Vested
Found a tech startup in 1990 and try to survive the dot-com bubble. Navigate 48 quarters of hype, hubris, and hostile board meetings across 19 possible endings.
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Game contextLatest: IGF Team
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Media
17 itemsAbout the Game
It's 1990. You have an idea, a business card, and the vague sense that this "internet" thing might be worth something.
You're probably right... you're also probably doomed.
Vested is a narrative strategy game about founding a tech startup and trying (really trying) to survive the dot-com bubble. Make quarterly decisions that ripple across your company's finances, culture, board dynamics, and your own sanity. Every choice has consequences. Some of them take years to arrive.
Choose your product. Choose your funding. Then watch as the market, your employees, your board, and your own ambition conspire to determine which of 19 distinct endings you stumble into.
Most of them aren't pretty.
The game's interface evolves as the internet does. You'll know what year it is before you read a single word.
History says the crash was inevitable. Hindsight says the signs were obvious. But in the moment? In the moment, everyone thought they were the exception.
Try not to prove them right.
Vested is also available as a free web version at . The Steam edition adds achievements, cloud saves, and the smug satisfaction of supporting an indie game.
You're probably right... you're also probably doomed.
Build. Burn. Repeat.
Vested is a narrative strategy game about founding a tech startup and trying (really trying) to survive the dot-com bubble. Make quarterly decisions that ripple across your company's finances, culture, board dynamics, and your own sanity. Every choice has consequences. Some of them take years to arrive.
Choose your product. Choose your funding. Then watch as the market, your employees, your board, and your own ambition conspire to determine which of 19 distinct endings you stumble into.
Most of them aren't pretty.
The Interface Is the Timeline
The game's interface evolves as the internet does. You'll know what year it is before you read a single word.
Features
- 48 quarters of decisions from Q1 1990 to Q4 2001
- 19 endings: Will you become a billionaire with a successful IPO... or will you just burn out?
- Every playthrough different, every decision grounded in real dot-com history
- 6 industries, 18 products, and 3 funding paths that fundamentally change your journey
- A stat system where the numbers you don't know matter more than the ones you do
- Post-mortem analysis that shows you exactly how close you came
- 30-45 minute playthroughs: quick enough for "one more run", deep enough to reward strategy
- Seed codes: share your exact starting scenario and challenge friends to beat your ending
Steam Extras
- 33 achievements hidden across endings, milestones, and places you weren't looking
- Cloud saves across devices
- Your Steam status shows your startup's valuation. Your friends can watch you rise... or crash.
A Game About Timing
History says the crash was inevitable. Hindsight says the signs were obvious. But in the moment? In the moment, everyone thought they were the exception.
Try not to prove them right.
Vested is also available as a free web version at . The Steam edition adds achievements, cloud saves, and the smug satisfaction of supporting an indie game.
