiply its profit, and later shared goals speed up or boost every building.
Offline progress
If you leave for more than a minute, buildings with a politician keep earning at their full rate, and a Welcome back screen shows what they made. The limit is one year away. Buildings without a politician do not earn while you are gone.
The Me page
The Me page covers your personal finances as company owner: 32 assets to buy, five cryptocurrencies whose prices move, a daily lottery ticket available after midday South African time, and a daily tax bill with a grace period before a penalty applies.
Tips for beginners
- Click often at the start. Manual cycles are your only income until politicians arrive.
- Hire the Street Pole Commissioner as soon as you can afford it, then keep adding politicians as you buy new buildings.
- Aim for milestones. Owning 25, 50 or 100 of a building completes goals that double speed or multiply profit.
- Use the milestone buy button so you stop exactly on the next goal.
- Check the Upgrade tab often. Cheap profit multipliers make a large difference early on.
Tips for longer play
- Do not wait too long for the first new company. Even a few workers speed up the next run.
- Keep approval above 80 for the largest profit bonus, and invest when it drops.
- Before a long break, make sure every building you own has a politician so offline earnings are as high as possible.
- Choose a specialisation that suits the buildings carrying your income. It takes effect at the next restart.
- Read the in-game Game Guide and Number Guide in the Menu for the full detail on each system.
Saving progress
GridInc saves automatically in your browser after every change and makes automatic backups every five minutes. Settings lets you export your save as text and import it again, which is the way to move progress to another browser by hand. On Smaz Games this game uses browser saves only, not account saves, so clearing browser data removes your company unless you exported it. The optional completion leaderboard asks only for a nickname.
Devices and orientation
The game has separate layouts for computers and for phones and tablets, and it works in any orientation. A notice on phones suggests that a laptop or desktop gives the most comfortable view, but the full game is playable by touch.
Frequently asked questions
Is GridInc free?
Yes. It is free to play in the browser on Smaz Games, with no download and no purchases.
Does GridInc keep earning when I close it?
Yes, for any building with a hired politician, for up to a year away.
How many goals and upgrades are there?
333 goals and 323 upgrades.
What happens when I start a new company?
Buildings, money, upgrades and goals reset, while coins, workers and strategies carry over. Workers increase all future profits.
Does it work on phones?
Yes. It has a touch layout for phones and tablets in either orientation.
Can I move my save to another device?
Use Export in Settings, then Import on the other device. Saves do not sync automatically.
Is GridInc about real loadshedding?
It is a light-hearted game that refers to South African loadshedding. The company's aim is to end it by completing every goal.
Who made GridInc
GridInc was made in South Africa by Saratoga Games, an independent studio in Cape Town run by solo developer Sean Wyngaard.
If you like GridInc, try
BuyoutInc is the closest match on Smaz Games: an idle tycoon game in which you buy ten startups in a city and let politicians run them. Fintopia is a slower management game about growing an aquarium shop.