How to Play Tycoon Cards

1. Starting the Game

Tycoon Cards runs entirely in your browser — there is nothing to download or install, and no account is required. Open the site on a desktop, tablet or phone and the game loads in under a second.

Your progress auto-saves to your browser's local storage every five seconds. If you close the tab, come back tomorrow, or even use the same browser next month, your empire will still be there.

2. Currency

The game uses a single currency — dollars ($). You'll see it abbreviated with suffixes as you earn more: $1.5K for thousands, $2.3M for millions, $4.7B for billions, and so on.

You spend money on three things:

• Businesses (the Business tab)
• Card packs (the Packs tab)
• Click upgrades (the big coin screen)

3. Clicking

On the main play screen you'll see a large golden coin. Tap or click it to earn money instantly. Each tap pays out your current click power, which starts at $1.

You can upgrade click power in the same screen. Each upgrade costs more than the last but adds $1 to your base click. This is your main source of active income — passive income from businesses is the other.

4. Passive Income

Once you own at least one business, money ticks in automatically every second — even while you are not clicking. This is passive income, and it is what separates an idle game from a pure clicker.

The game also earns while the tab is closed, up to a cap of 8 hours at 50% efficiency. When you return, a welcome-back modal shows your offline earnings.

5. Businesses

There are 100 tiers of business, from humble to cosmic. Here are the first ten to get you started:

Tiers 11–100 continue past Quantum Exchange through coffee shops, tech companies, space colonies and eventually cosmic-scale enterprises like The Infinite Exchange. See the full list in the Business Guide.

Each copy of a business you buy costs 15% more than the previous one. This is exponential growth — by the time you own 50 Lemonade Stands, the next one costs significantly more than the first.

You can buy in batches using the x1 / x10 / x100 / MAX buttons. Use the search box in the Business tab to jump straight to a specific tier. See the Business Guide for tips on which to prioritise.

6. Cards

Once you have $500, you can buy your first Starter Pack in the Packs tab. Each pack contains three cards.

Every card grants a permanent bonus to one of four things:

• Click power — each click earns more
• Passive income — businesses earn more per second
• All income — both of the above
• Business cost reduction — every business is cheaper

7. Card Rarity

There are seven rarities from common to divine. Rarer cards give bigger bonuses per level.

Read the full Card Guide for drop rates and card-by-card bonuses.

8. Prestige

Once you have earned $1 million lifetime, you can prestige. Prestige resets your money, businesses and click level, but:

• You keep every card you have collected.
• You earn prestige points based on the square root of your lifetime earnings.
• Each prestige point gives a permanent +2% to all income.

Prestige is the key to long-term progression. Your second run will feel much faster than your first. See the Prestige Guide for timing strategies.

9. Common Beginner Mistakes

• Only clicking. Passive income from even a handful of Lemonade Stands quickly outpaces manual tapping.
• Ignoring the cheapest tier. Buying many cheap businesses is usually better than saving for one expensive one early on.
• Never prestiging. After your first prestige you'll unlock huge multipliers. Don't be afraid to reset — cards persist.
• Selling duplicate cards. There is no sell option (intentionally) — duplicates are meant to be combined.

10. Advanced Tips

• Cards that reduce business cost stack multiplicatively with other bonuses — level these up first for the biggest impact.
• "All income" cards scale with prestige, making them more valuable than click-only cards in the late game.
• Use the x10 and x100 buy buttons once you have enough money — bulk buying is faster than clicking one at a time.
• Prestige when your per-second income growth slows noticeably. A good rule of thumb: when it takes more than 10 minutes to double your current income.

What to Read Next

• Card Guide → every card explained
• Prestige Guide → when and how to reset
• Game Mechanics Guide → the maths behind the game
• FAQ → common questions answered